Hundreds of government jobs moving to city

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Cabinet Office minister John Glen MP

An extra 1,000 central government jobs are being relocated to Birmingham.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed 1,164 roles will be moved out of London and into Birmingham over the next four years. It has also committed to opening another government building in the city.

It will take the total number of civil service jobs in the West Midlands to 32,500 – meaning roughly 1 in 15 of the UK’s core civil servants will now work in the region.

But the Labour Party has questioned the figures and suggested original plans for thousands more jobs in Birmingham had been watered down.

Cabinet Office minister John Glen MP

John Glen, minister for the Cabinet Office, made the new jobs announcement during a visit to the Prince’s Trust, in Birmingham.

He said the move meant that Birmingham now had a fair share of civil service jobs.

“As a proportion of the core civil service, this is a very respectable number. It’s in line with what you would expect in our second largest city.”

He also suggested there could be more jobs to come in the future.

Richard Parker, Labour candidate for West Midlands mayor, has queried the number of jobs moving to Birmingham

But Labour has questioned the numbers involved after original plans suggested up to 4,000 roles would come to the city.

Richard Parker, the Labour candidate for West Midlands mayor, said: “Every new job that comes to this region is a bonus for the West Midlands, so I’m very supportive of the announcement.

“But the reality is Andy Street, our current Mayor, has previously promised 4,000 civil service jobs to the region. So I’d like to know where the other 3,000 have gone or if they were ever coming to this region.”

Conservative mayor Mr Street confirmed there was a commitment to a third government “hub” in Birmingham – which he said “will house about 4,000 more people”.

There are currently government offices at Arena Central, Birmingham

A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC work was now under way to identify which roles will be relocated as part of the jobs announcement. The location of a new hub has yet to be decided.

The existing government offices in Birmingham are in Stephenson Street and at Arena Central.

The Government says 2,000 roles had been relocated to the West Midlands ahead of this latest announcement including 1,120 in Birmingham, 109 to Coventry, 251 to Wolverhampton, 197 to Stoke-on-Trent, and 169 to Solihull.

Organisations with some staff now based in the West Midlands include the Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office, National Crime Agency, Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities, Department for Transport, Department for Business and Trade, Infrastructure Projects Authority, Network Rail, Highways England and Homes England.