In September, Conservative shadow minister Mike Wood raised concerns about “little information and so little transparency” surrounding Number 10 North which he described as a “gimmick”.
“The minister either doesn’t know or won’t tell us how much No 10 North will cost, how many people work there or how many of them actually turn up to work – it’s almost as though this hasn’t been properly thought through,” he told a House of Commons debate.
He called for the annual budget, staff levels and office attendance statistics to be published. Current staffing levels have also not yet been clarified.
Cabinet Office minister Sally Jameson said last week that the government did not know how much has been spent on hotels for No 10 North staff, ministers and special advisers travelling between London and Manchester since it opened.
The cost is “not centrally collated” but is “being met within existing departmental budgets”, Jameson said in response to a parliamentary question.
Number 10 North’s latest summit of regional mayors, held in its “situation room”, will take place on Thursday. Burnham has previously indicated he will work there at least once a week, and hosted the Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin in September.
Parish added in his speech: “How will we know if Number 10 North is working?
“Ultimately, success will be in people in the UK feeling the difference in their communities, with greater opportunities, improved living standards, faster decisions…more joined up services and a stronger voices in the future of their place.”