- More than 1,000 civil servants will work in new development being built as part of major regeneration programme
- Development reflects government's levelling up agenda through investment in local infrastructure
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, has welcomed a new office development in Peterborough, which is driving investment in the area and helping boost the economy.
Mr Barclay today toured the site of the new government hub at Fletton Quays in Peterborough, which will be home to more than 1,000 civil servants when it is completed.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay said:
Developments such as this in Peterborough are a great example of this government's commitment to investing in infrastructure and levelling up across our country.
We are leaving no stone unturned in delivering this important agenda, and I look forward to seeing the benefits this new hub will bring to local communities and businesses as part of our plans to spread opportunity and prosperity.
The development, which will be spread over seven floors when complete, will be the new base for civil servants from HM Passport Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Construction is due to be completed in 2022.
It is part of a £120m regeneration of the Fletton Quays site led by the Peterborough Investment Partnership and the site's developer, Bride Hall. For every £1 that government puts in for construction, it's estimated that £2.84 of private sector revenue is generated for the area.
The project is part of the government hubs programme, which has also seen the announcement of new hubs in areas including Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, Birmingham and Bristol.
These hubs will support the government's drive to move 22,000 civil service roles from central London, to locations across the United Kingdom by the end of the decade.
As part of plans to Civil Service roles out of London and spread opportunity across the UK, the Cabinet Office has announced plans for a second headquarters in Glasgow; the Department for Transport will have a second headquarters in Birmingham and a northern hub in Leeds; the Department for Work and Pensions will have a second headquarters in Leeds; and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will have a second headquarters in Wolverhampton.
Further moves will also see a Northern Economic Campus developed in Darlington by the Treasury, the Home Office will open an innovation centre in Stoke-On-Trent and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will move hundreds of jobs to bases in Salford, Birmingham, Cardiff and Darlington, Belfast and Edinburgh
As part of the Peterborough development, a number of apprentices from the area are working on the project, covering areas such as electrical work, bricklaying, joinery, groundworks and design.
Site labourers, cleaners, administrative and logistical staff have also been employed from the local area to help deliver the project.
