A senior political figure must run Burnham’s Number 10 North

Andy Burnham’s announcement of a “Number 10 North” made good headlines, with his plans to launch an outpost of Downing Street a memorable symbol of the prime minister-in-waiting’s rhetorical commitment to effective regional policy.

With a general election three years or less away, Burnham needs to show results quickly. A trusted ally, Caroline Simpson, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, is in line to head the new office; government offices in the North West are being assessed as potential locations.

As with any government reorganisation, there will be upfront costs, especially given the high level of security required. Burnham will be determined to rebut criticism that “Number 10 of the North” is just an expensive white elephant.

Having worked both in the Cabinet Office and as deputy to the prime minister, and seen how the two buildings interact, the way decisions are made, and how effective, or not, prime ministers have found No 10’s levers of power, it is clear that the creation of a northern outpost means facing up to three challenges.  

Burnham must set out the remit of Number 10 North

First, what is the remit of the new Manchester-based operation? Burnham speaks about it having responsibility for ensuring delivery of his strategic priority to promote economic regeneration and growth across the country. He also wants it to have a leading role in imposing greater state control over water, energy and transport, and to oversee what Burnham intends to be the biggest council house building programme since the 1950s.

A northern Number 10 means creating a bigger prime minister’s department, in effect taking into Number 10 the implementation and delivery of policy functions currently held in the Cabinet Office. Clarity over who does what will be essential. How will responsibilities be divided between the PM’s northern office, mayoral and local authorities (which seem likely to be assigned large chunks of budgets currently managed in Whitehall), and secretaries of state in Whitehall?

The answers to some big strategic questions about governance remain unclear. Does Burnham want de-centralisation, where mayors and councils take on more responsibilities and bigger budgets, but have to follow KPIs and deliver outcomes set by the centre? Or does he want genuine devolution, with mayors free to do things differently – encouraging innovation but risking charges of a “postcode lottery”? Will regional spending by mayors be scrutinised by the PAC or by new scrutiny arrangements at regional level? Without clarity, the risk is that Burnham’s initiative falls prey to turf and budget wars between rival arms of government.

Burnham needs a political deputy to run his northern No.10

Second, Burnham has to get the politics right. The northern Number 10 will have to manage political relationships with ministers in Whitehall, MPs and elected mayors and councillors, many of whom will come from opposition parties. Whatever Burnham’s intentions, he will not have time to do all this himself, and cannot rely on even very talented officials to manage relationships with politicians who pride themselves on their electoral mandate. Burnham will need a trusted deputy (either a chief secretary to the PM or a more senior deputy PM) to take on much of the political load, broker compromises, and exercise delegated power on his behalf.

Number 10 North must act on behalf of the whole country

Finally, it will be vital for the new northern operation to be seen as working for the country as a whole, not just the North West. It needs to act and be seen to act on behalf of Cornwall, North Kent, West Cumbria and Hartlepool as much as Salford or Rochdale.

Andy Burnham needs to have answers to these challenges by the time parliament returns from recess in September.