The creation of a new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet has been announced, with cabinet secretary Dame Antonia Romeo tasked with leading it.
The decision implements a key recommendation that the IfG’s Commission on the Centre of Government made in 2024.
Leader of the House of Lords Angela Smith announced the plans in a written ministerial statement this afternoon on behalf of the PM Andy Burnham, setting out a series of machinery of government changes being made.
Baroness Smith said the creation of the OPMC, which will house No.10, the new No.10 North and teams within the Cabinet Office directly serving the PM and cabinet, will ensure the “centre of government is focused on our top strategic priorities”. Smith said Romeo will lead the office, while Louise Haigh is expected to provide political leadership as first secretary of state.
IfG chief executive Hannah White welcomed the move, calling it a “long overdue” decision which will ensure Burnham’s No.10 is “much better placed” to deliver his priorities in government.
As part of the plans, the new OPMC will oversee a new OneGov Delivery Agency which will manage operational services at arm’s length, including the Government Recruitment Service, pensions, shared services strategy, and security vetting.
The prime minister will also establish a new AI Taskforce within the OPMC, which will be supported by a prime ministerial adviser on AI and will drive the government’s overall strategy on AI to unlock the opportunities it holds for growth, prosperity and public sector transformation.
Further changes will see the Cabinet Office take the lead on AI adoption across the civil service, with responsibility for AI strategy, public sector AI adoption and the AI Security Institute all moving to the department. Smith said these changes reflect "the urgency of delivering that transformation for the benefit of people across the country".
Confirming Burnham's plans for a No.10 North, Smith said it will be “the engine room of devolution and good growth in every postcode, across government and the wider economy” and “ensure places are at the very heart of government strategy”.
As part of the creation of No.10 North, there will be “targeted transfers of overarching strategic functions” – moving local economic growth and devolution strategy from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and local economic growth policy from HM Treasury directly into No.10 North.
Smith said the changes ensure 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 noted that MHCLG and HMT “will continue to exercise some remaining functions in these areas”.
The minister also explained the government’s decision to merge the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with the Department for Business and Trade and add “digital“ back to DCMS – see the latest on those changes here.
As part of the overall restructuring, several functions will move out of the Cabinet Office "to slim down the centre of government and align them with departments suited to their purpose", Smith added.
These changes will see the Office for Equality and Opportunity move to MHCLG; the Office for Impact Economy and responsibility for policy on digital identity will move to DCMS; the Public Sector Fraud Authority will move to the DWP, with continued central sponsorship from HM Treasury; and the Investment Security Unit will move to the new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology.
“Where possible, these machinery of government changes will take practical effect from today,” Smith said.