Thousands of civil servants should be moved out of London to ‘turbo-charge devolution,' a think-tank has urged.

A new paper by Policy Exchange called on the Government to relocate 25,000 London-based civil servants to local authorities and city regions to boost productivity and innovation in public service delivery. 

Referencing the 1980s TV show Yes, Minister, the report, entitled Delivering Differently, said prime minister Theresa May should end the ‘outdated Sir Humphrey model of Government'.

‘Our top-down and centralised system of government makes it difficult for any political party to deliver the type of radical public service reforms needed to increase growth and living standards across Britain,' said the report's author Damian Hind.

‘Change still seems to start with diktats from Whitehall. 

‘If we truly want to create public services that help people to live independent and fulfilling lives then we need to think differently about how we design and deliver services.

‘More decent, human and caring services will only be achieved by changing the mindset of policymakers in Westminster, breaking down the outdated Sir Humphrey model of Government and putting local places firmly in control,' he added.