The British Government has further emphasised its commitment to Scotland in recent days by announcing that 1,000 more civil servants will move up to Scotland by the middle of the decade.
The Cabinet Office, the central government department which supports the Prime Minister, will move 500 staff to Glasgow by 2024. Ministers and senior officials will also spend much more time in Scotland.
In addition, 500 civil servants from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office will also move up to its East Kilbride base by 2025, bringing the total number of staff there to 1,500. And this is on top of the 3,000 staff now based in Queen Elizabeth House, the brand new British government office in the heart of Edinburgh.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP, is of course a Scot himself and has said that he hopes these moves will ‘ensure Scottish voices shape everything’ the British government does.
As reported by the Financial Times, another senior government official said that the move was intended to ‘bring the engine room of the UK government to Scotland’.
Both Scotland and the rest of the UK will benefit from this increased British government presence north of the border. We in the Midlothian Conservatives welcome it.
