The key facts
- Number 10 North deputy director Duncan Parish spoke of 'institutional challenges' in government and the need for a 'shift in thinking' in central government.
- The office was opened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in July; the opposition calls it a 'gimmick' and criticises opaque spending.
- The Cabinet does not hold data on hotel costs for staff travelling between London and Manchester.
Call for a change of approach
Number 10 North deputy director Duncan Parish said at the Great Exhibition conference in Lincolnshire that a 'shift in thinking' in the UK central government is needed to fulfil the office's goals. According to him, there are 'institutional challenges' within the state apparatus that need to be overcome, and 'friction' arises between parts of government with 'similar but slightly competing goals'. Parish, who previously worked as a civil servant in Whitehall and moved to Manchester four years ago, noted that the office's staff are 'delivering results at a national level' in healthcare, transport, education and welfare.
The office's priorities
Parish named two priorities for Number 10 North. The first is 'shifting power and accountability' closer to local areas, which, he acknowledged, requires civil service reform and abandoning the view of national, regional and local levels of government as separate. The second is delivering growth: the office is meant to 'unblock' stalled issues where internal government boundaries become an obstacle. He added that working in departments is 'too often seen as difficult or slow' and that mayoral strategic authorities, such as Greater Lincolnshire, need to be brought into discussions in which they previously took no part, working 'bottom-up rather than top-down'.
Criticism and questions about spending
Burnham's political opponents call the office a 'gimmick' and raise questions about the transparency of costs. In September, shadow Conservative minister Mike Wood complained during a House of Commons debate about 'little information and so little transparency', noting that the cost of the office, the number of staff and how many of them actually come to work are unknown; he demanded the publication of an annual budget, headcount and attendance statistics. Last week, Cabinet minister Sally Jameson said in response to a parliamentary question that the government does not know how much has been spent on hotels for Number 10 North staff, ministers and special advisers travelling between London and Manchester: the costs are 'not centrally recorded' but are covered 'within existing departmental budgets'. The office's headcount also remains unclear.
Context and measuring success
Number 10 North is a Manchester office, 'sister' to Downing Street, opened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in July. Burnham previously said he would work there at least once a week, and in September he hosted Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin. On Thursday, the office's 'situation room' will host another summit of regional mayors. Concluding his speech, Parish answered a question about how to tell the office is working: 'Ultimately, success will be that people in the UK feel a difference in their communities — more opportunity, improved living standards, faster decisions, more joined-up services and a stronger voice in the future of their place.'
Image source, AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Andy Burnham opened Number 10 North in July
Image source, Great Exhibition conference Duncan Parish spoke to local political and business leaders in Lincolnshire, in an event chaired by regional mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns
