How Lancashire is losing out on Government jobs pledge

There are around 5,670 fewer civil servants in Central Lancashire than five years ago

More than 1,000 fewer people are working for the civil service in Central Lancashire than five years ago, despite large rises elsewhere across the UK.

The Government has pledged to move more of its bureaucrats away from the capital to help “level up” the country and bring those who help run it closer to the communities they serve.

But new data shows the workforce has grown more rapidly in London than anywhere else across the UK, with the Institute for Government saying influential senior officials have historically been the most difficult to move further afield.

Cabinet Office figures show there were around 5,670 civil servants in Mid Lancashire at the end of March – a decrease of 1,380, or 19.6 per cent, from five years ago.

That is despite the civil service swelling by 3.9 per cent across the UK over the period, to 456,400 workers.

Across the North West, the workforce grew by seven per cent – the second-highest rate of England's nine regions.