IT is really good news that Darlington has made it to the shortlist to be the location for the Treasury hub.

There seems to be substance behind the Government's promise to move civil service jobs out of London. We already know that the local government department is taking 500 jobs to Wolverhampton to create a "dual headquarters" with London, and Birmingham is going to get the transport department. It is rumoured that health will go to Leeds, culture and sport to Manchester and part of the Foreign Office to Glasgow.

Of course, every part of the country – including Darlington's neighbours along the Tees Valley – would like to benefit from this relocation and so will be talking up its best points, but Darlington's great transport links must weigh heavily in its favour.

A move out of the capital will certainly improve the quality of civil service decisions, as it will allow civil servants to break out of the rarefied London atmosphere and live the sort of lives that most ordinary people live. It will also start to break the perception that says young people have to leave their roots and go to London if they are to succeed, and it will be a reminder that life in the provinces is really rather fine. It is also fair that taxpayers' money is spread about the country rather than concentrated in the capital.

It could be the start of a real change of mindset as the Government realises that not everything has to be about London, and not everybody has to be in London.