A NEW second headquarters for the Department for Transport is being formed in the West Midlands, along with a further regional hub in Leeds.

The DfT will be keeping its London headquarters near Victoria, but said its new centres would be employing 650 people by 2025, including senior civil servants.

Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: ‘The Birmingham headquarters will include new ministerial offices, with ministers expected to spend a significant amount of time there as the government works to rebuild the UK. The news of DfT creating a northern hub in Leeds comes on the back of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirming that the UK’s first-ever infrastructure bank will also be based in the city.’

The DfT said around 100 people have already been recruited in Birmingham and Leeds.

It added that a recent study had found that for every 10 public sector jobs moved to a town under the Lyons Review of Public Sector Relocation in 2004, 11 private sector jobs had been created.