United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham has formally opened a new northern government office, No 10 North, in Manchester, promising what he described as “a different way of running Britain” by decentralising power from London and boosting regional economic growth.
The office was officially unveiled on Friday in Manchester city centre, just days after Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as prime minister on Monday.
Addressing government staff during the opening ceremony, Burnham said the initiative was designed to ensure that decision-making would no longer be concentrated solely in Whitehall, the traditional centre of the British government.
“It’s not just a new office,” Burnham said while flanked by senior officials, including the new Finance Minister, John Healey.
“This is the place where Whitehall meets the rest of the country.”
The former Mayor of Greater Manchester argued that the city-region’s economic success demonstrates how greater regional autonomy can drive national prosperity.
He pledged to work from No 10 North at least one day every week, dismissing suggestions that the move was merely symbolic.
“It creates that sense of a more balanced country and that big things can be done from here,” Burnham said, while acknowledging that some government functions would inevitably remain centred in London.
Despite the announcement, some constitutional experts questioned whether the initiative would deliver meaningful decentralisation.
Academic and policy adviser Alan Trench described the move as a form of administrative deconcentration rather than genuine devolution of power.
“‘De-concentration’ is something done in even very centralised states and in itself doesn’t signify any transfer of power,” Trench told AFP.
“At most, it transfers public sector jobs and the lives and incomes of those who hold them.”
Calls for Greater Devolution
The United Kingdom, made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, introduced major constitutional reforms in the late 1990s that established devolved legislatures in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, while London also gained a directly elected mayor and city assembly.
However, experts note that England remains one of Europe’s most centralised countries despite the introduction of regional mayors and other local governance structures over the past decade.
“Nowhere in England has any devolved law-making power,” Trench observed.
Professor Nicola McEwen of the University of Glasgow argued that devolution within England has been uneven, largely because successive governments in London have viewed the issue as something affecting only other parts of the United Kingdom.
Burnham has frequently spoken about the limitations he faced during his nine years as Mayor of Greater Manchester, where his authority was largely confined to areas such as transport and local development.
Now serving as prime minister, he has instructed several government departments, including the Treasury, to transfer selected strategic responsibilities to No 10 North.
The office will operate within the newly created Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC), headed by Civil Service Chief Antonia Romeo, who will remain based in London.
Burnham also announced the revival of the National Economic Council, originally established in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
He is expected to chair the council’s first meeting at No 10 North alongside cabinet ministers and regional mayors.
Experts Remain Divided
While McEwen described the assignment of strategic responsibilities to the Manchester office as a positive development, she cautioned that its effectiveness would depend on cooperation from Whitehall departments.
Trench also welcomed the establishment of the new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, describing such a body as long overdue.
However, Professor Michael Keating of the University of Aberdeen argued that the reforms risk reinforcing central control rather than reducing it.
“It is deeply ironic that to deal with centralisation you set up a central government department that’s going to decide exactly who gets what,” he said.
He argued that genuine devolution would involve giving regional authorities greater independence rather than expanding central government structures.
Keating also expressed doubts that No 10 North could effectively challenge the influence of the Treasury over public spending.
“That has been tried before,” he said.
“The Treasury always wins. They’ll not let go of the purse strings.”
Government officials acknowledged that approximately 80,000 civil servants already work across northwest England, suggesting that relocating public sector staff is not an entirely new approach.
Burnham, who met the leaders of the Scottish and Welsh governments on Thursday, has so far ruled out supporting fresh independence referendums despite renewed campaigns for greater autonomy in both nations.
