New northern Treasury campus to be in Darlington
Rishi Sunak is expected to announce today that the Treasury’s northern campus will be located in the County Durham town of Darlington.
The move will see the Treasury base 750 members of staff in Darlington, after the town beat out competition from Leeds and Newcastle.
The Financial Times also reports that the Treasury has decided to name Teesside as one of the UK’s post-Brexit free ports, which will mean goods coming into the region will be taxed less.
A video, originally sent to Treasury staff, of Sunak announcing the Darlington decision has been circulating social media.
The chancellor said he was “really excited” about the move.
Moving a chunk of the Treasury to the North was announced by Sunak in his Budget last year as a way to kick start the government’s agenda to “level up” less economically developed areas of the UK.
More than 20,000 civil servants will be moved out of London as a part of the push.
Darlington was the favoured choice of the Tories’ so-called “red wall” MPs who won seats in traditional Labour areas in the 2019 election.
The town is also just a 20 minute drive from the chancellor’s own constituency – Richmond in Yorkshire.
Teesside’s selection as a free port will mean goods can be imported, manufactured, and exported again without facing standard tariffs or requiring normal customs checks.
Companies which operate within free ports do so with the benefit of paying a lower rate of VAT tax and employment tax, as well as relief when it comes to purchasing land.