Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hold his first meeting at No 10 North, the new Manchester outpost of Downing Street, today, as part of a wider push to shift decision-making away from Westminster and into the regions.
The session will see Burnham chair the National Economic Council, a cabinet committee that was originally set up in 2008 to coordinate the government’s response to economic shocks. Senior ministers and regional mayors are expected to attend, with devolution described as central to the government’s plan to improve conditions across the country.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, the prime minister said that, for four decades, power and resources had been concentrated in the centre, leaving many communities feeling overlooked and under-invested in. He said the era of Whitehall blocking devolution had come to a definitive end.
A New Northern Base
No 10 North is temporarily housed in Heron House, a central Manchester building that also accommodates regional offices for GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence and cyber-security agency. Armed and specialist officers have already been stationed outside the building. A permanent site is under construction in the Ancoats area of the city, though it is not expected to be ready before 2032.
Cabinet ministers Lucy Powell and Louise Haigh are set to work from the site on a regular basis, and officials have said the workforce there could grow to around 300 civil servants by the end of next year. Angela Rayner, whose parliamentary seat lies in Greater Manchester, was also due to be based at the site for the first time today.
Responsibility for devolution policy and regional economic growth is being moved from the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the new Manchester operation, although both departments will continue to have a say in these areas.
Asked whether the focus on the north risked appearing one-sided, Rayner told the BBC that people understood the initiative was intended to support growth in every part of the UK, not just the north of England.
Business Talks and Early Announcements
Burnham’s first day working from No 10 North includes discussions with business groups, among them the Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce, focused on encouraging investment and growth. Labour has said it wants to bring together civil servants, mayors, councils and businesses under a single strategy that builds on existing devolution and local growth policies.
Since taking office, Burnham has already announced a package of cost-of-living measures, including a 20% reduction in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues, due to take effect next April.
Opposition Criticism
The plans have not gone unchallenged. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said yesterday that Burnham’s ambitions did not go far enough, calling instead for action on high energy costs for businesses and on a shortfall in defence spending.
She argued that running a devolved authority with money allocated by central government was a different task altogether from leading the country, and suggested Burnham was still governing as though he were mayor of Manchester rather than prime minister.
Part of a Longer Trend
The move follows a broader effort by successive governments to reduce the concentration of civil service jobs in London. A target was set last year to cut London-based roles by 12,000, and the latest figures show that just under a fifth of civil servants are now based in the capital, a proportion that has fallen steadily over the past four years. Senior roles remain heavily weighted towards London, however, with only 13.5% of civil servants outside the capital holding senior positions, compared with 34.7% of those based there.
Whitehall staff willing to relocate to Manchester are reportedly being offered relocation packages as part of the move.
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