Civil service must spread from centres

The decision to locate the headquarters of Scotland’s new welfare agency in Dundee was rightly lauded. The move will create or protect 750 jobs and that increased workforce will add to the vibrancy of the city centre.

However, this positive development masks not only an ongoing failure to spread public sector work across the country, but also a trend towards yet more centralisation.

The Courier has today published figures revealing 80% of the devolved civil service workforce is based in Edinburgh or Glasgow. The UK Government has also demonstrated a disposition to cluster public employment in the central belt through its programme of HMRC office closures.

Public sector jobs do not just bring employment to an area, they create a virtuous cycle of economic activity as workers spend their cash locally and private firms follow suit in basing their staff nearby.

They also allow parts of the country to experience a buyin over how the country is governed.

While there can be logistical, cost and skills reasons for basing staff in existing administration hubs around the central belt, the force of technology should lessen those arguments and both governments should listen to the case for decentralisation.

It is as much about connecting communities to decisionmaking as it is about creating jobs in the areas that need them most.