A GOVERNMENT department set up to revitalise the region marked its tenth anniversary yesterday.

Government Office for the North East marked a decade in business, which has seen it spend £5bn to regenerate communities, tackle crime and support businesses. It also claims to have created or saved more than 50,000 jobs.

Staff are set to move this summer from their Wellbar House headquarters in Newcastle to a new home at Citygate, on the site of the former Haymarket bus station.

Regional director Jonathan Blackie said: "Our region has seen many changes over the last ten years and Government Office has changed too.

"Our early work was very much executive - we administered a lot of grant and contracts.

"We still carry out some important executive functions, but our work has increasingly been about partnership working, influencing and acting as a conduit between the region and Whitehall.

"The region faces some interesting changes this year, including the referendum on whether the region wishes to have a regional assembly.

"It is an exciting time for all of us at Government Office to be moving into our new home in this state-of-the-art office."