‘THIS IS GOOD NEWS AS IT MEANS JOBS COMING TO CITY CENTRE’
Home Office to rent floors at Two Smithfield
AROUND 200 Home Office workers are set to move into a council-owned city centre office block.
The first and second floors at Two Smithfield in Hanley - owned by Stoke-on-trent City Council have been empty since previous occupants Water Plus moved out of the building last year.
It has now emerged that the two floors, together with part of the ground floor, will be leased to the Home Office for up to two years.
The Home Office has been looking for a base in Stoke-ontrent after announcing that it would be creating more than 500 jobs in the city, as part of a Government drive to move civil servants out of London.
Council chiefs have now agreed to lease the space at Two Smithfield to the Home Office on a temporary basis. But the Home Office will be building its own office building elsewhere in the city centre as a permanent base.
Ministers plan to have the full complement of around 550 workers in place in Stoke-on-trent by the end of 2025, with the ‘initial cohort’ expected to be operational by late summer.
Dan Jellyman, cabinet member for regeneration at the city council, said: “This is good news as it will mean jobs coming to the city centre. But it will also mean Stoke-on-trent taxpayers will be getting a rental income from the Home Office.”
The news that the Home Office will be moving into Smithfield comes as around 200 Department for Work and Pension workers face an uncertain future due to the forthcoming closure of the Hanley Service Centre as part of a national estates review.
Cabinet members at the city council agreed to give officers authority to grant the new Smithfield lease in a behind closed doors meeting on Tuesday.
Phil Cresswell, director of housing, development and growth, has been granted authority to ‘finalise and agree the detailed terms of the lease including the length of term and other conditions’, in consultation with Mr Jellyman.
The council has previously announced plans to move Hanley’s City Central Library to Two Smithfield.
The Home Office was approached for comment but a spokesperson said a decision had not yet been taken.