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Hundreds of Civil Service jobs come to Wales under relocation plans

12 Dec 2023 2 minute read
300 Civil Service jobs are set to come to Wrexham by 2027

Hundreds of Civil Service jobs will be brought to Wales as part of the UK Government’s plans to accelerate the relocation of more than 20,000 Civil Service jobs outside London by 2027.

The plan to move 22,000 Civil Service roles away from the English capital by 2030 has been accelerated, with proposals to open a second headquarters for several departments in Aberdeen, Darlington and Greater Manchester.

More than 300 jobs will also be located in Wrexham as part of the plans, which ministers said was a sign of the Government’s commitment to levelling up.

The Department for Work and Pensions will recruit to fill 270 roles in the city, while the Ministry of Justice will put 50 officials in Wrexham.

Targets

Cabinet Office minister John Glen said: “We are taking the long-term decisions to move government roles out of London so more people from our great towns and cities can play a direct role in changing this country for the better.

“We have already gone above and beyond our targets, bringing the best talent from every corner of the UK into government roles, to make our civil service more efficient and representative of the wider public.”

The move follows the high-profile decision by the Treasury to open an economic campus in Darlington in 2021.

The Government has said the shifting of roles outside London will deliver economic benefits to regions across the country, while also strengthening the union.

Second headquarters

Under the plans, the Department for Business and Trade will also open a second headquarters in Darlington, while the Department for Science will open one in Greater Manchester.

Aberdeen, at the centre of North Sea fossil fuel production, will become the second headquarters of the Department for Energy Security alongside Salford.

Moving civil servants from Whitehall has long been part of the levelling up agenda, with more than 16,000 moved so far.

But it has not been without criticism. The cross-party Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee warned earlier this year that the Government has provided limited detail to justify the moves while also exaggerating the success.


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David
David
10 months ago

So, this is a further stage in the colonialism of Cymru/Wales.

G Horton-Jones.
G Horton-Jones.
10 months ago

Wales welcomed asylum seekers from a neighbouring country Citizenship status will have to be applied for

PeterC
PeterC
10 months ago

So few of them bother to go into the office (preferring to Shrirk from home), does it matter where their notional office us located

Magnus
Magnus
10 months ago
Reply to  PeterC

Not heard of office 365? Teams, SharePoint etc…

Ap Kenneth
10 months ago

Bear in mind that in the last 7 years they closed 4 HMRC offices in Wrexham, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Bangor with the loss of 500 jobs in the north of Wales with similar numbers or more in the South of Wales, with offices in Swansea, Newport, Bridgend, Merthyr all going..
Valuation offices have gone, yet more jobs. Jobs Centres have been closed as they prefer to centralise everything.
The jobs are moved at a whim and can be moved away at a whim.

hdavies15
hdavies15
10 months ago

Not job creation – just job relocation. Where are the real jobs ? Government shrug shoulders and boast of bringing in all sorts of pie in the sky long term “rewarding” ventures. Recent history teaches us that most value adding activity has been “off shored”.

Why vote
Why vote
10 months ago

What’s going to happen Wales becomes independent, it can’t be far off now we’ve had 25 years preparation for that, are all these jobs going to Wrexham so the staff won’t have far to drive at 20 from England.

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