500 jobs to be created at new Home Office hub in Stoke-on-Trent
The site includes a new Asylum Casework Hub and will help clear the legacy asylum backlog by the end of 2023.
Interim Second Permanent Secretary Simon Ridley, Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Permanent Secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft.
Five hundred new, high quality jobs will be created at a new Home Office hub in Stoke-on-Trent, which the Home Secretary Suella Braverman opened today (Thursday 22 June).
The new office space in the heart of the city at Two Smithfield in Hanley has been created thanks to £7 million of government funding and support through Stoke-on-Trent’s £56 million allocation through the Levelling Up Fund. The Levelling Up Fund aims to create opportunities and drive growth in every region of the UK.
The site will be home to a new Asylum Casework Hub which will help to significantly speed up asylum decision-making by improving case working capacity and efficiency. The Hub will be staffed by up to 330 new asylum caseworkers and bring all national asylum correspondence into one place.
The Hub will play an important role in the government’s plans to reduce numbers being housed in costly hotels and cut the burden of the asylum system on taxpayers. It will add to the 1,280 caseworkers already in post and help to clear the backlog of legacy asylum cases by the end of 2023.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:
I’m pleased to be opening this new site in Stoke which will see the creation of 500 high-quality local jobs.
Located in the heart of the city, it will help cut the burden of the asylum system on taxpayers, while also bringing huge benefits to the region.
Through the creation of these jobs, we are showing our continued commitment to driving growth and opportunity across the UK.
The Home Office has partnered with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to ensure the new investment has a long-lasting impact on the local community, with local students and job seekers being actively encouraged to apply for the new jobs now available at the Hub.
The opening is another step in the Home Office’s Places for Growth programme, which aims to relocate civil servants out of the capital to ensure it better reflects the nations and regions it serves.
The Home Office has already relocated 2,229 roles to Places for Growth locations, exceeding the original commitment to relocate 1950 roles by 2030. The 18 locations are: Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Liverpool, Southport, Manchester, Salford, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Solihull, Peterborough, Glasgow, Cardiff, Newport, Belfast and Edinburgh.
Home Office Permanent Secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft said:
This new Hub is an important part of our vision to harness the talent and skill of people from across the whole of the UK, by relocating more than 2,200 of our staff out of London and the South East by 2025.
I am delighted that more people from Stoke-on-Trent will have the opportunity join the Home Office. Their skills and talent will help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the UK, including clearing the asylum backlog.
Not only will the Stoke office support effective working across government, it will bring growth and jobs too.