The move was revealed on Tuesday in a Treasury-sponsored report by Sir Michael Lyons.
The quangos have been given until the end of this month to come up with reviews of their headquarters' size and location.
Staff at the corporation HQ on Tottenham Court Road, central London, who recently went out on strike (HT 27 February, page 7), were surprised and worried that the corporation had been singled out.
One of the office's 120 workers said: "We were aware of the Lyons review but unaware that detailed discussions about moving our headquarters were under way.
"People were really shocked – they could be left with no option but to move or lose their jobs."
The Audit Commission's London office employs about 220 workers but the organisation had no information on their futures.
In total 20,000 civil service posts from across government are expected to move and 7000 more will be lost in efficiency cuts, saving an estimated £2bn over 15 years by slashing accommodation and salary bills.
Lyons, who is director of the institute of local government studies at Birmingham University, said: "We are not going to change the view among government departments and agencies that you have to be in London until we start to move more agencies out of London. There's certainly a case for the ODPM to lead the way."
The chancellor accepted Lyons' recommendations in his Budget statement on Wednesday. He also revealed plans to slash 40,000 jobs from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Further civil service cuts are expected in July's comprehensive spending review.
Source
Housing Today
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