Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
We asked the Department to write to us about how its recruitment and location policy...
Conclusion
We asked the Department to write to us about how its recruitment and location policy would reflect the ‘levelling-up agenda’.43 HMRC subsequently wrote to us to explain that it was supporting the government’s levelling-up agenda by helping ensure the Civil Service was spread more widely across the UK. HMRC told us that, in future, its staff would be based in a network of large regional centres, specialist sites and transitional sites across every region and nation of the UK and that it would concentrate recruitment in these locations. Eleven of HMRC’s regional centres (Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Nottingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast) are identified as Places for Growth.44 HMRC’s workload
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.3 Before making contractual commitments for its regional centres, the department obtained independent qualified professional advice which confirmed that the flexible lease terms they negotiated offer the best balance of value when building modern offices in locations with a large long-term government presence. It also built in terms enabling the department to sublet space if needed and build in future flexibility.