Wolverhampton leaders welcome plans for city to host first government HQ outside London
A roundtable event's been held today (22 February)
Last updated 22nd Feb 2021
Local leaders in Wolverhampton are welcoming the Government's announcement that a second HQ will be created in the city with "at least 500 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Group roles set to be based across the West Midlands by 2025."
It was announced on Saturday (20 February) the new MHCLG headquarters will include the presence of ministers – making it the first such ministerial office outside of London with a regular ministerial presence.
Senior civil servants will also be based in Wolverhampton, ensuring this becomes a centre for policy development and decision making.
This historic move signals a culture change in civil service to give a stronger voice to communities in our mission to level up opportunity and prosperity across the regions.
This is a significant increase on the 300 roles currently in the region and is part of plans to have at least 800 roles outside of London by 2030 – including 50 per cent of the most senior positions.
Recruitment is already underway, with 40 roles already relocated to the region in the last 12 months.
A further increase in the number of roles is set to occur by 2030.
In a roundtable event, hosted by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, local leaders welcomed the plans.
Here's some of their reaction on Twitter:
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said:
“As Communities Secretary, I am determined to spread opportunity and prosperity to every part of our nation. That is why I am delighted to be taking the historic step of moving significant numbers of senior roles out of Whitehall and creating the first ever ministerial office outside of Westminster in Wolverhampton – increasing the jobs in the Midlands to over 500.
“With a dual headquarters in Wolverhampton my department will not only change where we work but how we work, signalling the end of the Whitehall knows best approach. All of us at the department are looking forward to having the opportunity to work there.
“This Government knows that by having more local voices at the heart of our policy development and delivery, we will support our communities more effectively, and we will continue to develop greater career options in Government outside of London.
“In choosing the city of Wolverhampton we are also backing our great smaller cities, some of which have been neglected for too long. We want to raise their stature, encourage civic pride and commercial success.”
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.