Written question asked by Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative) on Tuesday, 6 December 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 December 2011. It was answered by Lord Maude of Horsham (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Civil Servants: Location

Question: (2) whether he plans to develop a further programme of civil service employment relocation in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Our property strategy is driven by cost and we expect continued cost pressures to less of the civil service to be based in very expensive central London real estate.The current spending controls on Government property are reducing the cost and size of the estate, and in the first year of this initiative, over 500,000 square metres of property was surrendered. As the estate reduces in size, retained buildings will be utilised more intensively wherever possible.The Government have begun work on central London and Bristol pilots to rationalise the civil estate in these cities and will apply the lessons learned from these to develop strategies for other metropolitan areas.

Secondary information