Burnham confirms he will set up No 10 North in Manchester, to make ‘power flow’ around country
Burnham confirms that he will set up a No 10 North in Manchester.
The change will be the biggest change in our lifetimes to the way the country is run, and it is consistent with the 2024 manifesto.
We will create a more streamlined state with a clearer purpose to power up all parts of the country and put a laser-like focus on growth and regeneration, good growth.
The change will be driven through the prime minister’s office in an extended operation based here in Manchester.
But here’s the important thing; it will only be based here. The job of No 10 North will be to make power flow into the Midlands, into the South West, into the East of England and yes, into London.
Key events
Burnham says more emphasis to be given to ‘social value’ when public contracts issued
Burnham said he wanted to change the way public procurement policy operated.
For too long, UK public procurement policy has been based on chasing cut price deals around the world, rather than helping our own British-based suppliers become more stable and competitive.
No more. From here on, every pound raised from taxpayers will work harder for them, and that approach will apply fully to the defence investment plan.
We will make sure that all eligible public contracts are subject to proper social value weighting.
And we will do that to make sure British-based companies are in a better position to win those contracts.
This change is essential given the need to build our own resilience in places across the country.
In an increasingly uncertain world, we need to safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors like steel, defence, energy, food and farming, rather than just being prepared to let it go, as we have sadly done in the past.
In return, we will recycle maximum benefits for our communities and our residents, for instance by requiring a much greater supply of 45-day work placements and apprenticeships for young people.
On reindustrialisation, Burnham said:
We will support every region to set clear and credible industrial ambitions and provide the support to achieve them, encouraging more across UK partnership between places with complementary industrial clusters.
As Cambridge and Manchester have done on life sciences, we will consolidate public and private investment at a place-based level and help all areas establish good growth funds, as we have done here in Greater Manchester.
Burnham says he will use 10-year plans to bring down costs of utilities through ‘greater public control’
Burnham said No 10 North would help the regions with three tasks: reform of utilities; reindustrialisation and regeneration of places.
On utilities, he said:
We will ensure all parts of the UK are able to take greater public control of essential services like water, housing, energy and transport.
Learning from the model that has transformed our bus networks here in Greater Manchester, we will set out 10-year plans to bring down the cost of these essentials to individuals, families and businesses.
Burnham says his government will aim for ‘equivalent living conditions in all parts of Britain’
Burnham set out more details of what No 10 North would do.
It will coordinate all parts of government at national and local level, to agree a long term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.
It will be given a mission to strive for equivalent living conditions in all parts of Britain, borrowing from the German Basic Law. [See 9.30am.]
It will [make] place-based collaboration the new operating principle for UK plc, requiring all government departments and agencies to support strategic and local authorities with staffing and resources.
And let me say this very directly; the days of Whitehall fighting the devolution power into the regions and nations are over for good.
Burnham confirms he will set up No 10 North in Manchester, to make ‘power flow’ around country
Burnham confirms that he will set up a No 10 North in Manchester.
The change will be the biggest change in our lifetimes to the way the country is run, and it is consistent with the 2024 manifesto.
We will create a more streamlined state with a clearer purpose to power up all parts of the country and put a laser-like focus on growth and regeneration, good growth.
The change will be driven through the prime minister’s office in an extended operation based here in Manchester.
But here’s the important thing; it will only be based here. The job of No 10 North will be to make power flow into the Midlands, into the South West, into the East of England and yes, into London.
Burnham says he wants devolution “backed by the stability that comes from sound public finances … and the discipline of our current fiscal rules”.
Burnham explains his view of ‘Manchesterism’, and why it is key to encouraging growth
Burnham says what he calls Manchesterism show how growth can be nurtured.
It comes from running sound finances, as we have done here in Greater Manchester, which in turn gives businesses the stability and the confidence to invest, increasing their productivity and adoption of new technology.
It comes from placing our universities at the heart of local economies, as all the mayors do, and bringing the innovation-led approach through start-ups and scale-ups.
It comes from committing to decent infrastructure in all parts of the UK and getting national investors to back the aspirations set by regions.
It comes from giving people the security of a good home and good employment, so that they can be as productive as possible, from good mobility and an ability to afford the basics.
And it comes from not leaving everything to the market, but public intervention where necessary, to set higher ambitions for towns, as we did in Stockport, and kickstart the process of change.
This is Manchesterism.
Burnham promises ‘biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen’
Burnham says the current system is not just not working for people in the north; it is not working for people in the south either.
It is bad for London in the south east.
The whole country suffers when the regions and nations are not meeting their potential, and Londoners are left with an overheated economy and an overcrowded housing market.
It is actually bad for national government too, because we will never get the growth up to the level Britain needs, unless every single postcode in the land is set up to contribute to it.
This country hasn’t thought in that way before, but with the Makerfield test at the heart of decision making, it will do from now on.
To make it happen, we will bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.
It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.
Burnham says ‘stark imbalance’ in resources between councils and national government not justified
Burnham says the “stark imbalance in resources” between councils and national government is not justified.
If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?
While national government has got bigger, particularly since the pandemic, local government is threadbare and without the resources to fulfil even statutory responsibilities. This is not just bad for councils in the areas they serve, it is bad for everywhere.
Burnham urges people to ignore ‘wild speculation’ about who he might appoint to his government
Burnham urges people to ignore “speculation” about who he might appoint to his government.
And may I say, I will not announce those decisions on appointments, certainly not today, and indeed not until the end of this process.
So until then, feel free to discount the wild speculation in circulation.
Referring to the media in the audience, he says that is a “message for the back of the room there”.
Burnham says he will let MPs be ‘authentic representatives’, not using whipping system to create fear
Burnham says he left Westminster more than a decade ago because he thought Westminster politics was not working for this region.
And he says when he returned last week, the same problems were there.
Power is not in the hands of those places that [MPs] represent, but held by an insufficiently accountable, outsourced state.
We are one of the most over centralised countries in the world, and worse, that over centralised heart of the country is not pulling in the same way but in different directions.
That is the reality of Westminster now, both within our parties and between them, and between the departments of Whitehall.
I’ll be honest, I was worried about what I found on my return last week. It is a more fragmented, disjointed place than the one I left and frankly, unhappier.
Burnham says he will change that.
I will work hard to change that culture, leading from the front and showing how things can be different.
Letting MPs be authentic representatives and not using the whip system to create fear or close down debate
Involving more people in the work of the government, and drawing on the breadth and depth of talent and expertise our party has to offer.
While the political direction I set is not up for negotiation, I will build an inclusive team at the very highest level so that all parts of the party and the country can see themselves reflected and represented in it.
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