The last English regional civil service network has been established, with the launch last night of Civil Service London at an event hosted by the Government Office for London.

Like the other regional networks, Civil Service London is intended to bring together civil service departments, agencies and offices based in the region to work collaboratively on five main issues: opening up civil service vacancies to all grades and departments, and linking units shedding staff with those recruiting; better estates management; staff benefits and discounts; the promotion of volunteering schemes; and the management and coordination of apprenticeship schemes.

The network was launched by cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell and Department for Culture, Media and Sport permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens, who’s been tasked with leading its development.

Speaking to Civil Service World at the event, O’Donnell stressed the huge scope for the regional network to develop into areas such as policy coordination:

“We don’t know where it will go,” he said. But the strongest initial interest has been in the freeing up of recruitment across grades and departments.

“People are particularly keen on the job vacancies side,” said O’Donnell. “Vacancies will be advertised across the region. A lot of people are interested in changing their area of work, but they want to stay in the same travel-to-work area.”

There is also a lot of potential to improve the civil service’s use of office space and property in London, said O’Donnell, and “you really need local knowledge to do this. You need to get the key managers together, talking about how their business is changing; then all this information gets shared.”

Asked why it has taken so long for the civil service to begin to coordinate its operations at a regional level, O’Donnell replied: “All the best ideas look obvious when you bring them forward. Our government is set up with different departments, and it’s those constitutional barriers that we’re trying to break down.”