Andy Burnham has launched No.10 North, declaring that it will be “the place where Whitehall meets the rest of the country”.
In his first speech to staff at the new Manchester outpost of No.10 on Friday, on his fifth day as prime minister, Burnham said No.10 North will be “the situation room for growth”, where mayors and departments “get round the table” and “break through the logjams”.
Burnham said No.10 North, which is currently based at Heron House in Manchester’s city centre, will be “much more profound” than “just a new office”.
“Through this place, power is going to flow, energy is going to flow, new ideas are going to come through, the regions are going to play back their ambitions here, and the team is going to say, ‘right, we’re right behind you, we’re going to make them work’,” he said.
Burnham said it has “felt a little at times that local government has just been forgotten and places aren’t able to do what they want to do” and that, at the city level or regional level, “sometimes it's felt like an argument with people in the centre of government and people having a to-and-fro all the time”.
“Just imagine if we were all working together as one team, pulling the same way and making the change happen for people and places,” he said. “We’ve got to do that. If we want to get back to where it should be, it’s got to be about that one team feeling.”
“It is such an amazing moment for me,” he said. “It’s everything I believe in, everything I’ve spent my whole life working towards – a country that really does feel together, feel that all parts are involved and making their contribution. No.10 North is going to take that up to the next level.”
He noted that No.10 North will be as much for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as it is for the regions of England.
Burnham also responded to criticism of No.10 North.
“There will be many voices out there, I can hear them already – often London-based but not exclusively,” he said. “They like to say ‘oh this will just be the new ‘levelling up’ or another sort of short-lived gimmick.' They’re also saying, ‘what’s it going to cost?’ But…what does it cost for everybody to troop down to London every time there is a meeting when you need to make an argument about something? So actually isn’t in better that we have a north pole that balances the south pole of our country – where power will always be concentrated, but at least it creates that sense of a more balanced country and that big things can be done from here?”
Burnham was joined at No.10 North by colleagues including first secretary of state Louise Haigh and chancellor John Healey and said this sends "a very powerful message" to "everyone here who is coming to No.10 North in its early days that you’ve got the full support of the government from the very top".
“This isn’t about the government working in its old way – it’s about the Treasury, No.10 close together, the heart of government, then driving the same mission from here right out into all parts of the country.”
Burnham also expressed “delight” at being joined by cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo and thanked her for “everything you’ve done to make today possible", adding that he wants to "get the culture right, the relationship right, between politicians and our brilliant civil servants, and then everyone feeling that we’re all in the same game together, and we’re all working together, and we’re all working hard to support each other. That’s what this is all about.”
Others attending No.10 North on Friday included new No.10 North director general Sam Lister and his new deputy chief of staff – former Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief executive Caroline Simpson.