Mancester’s Heron House is the initial home of No 10 North
ByJudith Moritz, Special correspondent and Daniel Wittenberg, Senior producer in Manchester
Senior ministers and aides close to Andy Burnham are expecting to regularly work from No 10 North, which the prime minister has said will be the “dominant driver of the UK’s economy”.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, and Louise Haigh, who is overseeing No 10 North in her role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, are planning to work there.
The new branch of Downing Street is currently operating from Heron House in Manchester city centre, whilst a brownfield site is redeveloped.
A blueprint for No 10 North produced by the think tank Re:State recommends a workforce of as many as 300 staff within 18 months.
Burnham aims to base himself at No 10 North at least one day a week and is expected to start work there for the first time in coming days.
He will be joined by his closest adviser, Kevin Lee, the director of his mayoral office, who will move to No 10 North after next week’s Greater Manchester mayoral election.
Lee is one of at least seven Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) employees, including four senior managers, to have been recruited by Burnham and are already moving into No 10 North.
Chief executive Caroline Simpson is moving to become Downing Street deputy chief of staff based at No 10 North, Directors John Wrathmell and Claire Norman will also move across.
Some London-based civil servants have voiced concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the plans, with most details expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.
In the weeks before Burnham became prime minister, the BBC has been told that senior officials were summoned to calls informing them that a significant programme to move staff out of London was being developed.
Image source, EPAThis brownfield construction site will become the Manchester Digital Campus, a civil service hub that will house No 10 North
Those who were on leave were told the plans would already be under way by the time they returned, according to a senior civil servant familiar with the discussions.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, welcomed the changes to the structure of government but cautioned that relocation was a big decision for staff.
“Those considering a move out of London have the added concern that a return would be difficult given the disparity in house prices,” he said, adding a major consideration would be “whether it feels like a permanent reorganisation or something that could change quickly with a future government”.
Burnham has told cabinet members No 10 North is not a gimmick in a bid to reassure critics – and civil servants whose careers may be reshaped by the plan – who say it still has to prove it can make a lasting difference.
Dr Simon Kaye, author of the Re:State report told the BBC that No 10 North had to be big enough to outlast the Burnham administration.
“That means reaching a critical mass of people, establishing a genuine sense of shared purpose, and getting to a place where No 10 North feels different enough and vital enough that it can persist, no matter who the prime minister is,” he said.
While civil servants who spoke to the BBC largely welcomed the idea of a No 10 North, some doubted whether it would feel substantially different from existing regional government offices while the majority of ministers and political journalists, as well as many business leaders, continue to be based in London.
Some civil servants based in northern England believe they should have been given the opportunity to apply for jobs at No 10 North before discussions began about potentially lucrative relocation packages for staff moving from London.
One official, speaking anonymously due to the Civil Service Code, told the BBC: “I’ve built my career here and seen first-hand that the North is home to exceptional talent.
“No 10 North needs to make the best use of all talent and create opportunities for people to build careers close to the communities they serve.”
Northern Powerhouse Partnership chief executive Henri Murison said the government had been moving civil servants out of London for several years, including to the new Darlington Economic Campus, adding: “This has seen a number of senior civil servants be based from here but only rarely ministers.”
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