Key Facts

• Prime Minister Andy Burnham will spend his first day working at No 10 North in Manchester, a northern branch of Downing Street, as part of his effort to decentralize power and resources.
• Up to 300 civil servants are expected to join Ministers Lucy Powell and Louise Haigh, who will also operate regularly from the new site, by the end of next year.
• The initial location of No 10 North will be Heron House in central Manchester, where specialist police officers have been seen guarding the building, and the longer-term base is likely to be at a new government site under construction in the city's Ancoats area, due for completion in 2032.
• Burnham will chair a meeting of the National Economic Council, a cabinet committee first launched in 2008, on Friday in Manchester, and will also meet with business leaders, including representatives of the Federation of Small Business, the Confederation of British Industry, and the British Chambers of Commerce.
• The percentage of civil servants in senior roles outside of London stands at 13.5%, compared with 34.7% in London, and successive governments have sought to move more civil servants out of London, with a target set to cut the number of roles in the capital by 12,000 last year.