Social engineering or too good an opportunity to miss

dlk

There are quite a few departments that have a large presence around the country from the dvla in Swansea to DWP in Leeds etc. It would seem to make sense to send more jobs out of London purely for cost reasons, cheaper property to work from, cheaper staff costs (not just through higher salaries in London but through housing benefits payable to a lot of the lower level workers). Private companies do it, they generally wouldn't have their administration or call centres in London for cost reasons. Many senior roles would probably be left in London purely because of the staff pool to choose from being wider and needing the best staff possible but I can't see any reason to keep basic admin etc in the expensive capital.

westernpromise

dlk wrote: »

HOWEVER. There are many other great cities in the country. Manchester, Leeds, I could go on but won't. They offer virtually everything that London has to offer other than the things I have already mentioned. The shopping, the nightlife etc are pretty much on a par. There really isn't the vast difference you seem to think there is.

Then why does nobody want to live there or visit them?

westernpromise

dlk wrote: »

I can't see any reason to keep basic admin etc in the expensive capital.

Indeed, that's why they get outsourced to India. The costs are cheaper than in Leeds and the staff's accents are more intelligible to English people than those of Manks.

Head office in London, functions in Bangalore - sorted. Leeds: not really in that picture.

antrobus

chiefie wrote: »

Can't understand why the government dont move central government departments to the regions....

They've been doing it for years. Almost every government I can remember has had some 'programme' or other on the topic.


There is a reason why the DVLA is in Swansea, and DWP disability is in Wolverhampton.

westernpromise

Meanwhile, here's a story about how warm and friendly they are oop north:

Student attacked in branch of McDonald's in Manchester 'for being southern'
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/student-attacked-in-branch-of-mcdonalds-in-manchester-for-being-southern-a3404956.html

Sounds reet grand! However, they're all very much about sharing oop north:

Quiet British town is exposed as a !!!!!! hub
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/quiet-british-town-is-exposed-as-a-!!!!!!-hub-a3404501.html
Hundreds of people living in Consett, in County Durham, are directors of companies making millions of pounds from websites like amateurmilftown.com and naughtytrannyfun.com.

kabayiri

westernpromise wrote: »

...
The north is cheap for a reason. It's because it's rubbish. London is expensive for a reason. It's because it's the most popular tourist destination in the world
...

Except it's not true, but a generalisation.

Try looking for some nice property in the desirable parts of Cheshire. It will cost you a mint.

There are more Rollers in Cheshire than anywhere else. That's why many of the richest footballers we have up here choose to live there.

What the North does have is a functioning property market. One where you can find cheaper places and dearer places. My village is definitely not cheap, but you can travel a few miles and find more affordable homes.

Even the grotty parts of London are stupidly priced. Why did they rebuild Wembley in such a scruffy area? It's supposed to be a world class attraction and they stick it in a run down area. I don't get it.

LydiaJ

MacMickster wrote: »

At this moment I'm not entirely sure whether there actually was an episode of Yes Minister about the idea of moving government jobs out of London, or whether I've merely imagined Sir Humphrey Appleby's arguments against the proposal.

Not exactly. There was one about moving some armed forces bases to areas further from London for that sort of reason, producing the sort of arguments we've seen on this thread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Overboard_(Yes,_Prime_Minister)

There was also one about devolving more power to local government, that also horrifies Sir Humphrey because it will take power away from Whitehall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_to_the_People_(Yes,_Prime_Minister)

zagubov

westernpromise wrote: »

You wouldn't get me moving to Manchester. For one thing it's full of Mancs and for another if you move out of London you can never afford to move back.

It does amuse me that people from oop north think the north's such a great place to live people should be forced to live there. People from oop north only think the north's great because they haven't got a clue. Look at where the immigrants go. Clue: not Birmingham. I wonder why?

You're having a laugh. When people move to a new country to economically better themselves traditionally they'll go to places they've heard of, and that'll likely be the biggest city. Everybody's heard of London. It's not objectively the best place for everybody to end up. The higher salaries there in no way compensate for the inflated prices.

What I thought was unusual about the most recent wave of immigration was how rural and dispersed it was. Immigration up to now has been very much an urban phenomenon. Now it's spread out all over smaller towns up and down the east of England.

kabayiri

I rather like the fact that Manchester is full of Mancs, and Leeds is chokka block with Yorkshires, and Birmingham is brimming with Brummies. You can repeat this with Scottish and Welsh major towns and cities.

London is such a hotch potch that it sometimes feels like a working town in parts. I've spent a lot of time in Paris and it feels much the same now.

We have homogenised the shopping experience, with a PC world and B&Q in every major town. Why do we insist on doing the same with people?

CLAPTON

zagubov wrote: »

You're having a laugh. When people move to a new country to economically better themselves traditionally they'll go to places they've heard of, and that'll likely be the biggest city. Everybody's heard of London. It's not objectively the best place for everybody to end up. The higher salaries there in no way compensate for the inflated prices.

What I thought was unusual about the most recent wave of immigration was how rural and dispersed it was. Immigration up to now has been very much an urban phenomenon. Now it's spread out all over smaller towns up and down the east of England.

I guess that explains why Luton and Bradford are full of the English.