Andy Burnham outlines plans for No 10 North to drive economic growth
Andy Burnham has outlined plans for the new No 10 North to assume control over economic growth from the Treasury, framing the shift as a move to divest power from Whitehall, reports BritPanorama.
The Prime Minister stated that the Treasury will maintain its focus on overseeing public finances, whereas the regional 10 Downing Street office in Manchester will lead economic expansion.
In an interview with The Times, he mentioned that Chancellor John Healey fully supports the decision, characterising it as part of a “huge transfer of power.”
“There’s a job to be done around control of public finances. It’s just the dual job of growth and control of public finances (that) sometimes clouds the growth mission,” he said.
“And particularly having No 10 leading on that growth mission means you’ve got maximum power to unlock the blockages where they exist in the wider Whitehall system.”
The Manchester branch of Downing Street in Heron House is already operational, and officials have confirmed that it will cost taxpayers no extra money.
The Prime Minister is expected to work at the outpost once each week during his premiership, as part of his initiative to push power out of Westminster.
Reflecting on his time in office so far, Mr Burnham acknowledged that the controversy over the early release of prisoners had led to a “bumpy” start to his premiership.
He mentioned that Justice Secretary Alex Norris would present a “much better solution” on 1 September after the government faced pressure regarding the release of two of Pc Andrew Harper’s killers in January under previous plans.
Burnham described the biggest adjustment to life in No 10 as “the relentlessness of it and the scale of it,” adding that his initial policy offerings had not been “earth-shattering,” yet the public “just want something to make life a little bit better” and had been waiting for a “sense of action” from Downing Street.
When asked if he was prepared to be disliked, the Prime Minister critiqued certain politicians for making a “fetish” out of being “tough” and “masochistic.”
“Isn’t the job to be popular by making people’s lives better?” he asked. “Isn’t that what you should be doing? I’m very pleased with the start that we’ve made. We just need this to be a better period than we’ve had for a while.”
