Andy Burnham's No10 North is up and running

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street’s new Manchester base was up and running and that Mr Burnham expects to work from there every week.

Meanwhile, Mr Burnham said No10 North was “not a gimmick” and that the “time for resisting devolution was over” in his first Cabinet meeting yesterday.

His spokesperson said this showed “the direction the Government was heading in to speed up growth and delivery”.

The Prime Minister said this was “the urgent principle” of this Government.

Later, the spokesman confirmed to reporters that No10 North was up and running, with Mr Burnham’s deputy chief of staff and former Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief executive, Caroline Simpson, already based there.

“Staff are already working in the new No10 North. This includes staff from Manchester and those who have come in from around the country,” he said.

This comes amid reports that Whitehall officials based in London are being encouraged to move to Manchester.

Civil servants willing to move will be offered relocation packages, according to the BBC.

“It is based at existing UK Government offices in central Manchester and you can expect more updates in due course.”

The official also said: “The running of No 10 North will be covered by existing Cabinet Office budgets. There is no additional cost to taxpayers.”

On the question of relocation packages for London-based personnel to move there, he said it is “standard practice” for employers to support staff required to relocate.

The spokesman said numbers would be detailed in due course, adding: “We already have around 80,000 civil servants based in the North West of England, with around 700 roles moved from London to Manchester” last year.

Mr Burnham “expects to work from No 10 North at least one day a week,” his spokesman said, while caveating that his diary could change depending on the business of Government.

Lords Leader Baroness Smith of Basildon gave more detail on the new northern branch of Downing Street yesterday, describing it as “the engine room of devolution and good growth in every postcode, across Government and the wider economy”.

This would involve “moving local economic growth and devolution strategy from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and local economic growth policy from HM Treasury, directly into No10 North,” she said in a written statement setting out details of the plans.

She also announced the creation of an Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC), “which will house No 10, No 10 North and teams within the Cabinet Office directly serving the Prime Minister and Cabinet”, and will be led by Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo.

The OPMC will include a new AI taskforce to drive the Government’s strategy on the technology, with the Cabinet Office taking the lead on AI adoption across the Civil Service.