24,621 roles moved, a target beaten three years early, and one that is proving harder
What happened
On 30 October 2026, the Cabinet Office published figures on where civil service jobs are being created. The programme behind them is called Places for Growth, and its purpose is to move government roles out of London and into the rest of the UK. The headline figures are these. Four in five civil servants are now based outside London. About 67% - described as over two thirds - of all new full-time civil service positions are in key regional locations. And 24,621 roles have moved outside London since the programme launched, measured up to March 2025. The programme had a target of 22,000 roles moved outside London. The Cabinet Office says this was exceeded three years early. There is a second target that is not going as well. The government wants half of senior civil service leadership based in the regions and nations. As of March 2026, 36.6% of UK-based senior civil servants were based outside London. No deadline was given for reaching 50%. Mark Ferguson MP, the Cabinet Office Minister, said: 'We are shifting power and decision making to local communities to ensure that we have a truly UK-wide Civil Service.' He said devolution is being pursued 'by design and by default'. The release also mentions related moves: high-performing Whitehall officials being seconded into mayoral authorities, announced in August, and a Civil Service Fast Stream pilot in Yorkshire and Humber so young people can build careers without relocating to London.
Why this matters
For most people this sounds like an announcement about government admin. It is actually an announcement about jobs, and about who gets to have a career without moving house. For decades, a certain kind of job in Britain meant London. Policy work, analysis, senior roles in government departments - if you wanted them, you went. That worked out well for people who could afford London rents and were willing to leave. It worked badly for everyone else, including a great many capable people who simply were not going to uproot a family. The Fast Stream pilot in Yorkshire and Humber gets at this directly. The Fast Stream is the civil service's graduate scheme, and it has long been a route into senior jobs. Running it regionally means a graduate in Leeds or Hull can start that route without a one-way ticket south. There is a second argument, which is about the quality of decisions rather than fairness. If almost everyone writing rural policy lives in a city, or everyone writing transport policy uses the best public transport network in the country, blind spots creep in that nobody notices. Spreading where people live is one way of reducing that, though it is not a guarantee. And there is a straightforward local economy effect. A few hundred salaried jobs in a regional city supports cafes, childminders, landlords and schools. That is not transformational on its own, but it is real, and it is the kind of thing that compounds.
What the evidence actually says
The figures are from the government itself, so it is worth reading them with care. Three things stand out. **First, the dates do not match, and that matters.** The relocation total of 24,621 roles is measured up to March 2025. The senior civil service figure of 36.6% is as of March 2026. So the headline achievement is more than a year and a half old at the point of publication. That is not dishonest - official statistics take time - but it means 'where we are now' is not quite what is being described. **Second, the target that was beaten was the easier one.** Moving 22,000 roles out of London, exceeded three years early, is a substantial logistical achievement. But the harder test is seniority. Independent reporting has noted that the separate target of 50% of senior roles outside London is proving harder to achieve. At 36.6%, there is a long way to go, and no deadline has been given. This distinction is the heart of it. Moving jobs out of London is not the same as moving power out of London. If the decisions still get made by people in Westminster, and the roles relocated are the ones that carry them out, the geography changes while the power does not. The 36.6% figure is the honest measure of progress on that, and it is the number to watch. **Third, 'new roles in regional locations' needs definition.** The 67% figure refers to new full-time positions in 'key regional locations'. That is a defined set of places under the programme, not simply 'anywhere outside London'. The release does not list them, so the figure cannot be checked against a particular town without going to the underlying data. For context, separate reporting found that 91% of last year's growth in civil service headcount took place outside London, mostly in Places for Growth locations. That is consistent with the government's claim, from a different source. The release names no specific cities beyond referring to regions and nations, Yorkshire and Humber for the Fast Stream pilot, and mayoral authorities. If you want to know whether your own area is gaining, this announcement will not tell you.
Practical advice
If this is relevant to you as a jobseeker, here is how to use it. **Look at Civil Service Jobs and filter by location.** All civil service vacancies in the UK are advertised on one website. Filtering by region is the quickest way to see what is genuinely available near you, rather than relying on national percentages. **Check whether a role is genuinely regional.** Some roles are advertised with multiple locations, and some expect regular travel to London. The vacancy notice will say. Ask at interview if it is unclear, because 'based in Leeds' can mean different things. **If you are a graduate, look at the Fast Stream and the regional pilot.** The Fast Stream has set application windows each year rather than running continuously, so it is worth finding out when applications open rather than checking randomly. **Do not overlook the roles that are not graduate schemes.** Most civil service jobs are not entry via Fast Stream. Operational delivery, digital, finance, analysis and specialist professions all recruit directly, often with no requirement for a degree. **Understand the application style before you start.** Civil service applications are usually scored against published 'behaviours' or 'success profiles'. Writing to that structure matters more than polish. The guidance is published openly, and reading it first saves wasted applications. **For Lincolnshire readers, be realistic and look wider.** The announcement names no Lincolnshire locations. Nottingham appears among the councils in other government programmes, and the East Midlands has a mayoral authority, so travel-to-work distance is worth factoring in. Hybrid working has widened what is practical, but check the expected office days before assuming.
What to know
The Cabinet Office announced on 30 October 2026 that about 67% of new full-time civil service positions are being created in key regional locations, and that four in five civil servants are now based outside London. Under the Places for Growth programme, 24,621 roles have moved outside London since launch, measured to March 2025. The target of 22,000 was exceeded three years early. The harder target is seniority. The government wants half of senior civil service leadership in the regions and nations. As of March 2026, 36.6% of UK-based senior civil servants were outside London, and no deadline for reaching 50% was given. Independent reporting has described this target as proving harder to achieve. Related measures include seconding high-performing Whitehall officials into mayoral authorities, announced in August, and a Civil Service Fast Stream pilot in Yorkshire and Humber. Two cautions when reading the figures: the relocation total is more than a year old at publication, and 'key regional locations' is a defined set of places rather than everywhere outside London. The release names no specific cities other than Yorkshire and Humber for the Fast Stream pilot, so it will not tell you whether your own area is gaining. The useful measure of whether power is genuinely moving, rather than just jobs, is the senior civil service percentage. Sources: GOV.UK (Cabinet Office), 'More than two thirds of new Civil Service roles created in Places for Growth locations', 30 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-two-thirds-of-new-civil-service-roles-created-in-places-for-growth-locations; Civil Service World, 'Places for Growth: Departments hit 21,000 moves as they edge closer to target', https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/places-for-growth-departments-edge-towards-target-as-relocations-reach-21000; Civil Service World, 'New figures show 91% of last year's civil service headcount growth came outside of London', https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/new-stats-show-91-of-last-years-civil-service-headcount-growth-came-outside-of-london This article is for general information and is not careers, financial or legal advice. It contains no health advice, but as with any article of this kind, decisions about your own circumstances deserve advice from a qualified professional.
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