Civil servants offered relocation packages as jobs move north

Civil servants based in London who are willing to move north have been offered relocation packages as the government accelerates a wider push to move Whitehall jobs out of the capital. Manchester is the clearest proving ground: the city is already listed as a government hub, and ministers have tied the relocation drive to promises of taking policy closer to communities.

The numbers show the scale of the shift. In March 2020, the government committed to moving 22,000 civil service jobs out of London by the end of the decade. It has also said it plans to cut 12,000 civil service roles in London and close 11 offices in the capital. Under the Places for Growth scheme, two government departments were due to move 3,000 roles from London and the South East into UK regions, a sign that the policy is not just about one city but about rebalancing the map of government itself.

Greater Manchester business and political leaders have already seen what that can look like in practice. In 2021, they welcomed news that more than 400 additional civil service roles would be based in the city-region. The latest round of relocation raises a sharper question: whether the move changes how decisions are made, or simply changes where staff sit.

That question sits at the heart of Andy Burnham’s pitch for a Manchester-based “No 10 North”. Burnham has said such a team would oversee “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”, with the broader aim of reordering authority away from Westminster and across the UK. He has also argued that the approach would “drive good growth in every postcode” and “take power out of the centre”.

The government’s own language has been more cautious, describing regional relocation as a way to put policy makers closer to the communities they serve. But the Institute for Government has warned that relocation only works if it has clear objectives and a workforce plan. Without those, moving posts north may do little more than shift the same machinery into new offices.

Manchester’s role in the plan is already visible on Civil Service Careers, where it is listed as a government location and hub. The next test is whether the civil servants being offered the chance to move will help shape policy from the city, or whether the centre of gravity in Whitehall remains unchanged.