'Chunks' of civil service to be moved out of London, says Michael Gove

Large swathes of the civil service are to be moved out of London to help create a fairer British society, Michael Gove has said.

The Cabinet Office minister told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the move would help distribute "opportunity, jobs and investment fairly" across the UK.

Asked if "chunks" of the civil service would be moved out of London, Mr Gove said: “Yes. I think it is vitally important that decision-makers are close to people.

"I think it is vitally important that the strength of the UK Government is displayed across the whole of the United Kingdom and that we distribute opportunity, jobs and investment fairly.

“We’ve already got civil servants in Scotland, who are working for the Department for International Development, and in Wales, working for the Department for Transport – but we can do more.

“It’s good for the Union, it’s good for equal opportunity, it is good for what we call levelling up.

But he added that questions about relocating the Houses of Parliament were not for the Government to decide.

Mr Gove went on: “But my own view? I think that, if people were to see Parliament closer to different parts of the United Kingdom, then I don’t see there are any reasons why we can’t have more operations of the UK Parliament in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Our UK Parliament is a parliament for everyone in the United Kingdom, so making it more accessible, and we can discuss how, is a good thing.”

Mr Gove later told Times Radio that he would ensure that the Government publishes data showing who applies for and wins a place on the Civil Service’s prestigious 'fast stream' graduate scheme.

Asked why no data was published for 2019, he said: “I’ll go back and look at making sure we can be as transparent as possible.

“I think we should publish figures on the background of people who apply and the background of people who succeed in getting into the Civil Service.

“I’ll look back to see if it was the case that we dropped or edited that information, then I’ll ask and see if we can do even better.”

Pushed on how the civil service can be more representative of the UK, Mr Gove said: “One of the ways that we can do that is by having a broader geographical spread of decision-making in the UK.

“It doesn’t have to be the case that you feel you have to go to Oxbridge and to London to have an opportunity to be a decisive voice in shaping the future of this country.”

Mr Gove's comments come after Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that 22,000 civil servants would be moved out of the capital by 2030 in his March budget statement.

Neither Mr Gove nor Mr Sunak confirmed where in the UK the jobs could be relocated to.

The Government has been planning a shake-up of the civil service for months according to reports, with some Government figures said to see Whitehall as set in its ways.

Mr Gove has been tasked with overhauling parts of the civil service. He used a speech last month to call for the Government to “be less southern, less middle class” and “closer to the 52 per cent who voted to Leave and more understanding of why”.

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