HUNDREDS more people are working for the civil service in Flintshire and Wrexham than five years ago, new figures reveal.
That is according to new figures from the Cabinet Office, which follows a UK Government pledge to move more bureaucrats away from London to help “level up” the country and bring those who help run it closer to the communities they serve.
But new data shows the workforce has grown more rapidly in the capital than anywhere else, with think tank the Institute for Government saying influential senior officials have historically been the most difficult to move further afield.
The figures show there were around 2,330 civil servants in Flintshire and Wrexham at the end of March – an increase of 710, or 43.8 per cent, from five years ago.
Across the UK as a whole, the civil service expanded by 3.9 per cent to 456,400 workers.
Across Wales, the workforce grew by 13.5 per cent – the highest growth rate of the UK’s four countries.
London saw a growth rate of 16 per cent, with its civil servant headcount now making up around a fifth of the UK total.
The figures include civil servants working for government departments, agencies, and non-departmental public bodies in both the UK and Welsh Government, where they help to develop and implement policies.
In March, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged to relocate 22,000 civil servants from London by 2030.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove recently said that moving government decision-making away from the capital would help “reflect the full diversity of our United Kingdom”.
The Institute for Government says there are some signs dominance is beginning to shift away from the city, with the biggest growth in civil service employment seen in the South West of England in the last year.
But Sarah Nickson, a researcher at the group, said higher-ranking officials – who tend to be more concentrated in London – have been harder to budge in the past.
She added: “Senior policy jobs are the kind that are needed to shift the dial on decision-making.
“And even once jobs have been relocated, you need a sustained effort to keep them there, and stop them shifting back to London.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "Decision makers should be close to the people they serve and we want to see opportunity fairly distributed across the country.
"These statistics show there are now more civil servants than last year in Scotland, Wales, the Midlands, the South West, the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside.
"But we are not complacent and will continue our work to make sure the civil service represents the whole of the UK, which is why we’ve committed to relocating civil service roles out of central London."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here