He has staked his reputation on closing the gap between the north and the south, but every single one of George Osborne’s senior civil servants are based in London, the government has admitted.
Figures reveal that 100% of Treasury senior civil servants and 99.9% of treasury core policy civil servants work from the capital.
The numbers were released ahead of Wednesday’s budget, where Osborne is expected to further outline his plans for the “northern powerhouse” agenda. The project has seen the chancellor focus on devolving power away from Whitehall to cities and regions across the north, in addition to promising to improve transport.
Last week, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which with the treasury is responsible for delivering the chancellor’s “powerhouse” scheme, admitted that 97% of its staff are also based in the capital.
The findings were released by Harriett Baldwin, MP, economic secretary, in response to questions by Louise Haigh, the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley.
Heeley accused the chancellor of ignoring the voices of northern communities: “The chancellor has tried to hijack the northern powerhouse agenda but according to his own figures his Treasury is the most centralised Whitehall machine not just in this government, but quite possibly of any government in recent history. The reality is that he is building a power base, not just a powerhouse.
“How does the chancellor expect the voice of communities like mine to be heard when every single one of his top officials and policy makers are based just yards from his office in central London?”
The leader of Tameside council, Kieran Quinn, who helped negotiate Greater Manchester’s ambitious devolution deal with Osborne, said the figures showed how important devolution was.
“Devolution is now unstoppable. We need more people who live in the north, who understand the north and can help work with us to find the right solutions,” he said. “As much as the Treasury officials in Whitehall are well-meaning people, the fact that they are sitting in London shows how difficult it is to get them to understand what we need and want.”
A spokeswoman for the Treasury said: “These figures are totally misleading. The northern powerhouse is a cross government plan which is already making major inroads. Since 2010 unemployment in the north has fallen by a third and just this week we committed £300m to transform northern connectivity, following the appointment of John Cridland to lead Transport for the North.
“All this has been achieved thanks to the close working relationships the officials right across government have, whether in London or elsewhere, with leaders and decision makers across the north. The whole point of the devolution revolution is to take powers away from Whitehall – and next year more than half of the northern powerhouse will be covered by an elected mayor. This is the biggest shift in the way Britain is governed for a generation.”
Described as the interface between politicians and the public administration, the senior civil service is tasked with implementing political strategies and legal instruments.
Over the past five years, across all departments, the number of senior civil servants working from London has risen by 5%. Where 65.1% worked from London on 1 April 2010, on the same date in 2015, the figure was at 67.0%.
