Burnham says No 10 North ‘not a gimmick’
Civil servants are 'already working' at the Manchester-based outpost
Andy Burnham has said No 10 North is “not a gimmick”, with civil servants already working at the Manchester-based outpost tasked with driving devolution.
The branch of Downing Street is already up and running, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said, insisting it will cost taxpayers no extra money.
Mr Burnham is expected to work from No 10 North at least one day a week amid plans for it to become “the dominant driver of the UK’s economy”.
His spokesman told reporters on Tuesday: “Staff are already working in the new No 10 North. This includes staff from Manchester and those who have come in from around the country.”
The official added “it is based at existing UK Government offices in central Manchester” but declined to say where.
It has been widely reported that the initial location is Heron House.
The spokesman said: “The running of No 10 North will be covered by existing Cabinet Office budgets. There is no additional cost to taxpayers.”
Amid reports that London-based personnel are being offered relocation packages to move there, he said it is “standard practice” for employers to support staff required to relocate.
Mr Burnham “expects to work from No 10 North at least one day a week”, his spokesman said, although his diary could change depending on the business of Government.
In a read-out of Mr Burnham’s first Cabinet meeting, the spokesman said: “Turning to No 10 North, the Prime Minister said it was not a gimmick.
“He said the time for resisting devolution was over, and it was very clear that this was the direction the Government was heading in to speed up growth and delivery.”
The Prime Minister promised to improve relations between ministers and civil servants, telling his top team that establishing a “one-team approach” was key to delivering his Government’s priorities including curbing the cost of living.
In Downing Street, Mr Burnham was flanked by Civil Service boss Dame Antonia Romeo as he said: “We will only deliver for people and make hope feel real for people if we are pulling ourselves together in the same direction and we have a really positive working relationship, a sense of one team.”
He said he had spoken to Dame Antonia about wanting to “set the tone at the top in relation to our relationship with our colleagues in the Civil Service”, and “making that feel like it’s a one-team approach… respecting each other”.
It follows tensions between Whitehall and previous governments.
Mr Burnham’s predecessor Sir Keir Starmer initially sought to reset the relationship after attacks by Tory ministers on the “blob” – a critical collective term for unelected senior civil servants, quangos and regulators.
But Sir Keir’s efforts soured after he accused some officials of being “comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”, and deteriorated further when he sacked Foreign Office boss Olly Robbins for his role in the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Lords Leader Baroness Smith of Basildon described the new northern branch of Downing Street as “the engine room of devolution and good growth in every postcode, across Government and the wider economy”.
In a written statement on Tuesday, she said this would involve “moving local economic growth and devolution strategy from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and local economic growth policy from HM Treasury, directly into No 10 North”.
“This ensures that local economic growth policy and regional empowerment are no longer isolated from one another, establishing No 10 North as the dominant driver of the UK’s economy.”
She also announced the creation of an Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC), “which will house No 10, No 10 North and teams within the Cabinet Office directly serving the Prime Minister and Cabinet”, and will be led by Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia.
The OPMC will include a new AI taskforce to drive the Government’s strategy on the technology, with the Cabinet Office taking the lead on AI adoption across the Civil Service.