RELOCATING CIVIL SERVICE JOBS

That this House applauds the decision to make Newport the Headquarters of the Office of National Statistics; recalls the Lyons report conclusion that moving the Patent Office to the city in 1990 was an exemplar of a high value happy relocation although initially there was sparse enthusiasm from staff to migrate from the South East of England to Newport; is delighted that thousands of civil servants and their families have settled happily in the congenial city of Newport and its beautiful rural hinterland; and welcomes the stability provided to the Gwent economy, and in Cardiff, by the new jobs.