Government Offices latest to go in cuts to regional government

The eight Government Offices for the Regions in England are the latest public sector bodies to face the axe, with the Communities Secretary describing them as “interfering” and “a fundamental part of the ‘command and control’ apparatus of England’s over-centralised state”.

Eric Pickles said the decision had been taken in principle to abolish the offices, subject to resolving consequential issues in the spending review in the autumn.

The Government Offices for the Regions follow the Government Office for London, Regional Development Agencies, Regional Assemblies and Regional Leaders’ Boards in being scrapped.

The Department for Communities and Local Government will negotiate with other government departments, trade unions and others in a bid to agree arrangements for transferring functions and redeploying staff.

The Communities Secretary said: “I do not believe the arbitrary government regions to be a tier of administration that is efficient, effective or popular. Citizens across England identify with their county, their city, their town, their borough and their neighbourhood.

“The Government Offices are not voices of the region in Whitehall. They have become agents of Whitehall to intervene and interfere in localities, and are a fundamental part of the ‘command and control’ apparatus of England’s over-centralised state.”

The Government Offices represented 12 Whitehall departments and were involved in regeneration, housing, community safety, public health, education and skills, and tackling unemployment.