Brown endorses relocation proposals

The Budget endorsed fresh moves to relocate civil servants and other public sector workers out of London and the South East which were published in the Lyons report the day before.

Government departments have identified 27,000 jobs for "dispersal", which it sees as helping to achieve a "greater regional balance in economic activity".

But it is also clearly part of the efficiency agenda and the government wants to align pay with local labour market conditions. It says that "failure to make progress on flexible pay, alongside relocation, will limit the efficiency gains from dispersal, and could undermine the economic benefits for receiving locations".

Civil service union Prospect has branded the relocation policy "a recipe for disjointed government", saying it will fail if it is driven by costcutting.