Hundreds of civil servant roles moved to Manchester as government pushes ‘levelling up’ mission
The government announced this afternoon it will be opening a culture hub in Manchester, adding up to 400 jobs as part of its “levelling up” programme.
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport will be expanding its presence across the UK with staff based to be in Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh, Loughborough and Darlington.
The Darlington Economic Campus, a new shared site in the north east for the Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for Education, will have almost 200 DCMS staff based there.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said:
The days of London-centric decision making belong in the past. It’s an exciting time for DCMS as we expand our regional offices and tap into a more diverse talent pool.
Our strength comes from our people and this will allow us to recruit the best, wherever they may be, to deliver the wide range of DCMS policies which drive growth and enrich lives all over the UK.
The move comes following the government’s publication of its Levelling Up White Paper outlining its ambition to breathe new growth and create jobs and wealth in all parts of the country.
The white paper includes the government’s Places for Growth Strategy which seeks to address regional inequalities and improve areas by making sure local and regional considerations are central to government decision making.
These plans will ensure that decisions being made about the arts, culture, sport, media and heritage better reflect the communities they impact. In particular, the plans will allow greater proximity to the department’s Arms Length Bodies and partners in the media, cyber and digital sectors.
The new DCMS Manchester HQ will contain the head office for Building Digital UK (BDUK) which recently announced it was becoming executive agency status. BDUK is the driving force behind Project Gigabit, the government’s £5 billion plan to roll out faster broadband to hard-to-reach and rural areas and deliver gigabit-capable connections to 85 per cent of UK homes by 2025.
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council:
This is welcome news. Not only is it a reflection of Manchester’s role as a northern epicentre for culture, media and sport – and our thriving tech sector – it is also a move which should help stimulate further innovation and investment in the city and beyond.
The city is at the heart of a huge and diverse talent pool and tapping into will benefit the Government as well as bringing hundreds of jobs and other opportunities here.