The Government is planning to speed up relocation of civil servants from London under moves to make huge efficiency savings, the Chancellor announced.

The number of civil servants in London will be reduced by one-third over the long term, with 15,000 posts relocated within the next five years.

Alistair Darling told MPs that 1,000 posts from the Ministry of Justice will be moved out of central London, saving £41 million.

The announcement, made as civil servants mounted picket lines outside Parliament as part of a national strike over redundancy pay, follows a steady flow of Whitehall jobs from London to the regions.

Departments which have switched work from the capital in recent years include the Health and Safety Executive to Bootle on Merseyside and the Office for National Statistics to Newport in South Wales.

Union leaders have complained that the relocation has cost jobs and forced some staff to seek alternative work because their families were unwilling or unable to move.

“Relocation should be done with the consent of the workforce,” said a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services union. “The Government also needs to recognise that people have family ties and many are dual earners, with the partners of civil servants having a job in London.

“Civil servants should not be forced out of a job at the whim of politicians – there needs to be a sound business case.”

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