6,000 civil servants told to leave capital

Six thousand civil servants have been told to leave London and the South-East in the first round of a Government dispersal scheme.

The total emerged as Labour and the Tories clashed over civil service waste and bureaucracy.

This weekend the Tories are set to claim that they can slash £35billion from the cost of running central government.

Treasury figures released to the Evening Standard show that 5,949 civil service posts in and around London have been identifiedfor relocation, with more in the pipeline. The Chancellor is well on his way to meeting a target he set in April, to disperse 20,000 civil service jobs by 2010.

At the same time, a further 84,000 Whitehall jobs will vanish altogether in a cost-cutting drive aimed at tackling bureaucracy.

Officials whose jobs are moved out of London face a painful choice between uprooting their families or accepting alternative posts in the capital.

And the job losses will hurt London's economy, already suffering from above-average unemployment and pockets of severe deprivation. They come on top of a separate move by the BBC to move 1,700 staff from London to Manchester.

The shake-up for the civil service is the biggest since

Harold Wilson ordered a major dispersal from Whitehall in the Sixties.

Mr Brown seized on a report by Sir Michael Lyons of the University of Birmingham, which claimed moving jobs out of London would save money for taxpayers because wages in the provinces are lower and housing is cheaper.

Politically, the move could shore up support for Labour in its heartland industrial areas, which stand to gain.

However, the scheme will cost millions in the short term. Staff who leave London will be offered help with costs and assistance in finding new homes and schools.

Tory leader Michael Howard is preparing to unveil a report identifying Whitehall waste by business troubleshooter David James.

Shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin said: "Relocating staff is a marginal saving compared to the bloated size of the current Government.

"Superficial efficiency savings based on relocating staff away from London is not sufficient when we have a civil service the size of Sheffield and more tax collectors than nurses."

So far, all the relocations have been voluntary. Unions are seeking assurances that no one will be dismissed for refusing.

A Whitehall source said: "The idea is that it is voluntary - where possible."

But those who stay behind face upheaval, and adapting to new roles.

Tony Travers, director of the Greater London group at the London School of Economics, warned the Government's plans were based in part on a mistaken notion that shifting jobs could benefit other regions without harming the capital.