Andy Burnham will unveil plans for a ‘No 10 in the North’ in what could be the biggest devolution of power and resources from Westminster in decades.
In his first major policy speech since launching his bid to become Labour leader, the MP for Makerfield will promise to ‘break with business as usual’ by shifting decision-making out of Whitehall, giving regional leaders unprecedented control over housing, welfare and skills.
Burnham will deliver the speech in Manchester on Monday, as he seeks to build on momentum behind his Labour leadership campaign and following his decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election.
The Manchester Evening News understands the proposals include creating a northern headquarters for Number Ten. Any new building wouldn’t be completed until 2028 and an interim base would be used until then.
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One option could be the new ‘Manchester Digital Campus’ at the home of the former Toys ‘R’ Us retail store in Ancoats.
The future of the former Central Retail Park had been fiercely debated for years after it was purchased by Manchester council in 2017 and knocked down two years later.
But in March, Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave the green light for the ‘Manchester Digital Campus’, which will see 8,800 civil servants be based at the site, which has been dubbed the ‘Whitehall of the North’.
An estimated 4,900 jobs will be created during construction of the ‘Digital Campus’. Those inside will work for various government departments with a focus on digital work.
Last year, the government announced a major shake-up of the civil service which includes moving jobs out of London. Ministers have already announced plans to close 11 office buildings in Whitehall over the next four years, saving £94million a year.
Burnham is also expected to argue that regional leaders should take on greater responsibility for welfare, post-16 education, and other areas controlled by Whitehall.
The MP for Makerfield will argue that his plans will make the whole country better off. He believes that richer parts of the country have been subsidising poorer areas without addressing the underlying causes of inequality.
People in London pay an average of £24,400 in tax but get back £19,500 in spending on public services – according to the Office for National Statistics.
In the North West, taxpayers on average contribute £12,700 but receive £17,300 in public spending.
Burnham’s agenda is in keeping with the vision set out in his book ‘Head North’, which he co-authored with his friend Steve Rotherham, metro mayor of the Liverpool city region.
“Regional and local leaders are constantly required to bid for funding and go on bended knee to the Palace of Westminster,” he writes. “Everyone is kept in their place.
“If we had a more balanced approach, where councils and mayors were dealt some cards too, we would have a much more functional, mature country where no one has to carry round a begging bowl.”
Lord O’Neill of Gatley, who has been advising Burnham on his economic plans, described the proposals as a ‘quiet political revolution’.
“In many ways what we have had the past 13, 14 years is sort of a tiptoe with little drip feeding bits of [devolution] – if you’re good you can have a little bit more,” he told LBC Radio.
“I’m a little bit surprised that there is not more focus on that at the moment. There is all this standard stuff – focus on fiscal rules etc, which of course are very important, but doing these things should open up a belief that there is a proper change in the game going on.”
Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership told the Manchester Evening News: “We have long argued that that this powerhouse of North can be the key to solving the UKs perilous public finances which are bad today, but over coming decades could get a lot worse. By raising northern productivity, and with it the wages our businesses can afford to pay their workers, we can contribute more to UK plc than we do today. Higher wages and profits means automatically more tax paid.”
“Having worked with Andy for many years I have confidence that with a strong group of economic advisors and wider No 10 operation in part based in Manchester, that he can through devolution and the deployment of public and private investment deliver ongoing reductions in the cost of out of work benefits and ill health linked to poverty. This will reduce the annual revenue subsidy needed from those in London and the Greater South East to pay for the costs of historic underinvestment in the North.”
“Allowing Greater Manchester, wider northern cities and key regions like the Humber to keep more of the additional taxes generated when they attract development or wider investment will be game changing. It would give the North greater financial freedom based on tax revenues which would never have even been generated without this future success.
“It is smart economics, and in the end of benefit to the whole country, if we can collectively continue to afford world class schools, colleges and universities alongside health care free at the point of use alongside a new National Care Service. These national universal entitlements are only sustainable fiscally if the North is given the backing to generate more taxes for its own needs, and the country, going forward.”
Nominations for the Labour leadership close on July 16. If Andy Burnham is the only candidate he will be formally declared the Labour leader the following day, and Prime Minister on July 20.
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