COUNCIL action was taken this week to try to ensure that Sheffield does not lose out on the prospect of up to 4,500 office jobs – and does not lose thousands of jobs in the civil service.
An updated strategy was agreed over the proposed redevelopment of the site of the Government offices at Moorfoot, taking into account the deteriorating economic climate.
It aims to see the land become part of a new business district once the the r
ed-brick complex, originally the MSC building, has been demolished.
It is estimated that new top-quality offices at Moorfoot could employ around 4,500 staff.
In addition, the council wants to make sure it can meet a Government timetable for the proposed relocation of its workers within the city centre.
The current accommodation is now seen as dated.
Jobs in the Departments of Children, Schools and Families and Innovation, Universities and Skills are at stake.
A council report says: "The Government team have advised that failure to meet their programme will mean that the Government would be unable to commit to their new offices within the agreed timescale, thus putting this project at risk, which could potentially lead to a further review of their property requirements and future in Sheffield."
On Wednesday, the council's cabinet agreed that the authority itself should buy the Moorfoot offices, using money from redevelopment agency Yorkshire Forward.
That should then make it easier to secure a development partner.
Civil servants are due to move out by the spring of 2011.
The Government has yet to decide where they will be going, but it is thought that the choice is between the site of the former NUM offices next to the City Hall and a location near the rail station.
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