A YORK MP has launched a fresh drive to entice the Government to transfer more Civil Service jobs to the city.

Hugh Bayley, who represents York Central, says shifting the public sector roles from London would help Westminster departments meet tough cost-cutting targets as well as giving York’s economy a huge shot in the arm.

He has now written to every Secretary of State asking them to consider such a relocation, saying housing civil servants in York would save them money due to the lower price-tags involved in renting premises.

Mr Bayley has earmarked space next to Defra’s existing complex at Kings Pool as being a prime site for any Civil Service move, as well as highlighting York’s road and rail links as a major reason why the city should be at the front of the queue if roles are transferred away from the capital.

It comes as Government departments have been warned they will have to slice their budgets by at least 25 per cent, and Mr Bayley said basing more of the Civil Service in York would be a win-win scenario.

He said: “The Government say they want to cut costs so they should be thinking about relocating jobs out of London, where office costs are much more expensive.

“In the last 13 years, the number of civil servants working in York has doubled. Defra, the Pensions Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and the Ministry of Defence already have offices in York and there is plenty of room for more.

“York already has outline consent to build offices next to the Defra site at Kings Pool. The site works well and extending it would create a major ‘Government campus’ in York.

“This would secure existing Civil Service jobs in the city and bring in new ones.”

Last month, the Work Foundation think-tank unveiled a report highlighting York’s reliance on the public sector, which employs 34.5 per cent of the city’s total workforce.

It also painted two scenarios for the next seven years, with the worst-case forecast being that 2,500 public sector roles could be lost in York if public spending drops by £22 billion. A more optimistic forecast based on Treasury predictions, however, claimed the city could attract 1,400 more jobs in this sector should the spending cuts be less harsh.