Making an impact in place

The GPA has a mandate to provide great places to work for civil servants, but if we do our jobs well, our impact can stretch far beyond the walls of the buildings we deliver and manage. 

Through the Government Hubs Programme and Places for Growth (PfG), we are helping to relocate thousands of Civil Service roles out of London into towns and cities across the country. By reshaping where government work gets done, we can play our part in supporting regional growth, creating economic opportunity and enabling better public services. 

It starts with getting the office fundamentals right. With modern, well-designed workplaces, we provide civil servants with the space and technology they need to work productively. Rather than battling cumbersome systems and clunky internet connections, they can get on and do the job of delivering for the public.

Some of the country’s toughest challenges cut across departmental boundaries, so we need to create the environments that help people to work across them too. The beauty of our Government Hubs Programme is that it brings different departments together under one roof. For example, take the Darlington Economic Campus (DEC), established in 2021 under the PfG programme as it sought to bring government closer to the communities it serves. The campus co-locates HM Treasury with eight other government departments and arm’s length bodies. That means easier collaboration, less siloed working and more chances to learn from one another. 

Rooting teams in place means they can also forge new partnerships between central, local and regional government, between the public sector and local businesses. Civil servants can shape policies with a better understanding of what implementation might look like in different parts of the UK. 

What about growth and economic opportunity? By developing and refurbishing buildings, our work can encourage and stimulate regional investment – from creating construction jobs, to opening Civil Service careers to more people. Again, DEC shows this in action. 1,000 civil servants already call it their workplace, 80 per cent of whom have been hired locally from the North East. The project is bringing new investment to the area, with £118 million deployed to support the delivery of the Brunswick Street hub, which will host more than 1,600 civil servants by 2028.

With the government acting as the anchor tenant, the GPA is supporting the regeneration of brownfield sites, strengthening Darlington’s role as a centre for public sector employment and contributing to the wider growth of the regional economy. Darlington Borough Council announced plans earlier this year to deliver a new commercial quarter allowing businesses and professional services firms to cluster around the campus.

Our work starts with buildings but we know that it’s about so much more than bricks and mortar. By creating jobs, attracting more local talent into the Civil Service and providing modern workplaces where departments can work alongside one another, we are helping the government to deliver improved outcomes for the public and drive positive change in places across the UK.