SHIFTING hundreds of Treasury jobs to the North-East could change the mindset of the mandarins, the Prime Minister told The Northern Echo on his most recent visit to the region.

He said the success of his “levelling up” agenda would stop the brain drain of young people who feel they have to leave areas like the North-East to find fulfilment elsewhere.

But speaking at a primary school in Ferryhill on Thursday, Mr Johnson didn’t reveal specific targets by which “levelling up” could be judged a success.

The Government announced in the Budget in March that 750 Treasury civil servants will be moving to a new “economic campus” in Darlington, along with several hundred other officials from other Government departments who work in finance.

He said: “The economic campus shouldn’t just be thought of as loads of people coming from Whitehall to live and work in Darlington, it will also be creating really good jobs in the area.

“I hope it will change the mindset of the civil servants because, frankly, the Treasury has basically thought that the wealth generation and power of the UK is primarily located in the great metropolis and the south-east and I think that is a gross underestimate of the potential of the UK.

“We think that there’s flair, imagination, talent, enthusiasm everywhere.”

Warming to his theme, the Prime Minister said “levelling up” by improving public services could reverse the brain drain.

“The idea is that these are great places to grow up and live but if you put in gigabit broadband and you make the streets safer and you have really good schools and you have a focus on skills then people won’t feel they need to move to some other part of the country to start a business or to raise a family. “They will want to invest their lives and hopes in wherever they grew up. I think people will continue to move around the country, but this is what we mean by levelling up. It’s about releasing potential. “It is crazy that literally for decades the Treasury has been obsessed by the City of London and the south-east. We need a fantastic capital city, but I believe everywhere has to be like that.” He was speaking at Cleves Cross Primary School where he had launched a £55m fund to improve educational opportunities, particularly for young girls, in developing countries.

But The Northern Echo reported on Thursday how 26.3 per cent of children in the North-East were on free school meals compared to 15.1 per cent in the south-east, which is affecting their educational attainment. He would asked whether the success of “levelling up” might be judged by seeing the gap closing.

He replied: “You’ve got to focus first of all on the detriment kids have suffered during the pandemic and make sure they can bounce back. Tutoring, one on one engagement, can make a huge difference for kids who are falling behind and who have not had their potential released.”