Andy Burnham to host first meeting at No 10 North in Manchester
Andy Burnham is expected to work from the site in Manchester once a week during his premiership
Whitehall resistance to devolution is “over for good”, the Prime Minister has said ahead of his first meeting at the new No 10 North.
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Andy Burnham is expected to work from the site in Manchester once a week during his premiership.
He will chair a meeting of the National Economic Council, a Cabinet committee first launched in 2008 to respond to economic challenges.
The panel’s attendees will vary according to No 10 North meeting agendas and could include business leaders and trade unions, the Government said.
No 10 North is housed at Heron House, near Manchester’s Albert Square, a building which is also home to GCHQ’s Manchester and North West hub.
“For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve,” Mr Burnham said.
“No 10 North will change that by putting more power into every postcode across the entire country.
“It will be the situation room for making Britain better – the place we use to get power out of Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can turn things around.
“The days of Whitehall resisting devolution are over, for good.”
Mr Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, is expected to speak to leaders from business representative organisations ahead of his first No 10 North meeting, including from the Federation of Small Business and Confederation of British Industry.
The Prime Minister has faced questions about whether his focus on the North would draw attention away from other regions, such as the East of England.
Speaking in Harlow, Essex, on Thursday, he said: “The whole purpose of No 10 North is to put more power into every postcode in the land, including the postcodes of Harlow.
“How do we get power out of Whitehall and Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can make a difference and turn things around?”
Mr Burnham told ITV Anglia: “I see the same challenges up and down the country.
“There’s a lot of communities that feel a little bit forgotten, that don’t get the attention and the investment they deserve.
“And those communities can be found as much in the East of England and the South West as they can be found in the North of England.”
No 10 Downing Street in central London, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament, remains open.