DfT set to create hundreds of jobs with HQ in city
Move is part of agenda for ‘levelling-up’
THE Department for Transport is to create a second headquarters in Birmingham, bringing hundreds of jobs to the city.
A new Birmingham office, along with a “Northern Hub” to be created in Leeds, will mean officials making decisions about the nation’s rail, roads and bus services are based in the Midlands and the North, as well as London. The department will continue to have a headquarters in Whitehall too.
An initial 650 jobs will be created at the new offices by 2025.
The Birmingham headquarters will include new ministerial offices, with Government ministers expected to spend a significant amount of time there.
The Department for Transport has already begun recruiting in Birmingham and Leeds, with 100 roles created so far.
This includes senior civil servant positions which otherwise would have been based in London.
It’s the latest in a series of Government announcements about moving civil service jobs out of London.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is to open an office in Wolverhampton, and the Treasury is to open an office in Darlington.
The Government’s goal is to move 22,000 civil service roles from London to communities across the UK by 2030.
Ministers say it is a particularly important step for the Department for Transport, given the huge role it has to play in levelling up the UK through investment in transport infrastructure and services.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This is a historic move for the department and part of a significant wider culture change across Whitehall.
“Transport is absolutely vital to the local communities we serve, and having hubs in major cities like Birmingham and Leeds will offer a fresh perspective on how we can better serve these areas.”
Transport Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Our department has a key role to play in this Government’s drive to level up across the country, and having hundreds more roles based outside of London will not only bring an economic boost for Birmingham and Leeds, but also ensure we are delivering the changes people around the country want.”
Ministers say that bringing more well-paid jobs to Birmingham and Leeds will benefit the wider economy.
There will also be investment in office space, with £65m allocated in 2021/22 for office works and improvements in the re-location programme as a whole.
Labour MP Liam Byrne (Hodge Hill), Labour’s candidate for West Midlands mayor, said: “It’s well overdue for Westminster to start moving jobs to Britain’s second city.
“These new jobs are scheduled to be in place by 2025, so we’ve got to push now to make sure this isn’t another Government transport project that ends up running late.
“As the region hardest hit by Covid, we’ve not got any time to lose.”
BIRMINGHAM’S NEC group was fined £400,000 after a scenery weight fell on an employee’s head
The National Exhibition Centre Ltd pleaded guilty to two offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act on November 16 following an accident at the International Convention Centre, in Birmingham city centre, which it also runs.
On top of the fine, the company was ordered to pay £8,864 costs. A report to Birmingham City Council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee revealed several recent prosecutions for health and safety offences and food hygiene contraventions.
The report revealed concerns about the use and storage of scenery weights on a fly platform at the ICC.
There were also six food hygiene cases, with more than £48,000 of fines handed out following investigations by environmental health officers.
In one case, Mohammed Hassan pleaded guilty to three offences relating to the conditions found at Hajees Fish & Chips, Coventry Road, Small Heath, and was fined £320.
The report to councillors said: “There was evidence of cockroach activity throughout the premises, there was a build-up of grease around the kebab rotisserie area, and a lack of pest proofing at the entrance to the potato preparation room and in the kitchen.”
In another case, Ali Tarin pleaded guilty to six offences relating to Murad Supermarket in Ladypool Road, Balsall Heath, and was fined £1,605.
Officers found “bottles of apple juice and tubs of olives with cheese and herbs on display for sale past their use-by dates”.
KTI Frozen Foods Ltd, at Northside Business Centre, Wellington Street, Winson Green, was also fined £16,666 after pleading guilty to eight offences.
The report said: “Mouse droppings were found throughout the premises and there were holes at floor/wall junctions allowing the ingress of pests.
“Onions were stored directly on the floor and they had flies on them, food was stored uncovered in the fridge, and there was no soap provided at the wash hand basins.”