UK civil service 'hubs' for Edinburgh and Cardiff

Edinburgh - Edinburgh City Council

The UK Government has announced a new hub for HMRC in Cardiff to match its similar commitment in Edinburgh.

The new developments will consolidate government departments outside London as part of ongoing reforms to the civil service.

The aim is to reduce the number of government buildings from 800 to around 200 by 2022.

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The Edinburgh development at New Waverley, announced last month, will include the new consolidated regional centre for HMRC.

The Cardiff announcement is a similar commitment, with HMRC the majority occupier.

Minister for Government Resilience and Efficiency, Caroline Nokes, said: "Alongside significant savings for the taxpayer, the roll out of government hubs will provide modern working environments across the whole of the UK that will enable us to provide the best public services we can."

2,900 civil servants will move into the Edinburgh premises in 2020.

HMRC Chief Executive, Jon Thompson, said: "Locating HMRC's new regional centre for Edinburgh in the New Waverley development is another step in HMRC's transformation, into a modern, digitally-advanced tax authority. HMRC will bring its teams together to promote closer working relationships, and increasing our effectiveness in collecting taxes."