The Treasury will move one-fifth of its staff to the North of England as a part of government plans to “level up” parts of the country, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced.
There will be decentralisation of power away from Whitehall to the regions, with an “economic campus” created in the North to house staff from the Treasury and “other economic facing departments”.
“We are driving economic policy in this country, it’s important that we have a presence everywhere in this country,” Sunak told Sky News.
“I believe in making sure that wherever you live in the country there is opportunity for you. It’s absolutely not just about building a road here or a railway station there, it’s about ensuring that everyone can fulfil their dreams.”
When asked by the BBC how “levelling up” would be measured, Sunak said: “You will be able, of course, to measure it in the stats on income growth. You’ll be able to measure it in where we’re making our investments in infrastructure.
“It’s about a feeling that people have that where they happen to be born, where they happen to grow up, is not going to be the determinant of how well they do in life.”
Boris Johnson recently changed staffing arrangements to combine personnel between Number 10 and Number 11. Sunak’s staff will now report directly to the Prime Minister’s office, likely to be led by chief advisor Dominic Cummings. The new arrangement forced former Chancellor Sajid Javid to resign.
Sunak has also announced that the Treasury green book, which mandates how funding decisions are made, will be reviewed. This could potentially free up the Treasury to fund more projects in less wealthy areas.
