Plans to shut Foreign Office site in East Kilbride scrapped

Plans to close the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) site in East Kilbride have been scrapped.

There are around 1,500 staff members based at the office, which was formerly the headquarters of the Department for International Development (DFID) before its amalgamation into the Foreign Office.

The move was drawn up by the previous UK Government, which had planned to move staff to a new location in Glasgow.

Concerns were raised about the security of jobs at the site again after Keir Starmer announced cuts to the foreign aid budget.

The Prime Minister announced that defence spending would increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with a view to it hitting 3% in the next parliament.

However, to fund it, development assistance aid will be slashed from its current level of 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027.

The news that the office in East Kilbride will remain has been welcomed by local Labour MP Joani Reid.

“This is the culmination of a huge effort to secure these jobs,” she said.

“The Tories made the wrong decision when they said these jobs would move to Glasgow, and ever since I was elected, I have made the case whenever I could that the new Labour government should reverse that decision and keep the jobs here.

“The retention of FCDO jobs in East Kilbride is not just a victory for the workforce, but for the entire town.”

SNP MSP for East Kilbride Collette Stevenson said: “I am, of course, delighted that the decision to move over 1,000 jobs from East Kilbride to Glasgow has been reversed. I have consistently called for the jobs to remain in East Kilbride.

“This decision, however, was only taken because the Labour Government cut the Foreign Aid budget by 40%, which will have huge ramifications.

“When that decision was announced, I arranged a meeting with trade union officials and heard of their grave concerns over their ability to continue with existing aid operations, as well as their fear for job cuts and expansion plans.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’ve been clear that this government will take the difficult decisions, prioritising critical projects and ensuring that every penny of taxpayer’s money goes to where it is most needed.

“We remain committed to maintaining our presence in Scotland, however, this move is no longer financially viable.

“We will continue to further Britain’s interests at home and abroad from our joint headquarters in Abercrombie House.”