Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared the era of Whitehall resisting devolution “over for good” ahead of his first meeting at the new No 10 North office in Manchester.
Mr Burnham is scheduled to work from the northern outpost, located in Heron House near Albert Square – a building also housing GCHQ’s Manchester and North West hub – once a week during his premiership.
His initial engagement will be to chair a meeting of the National Economic Council, a Cabinet committee established in 2008 to address economic challenges.
The government confirmed that attendees for these meetings would vary based on the agenda, potentially including prominent business leaders and trade union representatives.
Articulating his vision for the new hub, the Prime Minister stated: “For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve.”
He added: “No 10 North will change that by putting more power into every postcode across the entire country. It will be the situation room for making Britain better – the place we use to get power out of Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can turn things around. The days of Whitehall resisting devolution are over, for good.”
Ahead of his inaugural meeting, Mr Burnham is scheduled to meet with leaders from business representative organisations, including the Federation of Small Business and the Confederation of British Industry.
The Prime Minister has faced scrutiny regarding whether his focus on the North might divert attention from other regions, such as the East of England.
Addressing these concerns in Harlow, Essex, he clarified: “The whole purpose of No 10 North is to put more power into every postcode in the land, including the postcodes of Harlow.
How do we get power out of Whitehall and Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can make a difference and turn things around?” He further told ITV Anglia: “I see the same challenges up and down the country. There’s a lot of communities that feel a little bit forgotten, that don’t get the attention and the investment they deserve. And those communities can be found as much in the East of England and the South West as they can be found in the North of England.”
While this new northern base signifies a significant shift in governmental operations, No 10 Downing Street in central London, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament, will continue to operate as usual.
