Plans in for new £118m government hub

The Government Property Agency has submitted a planning application to Darlington Borough Council for a new government hub on Brunswick Street. The County Durham hub will be home to 1,450 civil servants and represents a £118m investment into the town. When completed, the four-storey Brunswick Street block will form part of a government campus of three buildings, including Feethams House and Bishopsgate House, all located in Darlington town centre. Parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office Alex Burghart said: “Brunswick Street, situated right in the heart of Darlington, will soon be home to a critical government hub, and as the government footprint in north England continues to grow, we will create further opportunities for people from across the country to work in the civil service. “Not only will this help drive regional economic growth, but it will also ensure that we create a civil service that better represents the diverse communities it serves.” Construction of the new government hub is set to begin later this year and be completed in early 2027. The new building will increase the total number of Darlington-based civil servants working to more than 2,300, 1,450 of whom will be located in the Brunswick Street hub. Since 2021, 762 civil service roles have been relocated to Darlington under the Places for Growth programme. More than 800 civil servants are currently based in Darlington across eight departments, including HM Treasury, the Department for Education, and the Department for Business and Trade. Clive Anderson, director of capital projects at the GPA, said: “In submitting our planning application, we are a step closer to creating another highly sustainable new government hub which will boost the local economy and see a modern, inspirational and energy-efficient workplace for government departments and their staff attracted to a rewarding civil service career based in Darlington.” A total of 18,283 civil service roles have now been relocated from London to locations across the UK, putting the government on a strong trajectory to meet its commitment to relocate 22,000 roles by 2027. The region benefiting the most from role relocation is the North West, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber, with 3,720 and 3,392 roles relocated since 2021, respectively.  Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Sheffield are the five UK cities that have received the most roles under the Places for Growth plan, with more than 7,300 roles relocated to these cities since 2021, and 826 relocated in the last quarter of 2023.