York looks to reap benefits of civil service relocations (From York Press)
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York looks to reap benefits of civil service relocations
8:46am Friday 26th March 2010 in
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- By Mark Stead » mark.stead@thepress.co.uk
A MASTERPLAN of potential sites where civil servants could be based in York is being drawn up by the city’s political chiefs.
Chancellor Alistair Darling promised in this week’s Budget that the number of London-based civil service posts was to be cut by a third, with 15,000 positions being relocated within the next five years.
And with York hoping to secure hundreds of those jobs, City of York Council leader Andrew Waller said the authority was drawing up a portfolio of available office space and land where they could be housed.
The dossier, which is being compiled in collaboration with Science City York and the University of York, includes sites such as the stalled Hungate development and York Science Park.
Coun Waller said: “The Budget announcement is a very positive sign and I have had meetings with Science City York and the university about how we can make a strong pitch for science and Defra jobs coming here.
“York has good transport links and quality of life, as well as high-quality schools, so it is a good place to relocate. We are putting together a portfolio of property and land which is available and ready to go to state our case for these jobs which are to be moved.
“It will include sites which have planning permission or where accommodation is already constructed, and it will allow us to go to the people making these decisions, ask them what their requirements are and where they need to be based, then show them what York has.
“I would also invite private landlords whether they would like to be part of the case we are putting together, as attracting these Civil Service jobs can help the private sector.”
Denise Stuart, chief executive of york-england.com, which aims to attract investment to the city, said Mr Darling’s decision to move the posts away from London to less-costly locations elsewhere was “a fantastic opportunity”. She said: “This could mean jobs for our people – we have to redouble our efforts and be one step ahead of the competition from local authorities all over the UK.”
Comments(9)
LocalWolf
says...
10:13am Fri 26 Mar 10
Whistlejacket
says...
10:18am Fri 26 Mar 10
I don't think that either the Council or jobseekers should pin too much hope on more taxpayer funded jobs being created in York.
It would be of far more benefit to the economy if the Council spent the same time and effort on talking to private businesses to see how they can be encouraged to expand and take on extra staff.
sheps lad
says...
10:19am Fri 26 Mar 10
LocalWolf wrote:Maybe a few office cleaners and tea trolley ladies?
When those jobs turn up, the majority will have the staff arriving with them, not providing more jobs here.
sun seeker's
says...
12:46pm Fri 26 Mar 10
pedalling paul
says...
3:27pm Fri 26 Mar 10
sheps lad wrote:Yes Minister.......!
LocalWolf wrote: When those jobs turn up, the majority will have the staff arriving with them, not providing more jobs here.Maybe a few office cleaners and tea trolley ladies?
ak7274
says...
3:37pm Fri 26 Mar 10
I just love this government telling us they are investing in the future,yet seem to put money they don't have into the public sector and pull the plug on investments that involve the private sector. Why in the name of God do we accept the public sector losing 5% of workers and the private sector losing 25%? in this recession Who pays for all this? since the present government came into power a 26% percent increase in public sector employment and a 3% increase in the private sector. Go on then, some clever economist tell me and the rest of us idiots how that's sustainable. In fact don't tell me.............tell the Jarvis workers.
Caecilius
says...
6:20pm Fri 26 Mar 10
ak7274 wrote:Well, I'm sure you dynamic people in the private sector don't need to rely on government cash handouts - unless of course you're bankers, or employed by one of our heavily subsidised rail companies (to take a couple of examples). You all work for lean, efficient organisations like the utility firm which has now had 5 attempts at filling in the hole it dug outside my house a few months ago. Never mind; they can just jack up their astronomical prices even higher to cover the cost of doing the same job over and over again until they finally get it right.
Isn't this just a load of the proverbial? I just love this government telling us they are investing in the future,yet seem to put money they don't have into the public sector and pull the plug on investments that involve the private sector. Why in the name of God do we accept the public sector losing 5% of workers and the private sector losing 25%? in this recession Who pays for all this? since the present government came into power a 26% percent increase in public sector employment and a 3% increase in the private sector. Go on then, some clever economist tell me and the rest of us idiots how that's sustainable. In fact don't tell me.............tell the Jarvis workers.
No particular beef against the Jarvis workers but the rail network is far more heavily subsidised by the taxpayer now, when it's supposed to be a private business, than it used to be when it was in public ownership. Fares are relatively far higher, too, and I don't see that the service is significantly better.
Rail company shareholders, like bankers, must be turning over a nice profit at the public's expense. All you need to do is exercise your entrepreneurial skills and persuade them to spend it on the products/services you supply. That's the free market economy you chose to live by when it was bringing in the money - and it's the operation of the free market which caused the job losses you refer to.
ak7274
says...
7:24pm Fri 26 Mar 10
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Garrowby Turnoff says...
9:18am Fri 26 Mar 10
...it's the same old "same old"