Pat McFadden, the minister for the Cabinet Office, has announced a target to base thousands more civil service jobs across the country and cut 12,000 roles in London. Eleven London offices, including the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care, will also close. 

The closures of familiar Whitehall locations is statement of this government’s intent, and McFadden repeated the Johnson/Sunak-led government’s aim to move 50% of UK-based senior civil outside of London by 2030. But simply relocating jobs and opening new offices is not enough to make the most of the benefits of moving. To have the most impact on the way the civil service works, the government needs to ensure that these moves are part of a coherent workforce programme. Ministers need to explain why officials should move and why people should start their careers out of London, and give civil servants confidence that they can build their careers outside the capital.

Senior civil servants need new career incentives to feel confident about moving

The Johnson/Sunak-led governments met their aim to move 22,000 (FTE) officials out of London – and did so six years early. They built Darlington and Sheffield campuses which have shown that themed campuses can diversify thinking and attract new talent. But there was slower – and revealing – progress on relocating senior roles: as of 2024, some 64% of senior civil servants remain in London. Without a senior presence, offices out of London will lack decision-making weight. That, in turn, discourages ambitious people from seeing a career path in other offices, which means they can become outposts isolated from developments in London headquarters. The cycle perpetuates itself.

One of the main perceived paths to success in the civil service is through ministerial contact and senior roles out of London will continue to face the pull of political gravity if this incentive remains. Ministers need to actively show that they welcome working remotely with people in different locations, and to spend some time in the new offices. Relocation also requires departments to create sought-after jobs in offices which improve careers. This means proactive planning about which programmes of work need to remain in London, and which high profile ones should move. Without taking politically important and senior policy jobs outside the capital, relocation will be a visible change, but not a substantive one.

The government has more to do to create long-term talent pipelines

It is not enough to relocate civil servants. The government needs to create incentives for talented people to want to start their civil service careers out of London. A new target to have 50% of fast stream placements offered out of London by 2030 is encouraging, and it is also positive that proposed locations for new offices are largely in areas with a strong labour market.  

The government needs to build on these first steps by giving local and regional offices more ownership over career paths, with civil service campuses developing strategies (some have already engaged with local networks and outreach) to encourage people from local communities to join. The government should consider involving the campuses in fast stream recruitment, to reduce fears of relocation.

The government needs to decide what it wants its campuses to be for 

The government has announced plans for three more themed campuses. They are an opportunity to build different voices into policymaking. They can also be attractive places to work. 

But without careful management there is a risk that these new campuses lead to confusion. For example, the two campuses named in the announcement this week, in Aberdeen and Manchester, are doing quite different things. An energy campus in Aberdeen has a clear policy theme, in a location that is a hub for the energy sector. It can be built around a department, DESNZ, which will set its strategy and invest in its success. 

The digital and AI innovation campus in Manchester will have a different role. Digital is a cross-cutting function, rather than a theme. It needs to be embedded in all policy areas, departments and programmes rather than siloed, as physically separating digital from the policy it will affect will lead to isolation, not innovation. These are tensions that will need to be managed – and resolved.

Ministers have decided, from London, to move civil service roles and offices elsewhere. This announcement is a positive start, but it will be a false start unless the government  creates clarity and coherence out of the patchwork of civil service offices across the country. Without a wider narrative for relocation, the government risks leaving too many reasons for civil servants to be pulled back to London. 

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