EFFORTS to bring thousands more civil service jobs to the region are being increased.

Last week, the Government made clear there would be no extra public money for the region to help bridge the North-South economic divide.

But ministers have provisionally agreed to plans that would move about 20,000 public servants out of London and into the regions, to help rebalance the economy.

The North-East Regional Assembly has backed bid to bring some of these Government departments to region.

Assembly bosses have sent a detailed letter arguing their case to Sir Michael Lyons, the former Birmingham council chief executive, who is leading the review of office location.

It said that with North-East unemployment the highest in the UK, the move could make a vital contribution to tackling the prosperity gap.

"Approximately 57,000 additional jobs are needed to raise the North-East to the current national employment rate," it states. "Any increase in employment levels will contribute directly and through multiplier effects to creating these jobs and moving the region's GDP (gross domestic product) closer to the national average". The letter says a significant number of top-level staff would need to be relocated to the region to help boost its "knowledge economy."

"As we have consistently argued, the region is extremely under-represented in terms of higher level public sector employment and Government research and development activity," it states.

Assembly leader Bob Gibson said: "The benefits to be gained from relocating public agencies outside of London and locating public employment in the North-East are overwhelming.

"It could make a significant contribution to Government objectives of reducing regional disparities and creating full employment in all regions."