One of the country's most senior Treasury officials has spoken about the changes at the top of her department, and how key financial decisions that will affect millions of people and businesses are now being made in Darlington.
Beth Russell is now Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury - the first time that role has been based outside London and one of the clearest examples yet of the Levelling Up of Government departments that has started with the launch of the Darlington Economic Campus.
She told The Northern Echo: "As civil servants we stay in our roles when the politicians change, but of course we have to adapt to different ministers with different political views, but also different ways of working.
Read more: Images reveal how Darlington’s Treasury campus will look
"So it is often quite a change when you have a different Chancellor, but we stay in the same jobs and build up the expertise to be able to advise any government minister, because that's important.
"Obviously, those ministers ultimately make the decisions. But there are people here working on all aspects of government policy including tax, funding, financial services and economic growth.
"They are directly writing submissions as advice that goes to the Chancellor and going to meetings with the Chancellor. I was 'beamed into' the Cabinet Room on Monday and will be again this afternoon to talk to the Chancellor and Prime Minister about the autumn statement in a couple of weeks. Lots of people here are doing jobs that are directly advising ministers."
Beth - one of the three permanent secretaries helping lead the Treasury - runs the campus with responsibility for tax, welfare and growth policy and says the fact that this is all happening just a few yards from The Dolphin Centre and the DL1 complex really matters to the staff there.
She said: "I think it is something that is long overdue, particularly for the Treasury, which has always been based in London, apart from a very small office in Norwich. There are lots of people who would like to work in the civil service on government policy, but don't want to live in London. So we're giving people who wouldn't have previously thought about it the opportunity to do those jobs here.
"Although there are a few people like me who have relocated, 80% of the people that we've recruited into the Treasury are from the local community and have got experience from all sorts of different previous professions, and I think just a different life experience.
"Our policy work is informed by evidence, of course, but it's also informed by all of those life experiences. And I think having the opportunity to have people who don't live in London, doing these kinds of jobs is vital.
"Also, we've got a chance here to talk to different stakeholders, and in the business community, or local government, and I think the opportunity to be closely located with different people in the community is important."
Local recruitment is continuing all the time, with 360 taken on so far and a target to have 1,100 new jobs here on top of the 700 who are already in the Department of Education.
"We're making lots of progress, but we've got a lot more people to recruit," said Beth.
"One of the really important messages we want to get across is you don't need specialist skills. We certainly want people with some skills in some areas of our work, but actually, we're just looking for people who want to make a difference and want to be involved in public service problem-solving.
"I'm not an economist, but while we have lots of economists in the Treasury, we don't have to have an economics degree to work here. We've got all sorts of different types of jobs, not just roles supervising on government policy, but also the likes of project managers and personal assistants."
The Levelling Up move to Darlington was hugely championed by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. Now one has moved out and one has moved up, but Beth says the support stays the same.
"In terms of the campus here, obviously the current Prime Minister has been a massive advocate and champion of being here. And I know that the chancellor is, too and he's looking forward - when things calm down slightly - to being able to come and visit us up here.
"But I've been here now for more than a year, and every chancellor and every Treasury minister, and other ministers from other departments that are based here over that period have all been universally enthusiastic and supportive - and that does make a difference having ministers that come here and work out of the campus, giving us the opportunity to be equal voices in discussions."
Beth and her husband have now moved up to the North East and are loving their life here.
"It's brilliant, because there is a great culture and environment here. It's really friendly office to work in and my husband and I have actually moved to the countryside, so we've moved from almost central London into a rural area here.
"We're both loving the area and the opportunity to do different things and have a bit of a different kind of lifestyle while still doing the job that's right at the heart of government."
To see some of the Treasury jobs available in Darlington, CLICK HERE
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