Overview
- On Friday July 24, Prime Minister Andy Burnham formally opened No 10 North at Heron House and chaired the first meeting of a revived National Economic Council with senior ministers and regional mayors.
- The government has moved devolution and local growth policy functions into a Manchester-based unit inside the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet to centralise regional coordination in the north.
- Downing Street says Burnham will work from the Manchester site about once a week, other ministers will visit regularly, and the Heron House location is an interim base until a planned Digital Campus in 2032.
- Independent experts and think-tanks warn the change so far is 'de-concentration'—relocating functions rather than transferring fiscal powers—and note the Treasury still controls tax and spending decisions needed for true devolution.
- Meetings at No 10 North will vary by agenda and may include business groups, trade unions and mayors, a move that could reduce travel burdens and give local leaders a louder voice but leaves funding, legal change and tax authority unresolved.