Labour will move civil service jobs out of London

Tonight, Ed Balls will give a speech in Birmingham where he’ll explain that the as part of a next Labour government’s devolution agenda they would move more civil service jobs outside London and transfer more powers over the economy and funding to city and county regions.

This comes ahead of the publication of Labour’s second interim report Labour’s Zero-Based Review tomorrow. This is part of Labour’s efforts to account for how money is spent in the UK – to analyse where savings can be made. Those conducting the review have found that the proportion of civil service jobs located in London has increased since 2010.

Balls will explain:

“This needs to change if we are to make savings to help get the deficit down and rebalance the economy too.

“So I will ask every government department to draw up a plan for civil service relocation outside London. And a Labour Treasury will set an objective for savings over the course of the next decade.

“The last Labour government made progress on moving civil service jobs and government activities outside London. Indeed as Schools Secretary I oversaw the move of the QCA/Ofqual to Coventry. But I’m clear that the next Labour government will need to go further. And we will.”

On devolving economic power and funding to city and county regions, Balls will explain:

“We have to devolve from Whitehall and back local businesses and local government to invest and grow and shape solutions to local challenges.

“One of the things this government did was to abolish the Regional Development Agencies – a destructive act which Business Secretary, Vince Cable, described as “Maoist and chaotic”.

“The LEPs which have been put in their place have too little power and too little resource to really make a difference. But our local economies cannot withstand another major upheaval of the local growth infrastructure. Evolution, not revolution, is the right way forward.

“So our approach is to strengthen partnerships between local authorities and independent Local Enterprise Partnerships – and the business and higher education leaders represented by LEPs. 

“And a Labour Treasury will also allow city and county regions that come together in combined authorities to keep all the additional business rates revenue generated by growth.”

On areas that don’t want to have an elected mayor, Balls will explain:

“I do not think it is either necessary or wise for Westminster politicians to start dictating the particular political structures which will best make devolution work in each sub-region.

“London has an elected mayor and that is working for London. Greater Manchester, after years of working closely together across 10 local authorities, has decided to have an elected city-region Mayor and that is something I support if it is what Greater Manchester wants.

“But I do not believe it is right for the Chancellor to insist on elected mayors as a condition for devolving powers and resources – a step which many of those areas have rejected in the recent past.

“And I do not think it is right to short-change city and county regions in the North-East, West and South Yorkshire, the East Midlands or here in the West Midlands by offering up a lesser package of devolution if they do not believe an elected Mayor works for them. 

“To deny the freedoms and resources the government has granted to Greater Manchester to the Midlands, the North and other parts of England because they will not agree to a Whitehall political blueprint would be unfair and damage growth and job creation.

“Those places which choose to have a combined authority but not to have an elected mayor should not be short-changed by this government. And the next Labour government will not short-change them.”