To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Cabinet Office deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108575]
The Cabinet Office has a network of offices outside London and the South-East, and considers the geographical location of its offices as part of its normal business planning activity. Recent reviews have, however, concluded that the majority of the Cabinet Office and new streams of work need to continue to be based in London to enable the Department to carry out its central coordinating role effectively.