THE number of civil service workers in Oxfordshire has shrunk in the past 10 years, but jobs have risen the most in London.

Government positions within the county have dropped by 32 per cent in a decade, Cabinet Office figures show.

In Oxfordshire, there were 2,640 civil servants at the end of March last year, compared to 3,860 10 years ago.

But in London, there are 5,000 new civil service workers meaning the city has seen a six per cent rise with 91,660 jobs.

Cherwell District Council Labour group leader Sean Woodcock, says the Conservatives have delivered a ‘jobs exodus’ for the county.

He said: “People in Oxfordshire, will rightly be staggered by these figures. After a decade in power, the Conservatives should be judged on their record – and here it is plain for all to see.

“After 10 years of big announcements and broken promises, the truth is the Conservative Government has delivered a jobs exodus for the county. That tells you all you need to know about the Conservative’s priorities. Whatever they prioritise, it’s never us here in Oxfordshire.”

The figures include civil servants working for Government departments, agencies, and non-departmental public bodies in both the UK and regional governments, where they help to develop and implement policies.

Mr Woodcock added: “When the Conservative Government has had the opportunity to directly employ people anywhere in the country, they have chosen to take jobs from Oxfordshire and shift them to London. It’s possibly even while building homes here that are advertised as ‘55 minutes from London Marylebone’.

“We also know that this is going to get worse as waves of council employees lose their jobs because of Government promises to fund them throughout the period of the Covid-19 pandemic that have been broken.”

Last year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged to relocate 22,000 civil servants out of London by 2030.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said that moving Government decision-making away from the capital would help ‘reflect the full diversity of our United Kingdom’.

This year’s statistics will be released in July.