Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason she decided to close the Department's regional office in Exeter.

The department has made the decision to close six offices over the next two years, including its office in Exeter, in order to create a more coherent office estate across the UK. The department will continue to have an office in every English region, and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that will include an office in Plymouth, to ensure we maintain a presence in Devon.

The department has recently invested in a new office in Plymouth, giving our staff based there a more modern working experience. The new office also has a greater capacity than our previous office in Plymouth, which will allow any staff who are currently based in Exeter the opportunity to work from there should they wish. We will provide a package of measures to support Exeter-based staff who want to transition to Plymouth. All staff in the six offices which will close will be able to continue in their roles and there will be no compulsory redundancies.