The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has pushed back plans to move its Scotland base from East Kilbride to Glasgow.
The FCDO announced plans to leave its long-term base at Abercrombie House, East Kilbride, in December.
HM Revenue and Customs, which currently leases Queensway House in the same town , was slated to take over the government-owned Abercrombie House from the FCDO, with 1,700 members of staff to move across in 2025.
But South Lanarkshire Council has now been told that the FCDO will stay in Abercrombie House.
HMRC staff have meanwhile been told they will stay in their current office in Queensway House until 2031, and the department has assured the council it has a "long-term commitment" to the town, the council said in a statement.
The plans followed a 2021 announcement that the FCDO would move 500 jobs to its East Kilbride base, bringing the total number of FCDO staff there to 1,500 by 2025.
Council leader Joe Fagan said: “Obviously having both FCDO and HMRC staff based at the town for longer is good news for our local economy, as well as for the many people who work in those offices and live in East Kilbride.
“But I am further heartened by a further assurance that I have been given by the HMRC chief executive that they have a long-term commitment to the town, and that they will use their additional time in Queensway House to reconsider the merits of all the options in East Kilbride.
“In return, I commit the council to working with not only HMRC but all parts of government as they consider their future needs and locations. East Kilbride is already an established, welcoming home to different parts of the civil service and I am convinced we can build on that.”
However, Glasgow City Council has been told the move has only been pushed back until 2026, according to The Herald, which first reported the story.
Susan Aitken, the leader of SNP-run Glasgow Council, told The Herald: “Glasgow is an increasingly in demand location for corporate HQs. Grade A office space is being fully let as fast as it can be built.
"This timing doesn’t reflect the conversations we’ve had with FCDO but the city has everything they need regardless of when they make the move.”
Joani Reid, the new MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, welcomed HMRC's confirmation that it will stay in the city.
“It not only ensures job security for thousands of civil servants but also reinforces East Kilbride’s standing as a key location for UK government operations."
"I will continue to work closely with HMRC, other government departments, and South Lanarkshire Council to ensure that we build on this momentum and secure further investment and opportunities for the town,” she added.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “On Wednesday 14 August, HMRC colleagues working in East Kilbride were informed that we will be staying in Queensway House for longer than planned. As announced in January 2022, HMRC remains committed to a long-term presence in East Kilbride."
Queensway House, , was among a number of temporary "transitional" offices for the tax agency as it pressed ahead with plans to close large numbers of local offices in favour of larger regional hubs. It was set to close in 2025-26, along with Lynx House in Portsmouth.
The plans would likely have led to potentially large-scale job losses, but in January 2022, the department announced a U-turn, keeping around 2,900 HMRC jobs in the two towns.
At the time, HMRC permanent secretary Jim Harra called the development “the latest phase of HMRC’s long-term commitment to keeping skilled jobs in Portsmouth and East Kilbride”.
The HMRC spokesperson added: “The FCDO needs more time before moving from Abercrombie House. This enables HMRC to consider all the options for our future location in the town and secure the best value for the taxpayer.”