Civil service relocation has worked well – but risks lie ahead

Moving jobs outside of London is arguably the area of civil service reform where the government has made most progress in the four years since the general election. Yesterday, the Cabinet Office announced that 16,061 roles have been created outside the capital, surpassing the government’s places for growth target of 15,000 by 2025. The plan to relocate 22,000 roles by 2030 has now been brought forward to 2027.  ¹⁹ //www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-to-move-government-roles-out-of-westminster-brought-forward-and-new-headquarters-unveiled#:~:text=The%20Government's%….  Three new second headquarters have been created – for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNEZ) in Aberdeen, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in Greater Manchester and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) at the Darlington Economic Campus (DEC), with the latter two growing existing offices. Wrexham will be getting 300 extra roles, with minister John Glen visiting the town as part of the announcement.  ²⁰ //twitter.com/cabinetofficeuk/status/1734548905935667541

While it is unclear exactly how the 22,000 target is calculated – a recent PACAC report suggested the figures referred to the number of new roles created outside London, not the number of London roles moved outside the capital – the progress is still positive.  ²¹ //committees.parliament.uk/publications/41051/documents/199888/default/  Moving civil servants outside London better enables people who cannot or do not want to live in London to work for the civil service, exposes policy makers to different realities and produces a modest localised ‘levelling up’ effect. 

A more ambitious relocation target is positive if perverse incentives are avoided 

Setting a headcount target for relocation works as a way of galvanising the system into action. Unlike headcount targets for civil service job cuts, which are used as a proxy for financial savings, the whole point here is to physically move people. Making that target more ambitious makes sense. But the government should still be wary of the perverse incentives that targets can provide. Dishing out roles across the country to hit a target, without thinking carefully about where they are located or what is necessary for them to be successful, will not end well. 

Relocated offices work best when they tap into the existing strengths of an area. The experience of the ONS – which struggled with its analytical capability after moving from London to Newport before a 2014 review recommended it rebuilt some presence in the capital – is a salutary lesson. 

And if the government is to provide talented people who do not want to live or work in London with a meaningful civil service career, it needs to give them career options in a single place. Our research into the DEC found the campus’ success was in part because officials did not feel that there was a regional ceiling to their career ambition – role models have proved you can hold a senior post and be based at the campus which, as a collection of departments, also has a decent number of jobs available at each grade. 

Our analysis of the DEC also made clear that the foundations of success require painstaking effort. Senior leaders have spent immense amounts of time raising its profile, attracting top talent and developing a coherent sense of identity. A disproportionate number of senior officials are based there. Darlington’s success was not inevitable – it took serious effort. 

A more ambitious target could helpfully accelerate places for growth. But it could also lead to the government spraying roles across the country to hit a round number. That would be deeply counter-productive. 

New second headquarters locations are – mostly – sensible 

The location of the three second headquarters announced in this package indicates that the government more or less agrees that it is important to tap into an area’s existing strengths. Science and technology are a big part of Greater Manchester’s economy and it already plays host to a GCHQ office, so DSIT’s presence makes sense; DBT already has substantial presence in Darlington and fits the theme of the ‘economic’ campus; while the energy sector forms a large component of Aberdeen’s economy.  

But there are concerns about the choice of Aberdeen, with only around 50 UK civil servants currently based in the city.  ²² //www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-civil-servants-by-postcode-department-responsibility-level-and-leaving-cause-2023  Building a meaningful civil service career in the city will be hard, meaning it may not be a magnet for policy professionals or senior staff – the two groups it is particularly important for relocated offices to attract if they are to make an impact. The document published alongside the announcement rightly stated that clustering roles in ‘thematic campuses’ is the best way to make relocation work, and if Aberdeen is to be successful the government should consider building one there, maybe themed around net zero.  ²³ //www.gov.uk/government/publications/places-for-growth-relocations-data-2020-2023/places-for-growth-relocations-data-2020-2023  Half-hearted plans – perhaps more to do with demonstrating a UK presence than operational effectiveness – will not do the trick. 

Places for growth must adapt to a changed context 

The current relocation drive started during the pandemic, when virtual working was the norm and the office was a place where people worked between lockdowns. But as the agenda has progressed, the context has shifted. The government recently issued guidance that officials should be in the office 60% of the time.  ²⁴ //www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/civil-servants-home-remove-working-60-in-office

Part of what made relocation possible was that ministers and senior officials were happy to take part in discussions virtually. It is not unreasonable to expect some level of in-person contact – with officials occasionally travelling down to London and their counterparts, including ministers, travelling outside of the capital. But for relocation to be sustainable, hybrid working is important. As one interviewee told us in Darlington, “if I was substituted out of a meeting because I’m not in London, I couldn’t do my job from here”. 

The government also needs to do more to boost the numbers of senior civil servants outside London. Just 30.9% of senior civil servants are currently located outside of the capital, with the government lagging behind its target of reaching 50% outside London by 2030. This is especially concerning given the 4.9 percentage point increase in senior staff outside of the capital between April 2020 and 2023 is likely to represent the ‘low hanging fruit’. 

Progress on relocation has been positive. But if it is to continue to be a civil service reform success story, the government needs to combine targets with an intelligent approach to the location of new roles and commitment – especially from senior officials and ministers – to making new offices successful.