Plans for North-West Whitehall unveiled

Plans to create a Whitehall for the North-West have been unveiled in Manchester.

The proposals to build a new civil service campus alongside Piccadilly Station were unveiled by Beverley Hughes.

The Minister for the North West visited the proposed Mayfield site – a disused railway station – along with Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council. In total, more than 5,000 civil servants could be based on the campus by 2014.

Key Government departments have agreed to fund a feasibility study into the scheme, which would bring together civil servants from across Greater Manchester – and attract jobs from London.

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, said: “The decision by Government departments to fund a feasibility study for locating its major new hub in Manchester is great news for the city region, potentially creating thousands of jobs at a critical time.”