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44 Connecting EnglandEvidence: Relocation and Regional Development‘It has been particularly heartening to see that some key elements of relocation (20,000 civil service posts wererecommended for relocation in my report) are now being done, in part encouraged by the efficiency drivesdemanded by the Gershon Review. The Office of Government Commerce is doing excellent work in actively coordinatingthe implementation and pattern of movement associated with my recommendations.‘There are two big headline issues however that need to be taken forward. The first is that I have recommendedto Government that it ought to develop a spatial strategy about where it is going to concentrate activities; thisis in part to ensure its locational decisions do not do damage to important skill hubs. In order to take accountof my recommendation on resilience we need a spatial strategy that considers the country as a whole. Such astrategy should be ‘business led’ efficiency based guidance on preferred locations for public sector governmentactivities. The developing notion of Growth Areas (in the Sustainable Communities Plan) is particularlywelcome but Government has not developed a business led spatial strategy for its own activities thatcorresponds with its Communities Plan.‘Second, having seen the evidence suggesting that Government departments are beginning to relocate I amnow confident the full 20,000 relocation target will be met with the added possibility that some extra functionsmight also be relocated. It is now time therefore to consider when it might be appropriate to move forward tothe next stage of a more radical review of the nature of headquarters of Government departments. There is nounbreakable chain that demands that a Minister’s office right down to all his 4,000 officials must all beconfined to central London.’Sir Michael Lyons, Evidence to the Commissioncivil servant concerned and urges a voluntary rather than a compulsory approach to secure thedesired outcomes. However, such a pattern of relocation has been possible and often welcomedin the past in the UK and in other EU nations, and provides a good example of a national policyframework delivering local jobs for neighbourhood regeneration outcomes on the ground.Extending the principle of relocation from central government functions to shared localgovernment functions was suggested to the Commission. It was noted that some Londonboroughs had outsourced some of their functions to cities in the North of England.Commissioners recommend that at a minimum the Lyons Review recommendation that20,000 Civil Service posts be relocated to areas in need of investment and regeneration (with asignificant majority to be to located in the North and far South West) should be fulfilled. Also,local government should be encouraged to examine the business and community case forcollectively locating some of their functions in regeneration areas. The Commission alsorecommends that Civil Service relocations be reviewed and extended beyond the 20,000 target.4.9 Delivery and TimescalesWe are not identifying infrastructure needs sufficiently far ahead of plans for growth anddevelopment.As noted above, the Commission is concerned that the Sustainable Communities Plan is at riskbecause of an inadequate government commitment to provide the basis of an adequateinfrastructure network. This is not just a question of the scale of resources (a subject beyond the