Thousands of civil servants will move to a state of the art new building in the heart of Manchester from 2025, Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced today.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) has signed a lease agreement today with developer Ask Real Estate and its JV partner, The Richardson Family, for a c12,000 square metre site on First Street.

Minister Rees-Mogg welcomed the work on the new site, which underlines the government’s commitment to levelling up. The hub will host some 2,500 civil servants, including over 700 roles which will be relocated from London to Manchester.

Under the government’s Places for Growth programme, 22,000 Civil Service roles will be moved out of London by 2030.

More than 700 roles across a number of government departments have already been relocated to Manchester. By 2025, the Places for Growth programme will relocate more than 2,500 civil service roles from Greater London to Manchester. Departments moving roles include the Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Department for Education and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

The move of Civil Service roles to Manchester is expected to generate £31m in economic benefits for the city, down to increased footfall and spending from staff.

Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg said:

“The First Street development reaffirms Her Majesty’s Government’s long-term commitment to Manchester. The Places for Growth programme is delivering high quality government jobs across the whole country, and ensuring that Whitehall can take advantage of the wisdom and experience from people all over the United Kingdom.

“This new site will provide a home for civil servants from at least four different government departments, making it one of the largest hubs for cross-government collaboration and operation outside London.

“By the time this site opens in 2025, 2,500 Civil Servants will have been relocated from Greater London to Manchester. I am pleased that the government has secured them a new home with office working at its heart, which will bring tens of millions of pounds to the Greater Manchester economy.”

The Manchester First Street Hub will open in 2025 and provide a new home for civil servants currently based in the Piccadilly Gate office. Piccadilly Gate will be demolished to build a new HS2 station at Piccadilly.

The Hub will provide office accommodation providing different types of areas for people to work and collaborate, as well as enabling efficiencies through interoperability and digitally-enabled office space.

Clive Anderson, GPA’s Director of Capital Projects said:

“The Government  Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme will provide a smaller, better and greener estate which supports the Government’s ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“The hubs create modern, inclusive environments where departments can be collocated in shared buildings across the UK. This supports the Government’s Levelling Up agenda and Places for Growth initiative, encouraging the movement and creation of jobs outside London.”

John Hughes, Managing Director at Ask Real Estate said:

“Attracting the GPA to the estate, further establishes First Street as one of the most sought after business destinations in the region. We have worked over a number of years to create a community and a neighbourhood with aspiring amenity and established talent. This news will enable us to realise and progress our ambition to accommodate 10,000 jobs by 2028 and create a sustainable urban campus.

With Manchester’s target to be a zero-carbon city by 2038, sustainability and wellbeing have been firmly considered and embedded into the design at the forefront of plans. The vision of the scheme was to deliver an office building that can be net zero carbon in operation, and this building will do exactly that. The scheme will be delivered to achieve a Design for Performance NABERS rating of 5.5 stars making it the most sustainable building in operation in Manchester City Centre.

We felt our next building on the estate, in particular the scheme’s green credentials, would be the perfect fit for the GPA with the Government’s sustainability drive, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to the First Street estate.”

As well as delivering taxpayer savings through a reduction in supporting services and existing office costs by consolidating buildings, the programme will act as a catalyst for regional growth and ensure the delivery of the best quality service to the public.

The Manchester First Street Hub is in the heart of Manchester and only a few minutes walk from Oxford Road and Deansgate stations. The hub will be designed to be class-leading, meeting inclusive and accessible design standards.

David Buttress, former chief executive of Just Eat, has been appointed as the Government’s new Cost of Living Business Tsar by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Mr Buttress will work in partnership with the private sector to identify, develop and promote new and existing business-led initiatives that support people with rising costs of living – from discounted prices or product offers to the expansion of business-run programmes.

This work will build on the schemes, offers and targeted help that some businesses and organisations are already providing and help raise awareness of the private sector offer to the public, which is in addition to extensive government-funded support. Successful examples include price locking campaigns seen in retailers Asda, Sainsbury’s and Boots, and energy supplier Octopus’s decision to double its hardship support fund, which has helped more than 36,000 people so far.  

The Holiday Activities and Food Programme provides one such opportunity for local level partnerships between sports clubs and supermarkets, backing projects that boost access to free activities and food during the holidays for disadvantaged children, including those in receipt of free school meals.

Mr Buttress will join today (Tuesday 14 June) a roundtable with supermarkets and sports organisations hosted by the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, where they will discuss the role that the private sector can play in helping low-income families, including through the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme. 

Representatives from organisations such as Co-op, John Lewis Partnership/Waitrose, Swim England, Sport England, and English Football League are due to attend.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay said:

“Businesses and organisations across the country have stepped up time and time again when the nation needs it most. The financial pressures people are facing as a result of current global challenges will be no different.

“I am delighted to have David Buttress on board, bringing with him a wealth of experience along with the vigour and ingenuity of business to go even further in efforts to support British families throughout this difficult time.”

David Buttress has a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship and investment – leading Just Eat in the UK from a start-up to becoming Europe’s largest technology IPO in a decade. He is currently Chairman of Dragons Rugby club in Newport and a Venture Partner at 83North Venture Capital.

David Buttress, Cost of Living Business Tsar, said:

“The rising cost of living that we are all facing, both in the UK and globally, provides business and industry with a unique challenge and opportunity to do our bit.

“I am looking forward to working closely with my private sector colleagues, to help support our communities and customers with practical and real cost of living saving initiatives.”

The new role of Cost of Living Business Tsar is the latest strand of Government action to support people with challenging financial pressures.

Last month, the Government announced that eight million of the most vulnerable households (around a third of all UK households) will receive £1,200 this year and all families will receive £400 – this is on top of changes to Universal Credit, National Living Wage and National Insurance thresholds, so that people keep more of what they earn.

This takes total government cost of living support to over £37 billion – higher than other major economies around the world.

The Government has recently launched a new website which brings government support on offer together in one place so the public can see what support they could be eligible for: www.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport

Notes to editors:

• David Buttress will work in this role until the end of the year and is a voluntary (unpaid) role.
• He will report to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and PM’s Chief of Staff Steve Barclay.

A statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission has found that the previous trustee board of the charity was responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement after failing to have appropriate financial controls in place to manage a substantial increase in funds. The Commission issued the trustees with an Action Plan to improve their financial management and governance to prevent further harm and the regulator is satisfied that this has been implemented.

In 2016 the charity sold its main asset, a property on Old Kent Road in London, in an agreement with a developer which allowed them to continue to occupy the building. The proceeds of this sale represented a significant increase in the charity’s income. In 2019, after identifying serious concerns about the charity’s management, financial controls and record keeping, the Commission opened a statutory inquiry.

The charity’s poor financial management and planning meant that it had spent a significant portion of the proceeds of the property sale despite a decrease in other income. Due to the potential risk to the charity’s assets, the inquiry froze all of the charity’s bank accounts in February 2020, and any outgoing payments had to be authorised by the Commission.

The charity’s trustees changed during the inquiry. The inquiry concluded that the previous trustee board’s failure to do the following amounts to mismanagement and/or misconduct in the administration of the charity:

• Put proper financial controls and procedures in place;
• Record and document the use of charitable funds appropriately;
• Ensure that conflicts of interest were adequately acknowledged and managed;
• Keep an up-to-date fixed asset register;
• Accurately document the sale of the property in their financial accounts.

The inquiry found that after the property sale the charity increased its expenditure without proper oversight or budgeting. For example, in the financial years from 2016 to 2018, the charity spent over £450,000 on ‘international outreach’ including business class travel, five-star hotels and payments to partner organisations in China and India. Due to poor record keeping and financial controls, the trustees were unable to demonstrate that all its funds had been spent solely for exclusively charitable purposes.

An Action Plan was issued to the current trustees in February 2021, requiring them to seek independent financial advice and undertake an extensive review of the charity’s governance and financial management. The trustees fully complied with the Action Plan, updating and creating new policies relating to financial matters and conflicts of interest. They also reviewed the charity’s general spending and decided to suspend their international outreach program and reduce the salaries of employees, which had increased after the property sale.

The Commission will continue to monitor the implementation of the charity’s new policies after the closure of this inquiry.

Amy Spiller, Head of Investigations at the Charity Commission said,

It is essential that charities have robust financial management in place so the public can trust that all of its funds are used in furtherance of charitable objectives. With The Everlasting Arms Ministries, a sudden increase in income highlighted failures by its then trustee board to have adequate policies and governance in place.

In order to prevent further mismanagement, our inquiry had to intervene to freeze the charity’s bank accounts and issue an Action Plan. We are pleased that the current trustees have implemented the Action Plan and are committed to improving the charity’s financial management. We will continue to monitor their progress on this matter.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.
2. The Commission opened the inquiry on 30 December 2019. View the full inquiry report.

The call for evidence – Helping savers understand their pension choices – explores what type of support pension savers need when accessing their hard-earned savings, as well as what pension products and investment options are currently available from pension schemes and what may be offered in the future.

The DWP are particularly seeking the views of consumer organisations and of pension savers with an occupational pension about how they want to be supported in the lead up to taking their pension, when they access their pension, and after they have started to use their savings.

Minister for Pensions Guy Opperman said:

Deciding how to use your workplace pension savings is one of the most important financial decisions many people will make.

Automatic Enrolment has introduced over 10.6 million people to pension saving, and we want to ensure the record number of Brits now saving for retirement have the support and information they need to make informed choices about accessing their hard-earned savings.

2022 marks 10 years since the introduction of Automatic Enrolment. Since 2012, the percentage of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension has increased by a third, meaning more people than ever will need to consider how to convert their pension savings into retirement income, known in the pensions industry as to “decumulate”.

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Advocacy, PLSA, said:

We welcome today’s publication of a call for evidence on decumulation in the trust sector and that it is seeking input on a range of existing and new solutions. We look forward to engaging further with the DWP on this topic throughout the consultation process and beyond. Since the pension freedoms individuals have had more options regarding how they access their pension savings, but most people need support in making these important and complex decisions.

The call for evidence builds upon research by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which found that many people choose the “path of least resistance” when it comes to accessing their savings, often taking an income from their current pension provider without shopping around for the best product, or without being aware of how their savings are being invested.

The DWP want to support savers by helping them understand the variety of options available when taking their pension savings, from wake-up packs or guidance to what pension products and investment options are currently available to them, all the while ensuring protections are in place for those who do not engage with pension choices.

The responses to the Call for Evidence will inform what, if any, government action is required to help pension savers make the most of their retirement choices when they decumulate.

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