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Written question asked by Lord Gove (Conservative) on Monday, 13 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 July 2009. It was answered by Iain Wright (Labour) on Thursday, 12 November 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost has been of relocation of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority from London to Coventry; how much was spent on (a) consultants for advice in relation to the move and (b) on physically moving; how many (i) retention payments, (ii) relocation payments and (iii) redundancy payments were provided to staff at each grade; how many staff received each type of payment; whether retention payments were single payments; what costs were met through relocation payments; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

In the final report from his Independent Review of Public Sector Relocation in March 2004, Sir Michael Lyons recommended that 20,000 civil service jobs should move from London, to contribute to the reform of public services and to improve regional growth and national competitiveness. Following the Government's response in July 2004, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) undertook to relocate 400 posts to Coventry by March 2010, as part of the Department's response to the Lyons agenda. The organisation remains on course to achieve this goal. Interim Ofqual, which is currently part of QCA, is now fully based in Coventry.For the period 1 April 2007 to 30 June 2009, total expenditure on relocation was £24.5 million. Of this, some £3 million was spent on consultants to provide specialist advice and skills not held within the organisation. The costs incurred over the short term will be offset by longer term savings. In particular, the rent payable for the organisation's office space will reduce from £6 million per annum in London to £1.4 million per annum in Coventry, and QCDA is using the opportunity of the relocation to restructure.Staff cost savings of approximately £400,000 per annum have already been generated, and this is expected to grow as more staff are recruited in the West Midlands. QCDA's annual administrative costs will be a forecast 5 per cent. lower in real terms after the relocation is completed.Expenditure on moving, including retention, relocation and redundancy payments provided to staff, and numbers of staff in receipt of payments is shown in the following table.

£
2008-09 2009-10 (up to 30 September 2009)
Staff Grade Retention¹ Relocation Redundancy Retention¹ Relocation Redundancy
B — 4,585 6,516 17,499 109 26,461
C 27,209 6,946 257,798 58,622 11,505 167,208
D 50,991 91,232 318,961 90,382 71,801 200,292
E 23,587 55,593 351,107 177,082 47,386 527,297
F — — 160,647 82,158 11,641 120,982
Total 101,787 158356 1,095,208 425,743 142,442 1,042,240
Number of staff 30 28 29 93 39 38
¹ Retention payments are all single payments
Source:
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (September 2009)

Costs met through relocation cover reimbursement of staff claims for physical moves to the Midlands, including for example stamp duty on the purchase of a new house or additional commuting costs to Coventry.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
499 c994-6W; 286984
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Location
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk