Treasury team urged to bus officials around England amid fears of ‘ignorance’

A Labour MP has called for Treasury ministers to bus their officials around the country, amid fears they “show a startling ignorance” of English regions.

Graham Stringer, the MP for Blackley and Middleton South in Greater Manchester, also suggested funding formulas are “biased against the regions”, and asked whether minister Darren Jones could “look at” how Whitehall decides where to spend money.

Mr Jones replied that Treasury teams “routinely engage with local and regional officials across the country”.

He later said that “the state is not productive enough on a whole range of issues”, and added that a spending review – due to conclude in June – will reveal the “enormous amount of work” which the Government has to do.

Mr Stringer referred to comments which Chancellor Rachel Reeves made in January, when she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “the last time we built a runway in this country was in the 1940s”.

Ms Reeves had previously claimed in a speech that “the last full-length runway in Britain was built in the 1940s”, as she backed plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Mr Stringer told the Commons on Tuesday: “Manchester Airport would be very surprised to hear that because the new runway there has been operating for nearly 25 years.

“I was shocked by that but not really surprised because I think many of the officials in the Treasury who advise her show a startling ignorance of the English regions and that leads to a certain prejudice in the formula they use for calculating whether a scheme should go ahead.

“Can the Treasury minister and the rest of the Treasury team provide coaches to send Treasury officials round the English regions to talk to people who know about growth?

“And secondly, will he look at the formulas that are biased against the regions that decide where economic growth happens?”

Mr Jones replied: “I can confirm that Treasury officials routinely engage with local and regional officials across the country, including frequently in Manchester with mayor (Andy) Burnham and his team.

“I would point him gently to some of the announcements made by the Chancellor including support for the Old Trafford development in Manchester, and of course, congratulate the operators of Manchester Airport for running a successful business which we will continue to support in the normal way.”

Conservative shadow Treasury minister Richard Fuller later referred to a finding by The Telegraph that thousands of civil servants are being allowed to work from abroad – with almost 2,500 requests for overseas working granted last year.

Mr Fuller asked at the despatch box: “Whether it’s civil servants working from their bedrooms or from Benidorm, or for other blockers of public sector productivity, what has (Mr Jones) done in his last eight months in office, or is he too comfortable with what the Prime Minister calls the ‘tepid bath of managed decline’?”

Mr Jones replied: “I agree with him that the state is not productive enough on a whole range of issues.

“He talked about Civil Service headcount, he talks about Government offices and locations, he talked about working conditions, he could also talk, for example, about digital transformation.

“Quite frankly, there is an enormous amount of work which will become evident through our spending review.

“It’s something we are taking very seriously, not just from the Treasury but from the Prime Minister downwards.”