Home Office to create 500 jobs in Stoke with Innovation Centre
Almost 3,000 civil service job roles will be opened up outside London and the South-East by 2025, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Home Secretary Priti Patel jointly announced today (Wednesday 19 May) – including more in Birmingham and Stoke.
The move forms part of a cross-Government initiative – the Places for Growth scheme – to ensure policy makers reflect the communities they serve.
Today’s announcement sees the Home Office, which already has more than 40% of its workforce outside of London and South East, expanding its regional presence by at least 1,950 roles, as well as BEIS overseeing the growth of 865 roles meaning 30% of its workforce will be outside of London by 2025.
Home Office presence including senior civil service roles, under Places for Growth is expected to increase in smaller cities and large towns including Stoke-on-Trent, Peterborough, Salford and Solihull as well as in Metropolitan locations and in the devolved administrations including Sheffield, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester and Edinburgh.
The Home Office is also in the process of establishing a new Innovation Centre in Stoke-on-Trent, which will accommodate case-working roles and an asylum hub. Over five years the Stoke hub will in total accommodate more than 500 roles. The plans will bring operational, policy and corporate functions to the city.
The BEIS workforce is to be grown in Salford, Birmingham, Cardiff and Darlington, and expanded to new locations in Belfast and Edinburgh, with an ambition to build a presence in Preston in the longer term. These plans will mean a total of 1,350 Department roles outside of London by 2025, an increase of 865 from today.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We are doubling down on our commitment to level up every region of the UK, so that every part of the country can share in the UK’s future prosperity.
“Our policy developers and decision-makers must reflect the communities they serve. Relocating these civil service roles will ensure central government hears the voice of local communities louder and clearer than ever before, while creating hubs of economic opportunity and growth across the UK.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Day in day out thousands of Home Office staff work tirelessly to keep the public safe, cut crime, and improve our immigration system.
“It is so important that they represent the communities they serve, and by creating 500 new Home Office jobs in Stoke-on-Trent the Government is delivering on its promise to level up communities across the country and build a safer, fairer and more prosperous UK.”
The government says that BEIS civil service roles will be shifted through natural turnover creating jobs in regional offices as and when vacancies arise from London, meaning current staff will not be required to relocate from London unless they want to. The Business Department will draw on a combination of regional offices and flexible working to ensure an efficient spread of roles.
The announcement will also see both the Business Secretary, Home Secretary and other government ministers spending an increasing amount of time outside of London.
