Plan for Sheffield 'policy hub' to move key civil service jobs out of London

About 7,000 civil service jobs are based in Sheffield

A "policy campus" for about 1,000 government staff is to be established in Sheffield under plans to move key civil service jobs out of London.

The Cabinet Office said it wanted to "build a critical mass of policymakers" in the South Yorkshire city.

A fast-track leadership programme and apprenticeships will mean staff do not have to move away to progress in their careers, the government claimed.

About 7,000 civil servants currently work in Sheffield.

About 1,000 of them, mostly from the Department for Education, the Home Office and the Department for Work & Pensions have policy roles.

The government said the "first-of-its-kind" Sheffield scheme would include a regional "fast stream" pilot programme to train graduates for senior positions, internship placements for university students, and expanded apprenticeships.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said "for too long" civil servants wanting to step up into more senior positions "have needed to leave their home town" and move to London.

"We need people with a broad range of experiences, backgrounds and insights if we are going to deliver for the whole of the UK and initiatives such as the Sheffield policy campus will allow us to do exactly that," he added.

'Huge opportunity'

Sheffield Council leader Tom Hunt said the announcement was "good for our city, for South Yorkshire and for the whole country".

"Policy that is designed by people who understand the challenges we face in our communities is better policy," he added.

South Yorkshire's mayor Oliver Coppard said the plans provided "a huge opportunity to help break down barriers between Whitehall and local and regional government".

The campus will be based at existing government offices in the city centre.

The scheme is part of the government's Places for Growth "levelling-up" programme, which aims to move 22,000 civil service roles out of the capital by 2030 as part of plans to address regional economic disparities.

The Cabinet Office said 2,400 jobs had so far been relocated to Yorkshire, with 637 of those - mostly at the Home Office - moving to Sheffield.

A report published by the Institute for Government this week said the relocation of civil service staff was helping to shape policy "by exposing policymakers to different realities across the country".

However, it warned relocations had "only had a limited economic effect" and should not be seen as "a primary tool of levelling up".