Ministry of Justice plans to create 500 jobs in Wales including extra roles in the north

New regional Ministry of Justice (MoJ) offices will create 500 new roles in Wales, the UK Government has announced.

The jobs will expand the MoJ’s presence in Swansea, Cardiff and Newport, with additional roles in North Wales.

Seven justice collaboration centres will be launched alongside a series of satellite offices as the government’s “Places for Growth” programme continues to move civil service roles out of London.

The scheme aims to ensure the public sector employs talent from across England and Wales with 22,000 roles moving out of the capital by 2030.

Almost 70 percent of the MoJ workforce is already based outside of London and the south east and this move will see more than 2,000 more roles in areas like finance, human resources and digital move out by 2030, with 500 of those heading to Wales.

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab, said: “This government is committed to spreading opportunity more equally across communities and tackling regional inequalities.

“By having more of our staff based outside London we can recruit the best people wherever they live so that the justice system benefits from more diverse backgrounds, outlooks and experience.”

The new justice collaboration centres will comprise of larger officers with a mix of traditional workstations and shared spaces, meeting and training rooms.

They will support face to face work of staff in roles including finance, digital and human resources during training and meetings.

Staff will also be based at smaller new regional justice satellite offices, including desk space in pre-existing buildings like courts.

Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, said: “Our key aim is to level up all areas of the UK and that commitment includes providing more jobs and opportunities within the UK Government.

“We want to make full use of the talent and potential of the Welsh workforce and moving hundreds of roles to Wales will help us achieve that objective.

“We have hugely ambitious plans for Wales which will deliver growth and innovation in the years to come and relocating more civil service roles is part of that package.”

The announcement follows several other government departments confirming that they are moving thousands of civil service jobs out of London.

This includes the Home Office, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Department of International Trade and the Cabinet Office.

As positions become available they will be re-advertised nationally, rather than tied to a location, an approach that has already seen most new recruits based outside London.