Chancellor joins PM on first day working from No 10 North

Andy Burnham has launched the new No 10 North in Manchester, saying the office would get "growth in every corner of the country".

The branch of Downing Street in north-west England will form part of the prime minister's aim to shift power from Whitehall and Westminster to regions.

With his new Chancellor John Healey standing behind him, Burnham told staff that the shift north showed he was rewiring the state, saying: "No 10 North is going to take that up to the next level."

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch described No 10 North as a "gimmick", adding it "does not make decision-making any better, it's just creating another branch of the civil service in a different place".

Burnham told the assembled civil servants: "It's not 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 former Mayor of Greater Manchester said he understood that negotiations with London had been difficult in the past and "sometimes it's felt like an argument with people in the centre of government" due to the balance of power.

He added: "It's sending a message to everybody here who has come in to No 10 North in its early days that you've got the full support of government from the very top - prime minister, chancellor, first secretary of state - that's a very powerful message that we're sending today, that the political commitment is there."

Other ministers meeting at the Manchester hub on Friday included Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Insisting the move would not be short-lived, Burnham said No 10 North was not just for north-west England but for every region and nation of the UK.

"There'll be many voices out there, I can hear them all already, often London based, but not exclusively… They like to say, 'Oh, this will just be the new levelling up, or another sort of short-lived gimmick', and they'll also say 'What's it going to cost?'"

He continued: "What does it cost for everybody to troop down to London every time there's a meeting when you need to make an argument about something?

"What does that cost? So actually, isn't it better that we have a North Pole that balances the South Pole of our country, where power will always be concentrated?"

Burnham is expected to work from No 10 North every week and was chairing a meeting of the National Economic Council, a cabinet committee first launched by Gordon Brown in the wake of the 2008 banking crash.

At that first meeting on Friday, Burnham said he had agreed "a version" of what he is doing through No10 North for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following meetings with first ministers and deputy first ministers this week.

Strategic decisions on devolution and local economic growth will shift to No 10 North from the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, although both departments will still have input in these areas.

No 10 North is operating out of Heron House in central Manchester, shared with intelligence agencies, although a new government site is under construction in Ancoats and due for completion in 2032.

Downing Street confirmed the PM flew from London to Glasgow and then to Manchester for the meeting, adding: "The government will always seek to ensure ministers can carry out their duties effectively while delivering value for money for taxpayers.

"As with previous administrations, appropriate transport is used where necessary to meet operational, security and scheduling requirements."

Burnham's first week in power has seen him make a series of interventions aimed at easing the cost of living, including announcing a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues from April next year.

Speaking to broadcasters, Badenoch said Burnham should be "lifting his sights and talking about how he will revolutionise our economy".

She added: "But he's mostly talking about the little things - bus fares - he's not talking about AI, he's not talking about how we create jobs."

On whether she would keep No 10 North if the Conservatives were in power, Badenoch replied: "Let's look at what it costs, that's what worries me."

The MP for North West Essex also said "people would be raising an eyebrow" if she was moving No 10 to Essex.

Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller said No 10 North must be "more than just a convenient Friday working from home base for him and other Manchester MPs", reminding Burnham that most MPs return to their constituencies on Fridays.

Miller added: "He needs to demonstrate it's more than just that and that this represents something for the whole country – that rural and coastal communities that have been really left behind are actually part of his plan for decentralisation."

Successive governments have sought to move more civil servants out of London and last year a target was set to cut the number of roles in the capital by 12,000.

According to the most recent figures, only about one-in-five civil servants are now based in London, with that figure steadily decreasing over the past four years, although the number of senior roles outside London remains less than half of those in the capital.

Whitehall officials willing to move to Manchester are understood to have been told they will be offered relocation packages.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.