Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what internal criteria his Department is using to assess locations for relocations of his Department under the Places for Growth programme.

The Government has committed to ensuring that the administration of Government is less London-centric through the relocation of 22,000 civil service roles to locations across the United Kingdom.

Defra is taking into account a range of factors including our operating model, workforce and location analysis to assess possible locations for our roles. The department will select places that we judge to have the skills, transport links and capacity to meet our needs and flourish in our chosen locations as well as ensuring locations are suitable for the long term success and sustainability of the civil service.

Relocations under Places for Growth represent better value for money due to the lower costs of estates and salaries outside of London. The majority of moves will involve roles becoming available through natural turnover or churn rather than moving people.