THE Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has reneged on plans to move from East Kilbride to Glasgow.
The decision to move had been called a “betrayal” of the town by local MSPs due to the relocation of roughly 1500 civil service jobs away from the town in the next few years.
The HMRC was initially planning to take over the FCDO’s existing base at Abercrombie House.
It was announced last year that the move had been delayed, potentially to 2026, though staff have now been told that the move has been axed completely.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’ve been clear that this government will take the difficult decisions, prioritising critical projects and ensuring that every penny of taxpayer’s money goes to where it is most needed.
“We remain committed to maintaining our presence in Scotland, however, this move is no longer financially viable. We will continue to further Britain’s interests at home and abroad from our joint headquarters in Abercrombie House”
“From day 1 of this announcement we were clear that we would only make this move if, and when, the fiscal situation allowed.
“In the immediate future we will be staying at Abercrombie House, where we are already implementing some of the agreed improvements to help make the site a better place to work."
Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, said she wrote to David Lammy to make the case for these jobs to remain in East Kilbride.
She said: “I am of course delighted that the decision to move over 1000 jobs from East Kilbride to Glasgow has been reversed. I have consistently called for the jobs to remain in East Kilbride.
“This decision, however, was only taken because the Labour Government cut the Foreign Aid budget by 40%, which will have huge ramifications. When that decision was announced, I arranged a meeting with trade union officials and heard of their grave concerns over their ability to continue with existing aid operations, as well as their fear for job cuts and expansion plans.
“I wrote to David Lammy at the start of this week to again make the case for these jobs to remain in East Kilbride. I am glad common sense has prevailed. What the workforce need now are assurances that the Government will take their concerns seriously and work with them on what happens next, including their plans to expand.”
South Lanarkshire council leader Joe Fagan, meanwhile, said: “This is very good news for East Kilbride, and I am grateful that the FCDO have reconsidered their move away from the town following the discussions the council and the town’s MP have had with representatives of HM Government.
“We knew we had a strong case to retain these civil service posts in East Kilbride and we were confident that we were being listened to. The news today has confirmed both those things.
“We still need to understand the ramifications for this decision on the wider long-term civil service presence in the town but we will be delighted to continue our discussion with the government on this, and explore all long-term options to accommodate the civil service in East Kilbride.”
“In the meantime, I am just glad to note that civil service jobs are part of East Kilbride's New Town history and they are now clearly part of our future too.”
With plans being abandoned for the potential new headquarters in Glasgow, the expected job losses due to the relocation have been avoided.
