ZPXFW Blog

Whitehall is yet to take a conclusive decision on whether it will relocate the Ministry of Justice offices to Birmingham, according to the chief executive of the city council Stephen Hughes. This has left plans for the relocation and acquisition of new office space in a state of suspension.

Last year tenders were invited for the shared office complex in Birmingham. A suitable site in Eastside had been earmarked for the development, on which the proposed 250,000 sq ft building is expected to come up by 2013.

If implemented, this will be the largest departmental reorganization undertaken by the Government, thereby creating a new regional hub that will generate an estimated 6,000 new jobs in Eastside by 2017. This will give a fillip to the local economy, provided a decision is taken in favour of the shift.

Mr Hughes explained that the confusion stems from the lack of coordination between the various departments and offices concerned. The city council and the West Midlands Government Office are eager to see the move happen, but the Ministry of Justice is dragging its feet on a final decision. The overall feeling now is that the move may be delayed until after the next election.

The MoJ believes that a re-evaluation of the comparative costs should be done. The reason is that the Government does not want to jump into ambitious plans involving a lot of investment at a time when cost cutting is the norm, and the MoJ believes that the move may be seen as a waste of public money.