There have been numerous studies on the benefits of relocation, both by the previous Conservative Government and the Government of which the hon. Lady was a Member. We recognise that the number of civil servants in Central London is higher than it needs to be. Relocation of staff out of expensive London offices to other regions continues to be high on the agenda, as an option to deliver the savings needed. However, the final location of posts in a Department is decided by its business and operational requirements.

The Government Property Unit, in the Cabinet Office, is managing a programme of estate rationalisation across Central London in order to reduce the cost of offices and to make savings for the UK taxpayer. The Government's strategy is to consolidate its operations into freehold and PFI space where that is practical and cost-effective to do so. This has already resulted in the reduction of the Central Civil Estate in London by just over 432,900 sq m, or around 20% in the period from 1 May 2010 to 1 March 2013.

This Government has exited several costly leases within Central London which were entered into under the previous Government. In total this Government has saved the taxpayer a staggering £1 billion since the General Election by selling, exiting and getting out of unnecessary properties, leases and land. It would have been entirely possible for this to have happened under the previous Government.

This Government does not believe that taxpayers should foot the bill for unnecessary properties. That's why in February 2013 the Department for International Development exited its leasehold address at 1 Palace Street. Though the building was undeniably impressive,

the lease was expensive and unnecessary given the under-occupation of various properties in the area which the Government owns outright. Exiting the lease has saved the taxpayer £62.5 million.

Table 1 shows the number of paid civil servants employed by the Home Department on 31 December of each year between 2008 and 2012.

Table 2 shows the number of paid civil servants employed by the Home Department on 31 December of each year between 2008 and 2012 that were based in London.

Table 3 shows the number of paid civil servants employed by the Home Department on 31 December of each year between 2008 and 2012 that were based in other parts of England.

Information about how many posts moved from London to other parts of England over the past five years, is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office continues to look for opportunities to reduce costs and improve value for money including through staff relocation.

[holding answer 12 March 2013]: This Government believes that prior to May 2010 millions of pounds of taxpayer's money was wasted by under occupying freehold space within London (and indeed beyond) while at the same time Departments were taking out expensive leases on vanity properties. The current spending controls on Government property, including the moratorium on lease breaks and expiries, will result in a reduction in both the cost and size of the estate. As at end March 2012, the moratorium has resulted in a gross reduction in estate costs of over £312 million since May 2010 and is on track to deliver a further £125 million by the end of the financial year 2012-13.

The location of posts in Departments is decided by its business and operational requirements.

The number of staff employed in core DEFRA on 31 March in each of the last five years and broken down by those employed in London and those employed elsewhere, is shown in the following table.

Information on the number of core DEFRA posts that have moved from London to other regions could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost. There are currently no plans to move core DEFRA staff based in London to regional offices.

All figures have been rounded to nearest whole number.

The number of full-time staff equivalents (FTEs) employed within DCMS, as disclosed in our Remuneration Report, are shown in the following table.

The Department does not employ employees in other regions of England and has no plans to move employees to regional offices.

However, the Department is relocating at the end of March 2013 to 100 Parliament Street to share a building with HMRC, which will generate a saving of £2 million per year.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was formed through a machinery of government change that occurred in June 2009. The Department was created by merging the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Therefore only information from this date can be used.

The following table shows the number of staff employed in London and other regions over the last five years:

It is not known now many posts moved from London to other regions. To obtain this information would result in disproportionate costs.

The Department is not considering relocating staff out of central London in the short to medium term. BIS is reducing the number of buildings leased by the Department and its partner organisations across the country and is on course to save £84 million by March 2015. We constantly look at our property portfolio to ensure that all buildings are representing value for money.

The following table shows the number of staff employed by the Department in each of the past five years, split by region/country. Staff employed by the Department in the London region for the past five years is included in the table. Information has been provided in both headcount (by individual) and in full- time equivalent (FTE) staffing. The data are as at 31 March for each of the past years and for 31 December for the current financial year.

The location of posts in the Department is based on business and operational requirements. There is not

currently, and there has not been over the last five years, any formal programme to relocate posts from London to other regions.

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) had the following number of staff in each of the last five years.

The change in staff from 2008-11 reflects the integration of GEO into the Home Office after being a stand-alone Department. Members of GEO work extensively with staff in other Departments across Whitehall and the numbers of staff outlined should not be seen as a reflection of the number that are involved in policy with an equality element.

All staff worked in London. In a written ministerial statement of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 96WS, the Prime Minister announced the transfer of GEO from the Home Office to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). DCMS does not have any regional offices.

The number of staff employed by HM Treasury in London and its other offices in each of the past five years (listed as full-time equivalent (FTE) staff) is set out in the following table:

Fewer than five posts have moved from London to our regional offices in the last five years. Although HM Treasury does not have any current plans to move posts from London to the regions, staff continue to be employed in those offices. Staffing requirements in these offices are kept under review in the light of business requirements with a. view to offering the best policy advice and value for money for the department.

The figures requested are shown in the following table:

With regard to posts moving from London to the regions, this information is not held in the format requested.

Under Lord Levene's Defence Reform recommendations to create a smaller, more strategic head office and delegate more authority to empowered service commands we are transferring over 100, predominantly military, posts from Main Building in Whitehall to the Fleet, Land, and Air Headquarters in Portsmouth, Andover, and High Wycombe and to the new Joint Force Command Headquarters in Northwood in north London. This is part of the wider reduction in the size of the Head Office from around 2,400 people in 2011-12 to fewer than 1,600 in 2015-16.

Overall staffing figures for the Department for International Development (DFID) for the last five years, with the London component identified separately, are shown in the following table:

All DFID staff employed in England are London based.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008. Therefore there is no data prior to that date.

The data in the following table shows the number of civil servants, working in DECC at 31 March for each year and those based in London and those in our regional office in Scotland.

DECC has no immediate plans to move any additional staff to regional offices but continues to keep the location of staff under review.

The data in the table above shows staff in full-time equivalent (fte). The total number of staff shown for 2009 is the average number of staff used throughout the period as shown in the department's annual report and resource account 2008-09 as a detailed location breakdown of staff in March 2009 is not held.