The opening of a new UK Government hub in Edinburgh has moved a step closer.
Property developers Artisan Real Estate formally hand over the keys of the building to Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
The new Hub, located near Waverley Station, is a seven storey, 190,000 square feet, modern office.
It will bring together nearly 3,000 UK Government civil servants from a range of UK Government departments.
Due to open in Spring 2020, the Hub is intended to improve the work of the UK Government in Scotland, helping them deliver better services for Scottish people.
It will also incorporate a Cabinet Room, allowing the UK Government Cabinet to meet in a purpose built facility for the first time.
READ MORE: Scotland Office to move Edinburgh base
Mr Mundell said: “I am delighted to receive the keys to the new UK Government Hub in Edinburgh.
"The formal handover of the building’s keys is an important milestone, demonstrating we are making real progress towards opening the flagship building in the heart of Edinburgh next year."
Oliver Dowden, UK Government Minister for Implementation, added: "This flagship building for Edinburgh demonstrates our continued commitment to strengthening the Union, providing flexible, modern and connected workspaces which will enhance local career paths, boost jobs and economic growth."
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is delivering the Edinburgh Hub on behalf of the UK Government, and will be based there when the first teams start to move in from April 2020.
Working with the Government Property Agency (GPA), HMRC has been at the cutting edge of delivering UK Government’s Hub strategy and is playing a leading role on delivering this programme for the UK Government, enabling closer working between UK Government departments.
Work is also underway on a first Glasgow Hub, with a second one to follow. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Hubs are a key part of the UK Government’s commitment to delivering excellent public services for people in Scotland, building a strong Civil Service outside London and leading the way in regional regeneration.
Across the UK it is estimated that the UK Government Hubs programme will save more than £2 billion of public money over twenty years, relocating civil servants from existing, often fragmented office locations, to modern, cross-departmental workplaces.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel