Andy Burnham to lay out economic plans involving funding and devolution to mayors

The Makerfield MP, who was Greater Manchester Mayor from 2017 until earlier this month, is expected to argue that the South has been paying the price for economic failures in the North.

In a speech today, he will set out plans to boost economic growth by giving regional mayors more control over social housing, welfare and post-16 education, according to The Times.

During his time as Greater Manchester Mayor, Mr Burnham focused on the housing crisis and technical education.

The city region has had the fastest economic growth in the country in recent years.

The former mayor firmly believes that the additional powers that Greater Manchester has had - beyond any of the mayors in Yorkshire - have helped drive growth.

He will argue that this will end the need for the North relying on “hand outs” from the South.

Mr Burnham is expected to go further than the plans announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves for fiscal devolution.

In her Mais Lecture, earlier in the year Ms Reeves said she would set out plans at the Budget to devolve tax collecting.

Leeds has been a test case for areas to keep business rates, however Mr Burnham would look to roll this out across combined authorities.

He is also expected to look at mayors raising income tax to spend across their own regions.

Mr Burnham’s ally, the Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell told the BBC: “I have shared a lot of the same frustrations that he [Andy] has shared in the lost opportunity that could have come were more powers and resources spread out around the country and given to local areas to determine for themselves.

“He has got a really strong agenda about changing that. Something that was in our manifesto but we have really not realised in the scale and speed of which we should have done that.

“Greater Manchester was the fastest growing region in the country by some distance.

“But if we had control, more control like skills and local transportation we could better connect people to all those new job opportunities of the future, and we could go much further and faster with that.

“Andy wants to see that right around the country, communities in every part of Britain being able to seize their own agenda, to seize power for themselves to transform their own communities.”

Unless a candidate emerges to challenge Mr Burnham for the Labour leadership, he is likely to enter Downing Street as soon as July 20.

Meanwhile, the former Greater Manchester mayor continues to mull his future cabinet.

Rachel Reeves appears to have conceded she will no longer be staying on as Chancellor, with several senior ministers including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband tipped to succeed her.

Ms Powell said she thought Mr Miliband would be good at running the Treasury but cautioned against “tittle-tattle” over who may get which job.