AIBU to wonder how a government can be based in Manchester?

[dottiedodah]

Andy Burnham is proposing to govern from Manchester when he starts on July 20th.How can this be so ? Surely all previous governments have been based in London?

Teams

Running the country via Teams. There's no possible way communication couldn't be intercepted by computer hacks. This situation is getting more laughable by the minute.

Relax. I’m sure the government has a secure equivalent to Teams already in use. 🙄

To deal with peripheral business, they probably do.

Why do the admin staff have to be in the same place?? Havn't you heard of remote working, Teams, Skype, etc?? It's what big successful businesses are doing. My son works in one of the UK's biggest insurance/pensions firms and his immediate "small" team are all over the UK, and a couple are abroad. It doesn't stop them working together collaboratively via almost daily Teams calls. We need to lose the inefficient "public sector" mentality of having to have meetings in person all the time. The private sector moved on years ago.

He was a minister in Tony Blair’s government. Based in Westminster. Hope that helps.

Whooosh …..

Why does it? There are already government civil service departments in other areas. Makerfield for example has one of the largest DWP centres. Spreading out further may actually even out civil service and other work opportunities in other parts of the country.

💯 This

Not a KS fan but we need to chill a minute and give people the time they were voted in for, unless they are clearly incompetent and not qualified for the job or engaged in potentially criminal activity.

I'm thinking COVID PAFIES and the associated lost £10-30 billions, or Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng refusing to let the OBR evaluate what was clearly a new budget and not a 'fiscal event', as they deemed it - which resulted in a cost to our economy of around £30-80 billion depending on how calculated. That's like £1 billion A DAY dieing her PM stint... All very underhand and, frankly, criminal

I think she was saying this tongue in cheek

Burnham will be in London. How many more times? It’s one element of one department being set up (potentially) in Manchester.

Starmer has put the legal framework in place, so yes, it was already being ‘rolled out’
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/english-devolution-bill-receives-royal-assent

I asked ChatGPT which government agencies are based outside London:

Government Agencies with shared headquarters

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology - London and Manchester (joint headquarters)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport - London and Manchester (joint headquarters)

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - London and Aberdeen (joint headquarters)

Office for National Statistics - Newport (headquarters), with a London office

Departments headquartered in London but with major regional hubs
These departments remain officially based in London but have substantial policy or operational offices elsewhere:

• HM Revenue & Customs – regional centres in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and elsewhere.
• Department for Work and Pensions – major offices in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne and Blackpool.
• Ministry of Justice – large presence in Leeds.
• Department for Transport – offices in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – offices in York and Bristol.
• Ministry of Defence – significant sites in Bristol, Corsham and Portsmouth.
• Home Office – major operations in Liverpool, Sheffield and Croydon.

Agencies headquartered outside London
Many executive agencies and non-ministerial departments have long been based outside London, including:

• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency – Swansea
• Office for National Statistics – Newport
• Vehicle Certification Agency – Bristol
• Health and Safety Executive – Bootle
• Government Actuary's Department – Edinburgh (with London office)

The government's long-term ambition is to create a more geographically distributed Civil Service, with major policy-making hubs in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Darlington, Glasgow, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Bristol and Aberdeen, while London remains the constitutional centre of government and the location for Parliament, the Cabinet, and most ministers.

All the cabinet ministers will need rented flast in both London and Manchester and kitted out with designer gear that they can expense againstvthe Tax payer

No they won’t because the cabinet isn’t moving. For goodness sake look at what’s proposed (and has been explained ad nauseam on this thread) before going off on one about something you’ve made up in your head.

I think you need to wait and see what it would actually means in practice not just assume what it means based on speculation.
But just because something has always been done in a certain way it doesn't mean things have to always be done that way. If so we would never have any progress!
Incidentally unused to work in the Civil Service for a Government Department not in London.
It worked perfectly well.

You obviosly have absolutely no understanding of how Government or the Civil Service works and no understanding of the Policy either.
It reminds me of people who compalin about 15 minute cities because they thought it meant they wouldn't be allowed to travel any further than 15 minutes from their homes!

Government Departments already communicate via video conferring and have done so for at least the last 20 years!
It's a secure network and perfectly safe

That's different to not having a permanent base at Downing Street. Of course they've kept up with technology. The whole thing is just a ridiculous on trend gimmick from Burnham. Breaking away from tradition to show how different he is. Me me me.

Genuine question... does anyone ever read the thread, or simply just scan some of the comments on Mumsnet, before posting? Or pay attention to the news, maybe? I'm on Page 22 of this thread and people are still saying the same thing, seemingly unaware that it has been pointed out numerous times that this is not about the entire government, Parliament, all MPs, the HoC, or the Prime Minister's residence moving to Manchester. It's been said over and over again!! Why wouldn't you either read the thread or Google it to find out some facts before commenting?
Loved the North - South banter though - it was worth reading the whole thing just for that as I sat here in Yorkshire, just along from Manchester, so I might be in the North, or I might be in the East Midlands

London based civil servants, highly paid or not (it really is just the few heads) are an apolitical workforce, who help set national policy for the department they belong to, at the direction of the governing party. That policy becomes enshrined in law by passing through parliament and becoming adopted. And before anyone argues, I’m aware that’s a very simplistic version.
There’s absolutely no way you could go straight to local authorities. The present system does work, if the policies are sound. Policy by parliamentary departments through parliament, directing local authorities, who direct their town and parish councils.
Otherwise we become like the USA.

I am in the most southerly part of Yorkshire, which is bracketed by the East Midlands to the east and Derbyshire to the west. I am in the North, like you.

The lack of ability to read the whole thread and focus on the facts is the country in microcosm: 'they're all the same', 'nothing will change', 'they're all in it for themselves'. As I said in an earlier post, I do wonder if democracy is actually a good idea!

I think you’re midlands at a push. Not meaning you here but people seem to forget that “The North” of the UK extends above Newcastle.

This, 💯
However, the poster that you are addressing shows such unwavering, unquestioning devotion for Burnham that I have had to presume they must be a relative or staffer of his 😆

It was done for pure rage bait. Nicely taken 😆 🎣