High-performing civil servants will be sent to work in mayoral offices in England, as part of the prime minister’s efforts to transfer power from central government to local leaders.
The pilot scheme, due to start in the autumn, will see every mayoral authority get between five and 10 civil servants for a six to nine month period.
The 18 mayors will be able to request civil servants with the particular skills they need and Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the scheme would help communities “unleash and unlock their own potential”.
The announcement followed a virtual meeting between local mayors and the prime minister, who was working from his new No 10 North office in Manchester.
A series of devolution deals over the past 10 years have seen mayoral authorities – made up of local councils and elected mayors – given power and funding over areas such as transport and housing.
Mayoral strategic authorities have been established in areas including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire but not in others, for example Surrey and Cornwall.
Further measures announced by the government include a new civil service fast stream pilot for local authority roles in Yorkshire and Humber.
The fast stream programme recruits between around 700 and 1,400 people each year, who are then placed across different government departments.
Applications for the new Yorkshire and Humber scheme will open in October with successful candidates starting in September 2027.
The Future Leaders Scheme – which provides training and support for senior civil servants – will be opened up to those working in mayoral and local authorities.
A digital devolution programme will create a data-sharing model between central government and mayoral authorities.
Burnham spent almost a decade as Greater Manchester Mayor and since becoming prime minister has repeatedly said he wants to devolve power away from central government.
During his leadership campaign, he announced he would set up a new Downing Street team based in Manchester, called “No 10 North”.
The new unit, overseen by senior minister Louise Haigh, has been tasked with being the “dominant driver of the UK’s economy”.
Successive governments have said they want to move more civil servants out of London and last year ministers set a target to reduce the numbers of roles in the capital by 12,000.
According to the most recent figures, 19.6% of civil servants are based in London and the number has been gradually decreasing for the past four years.
Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson, Zöe Franklin MP, said: “Andy Burnham is again putting metro mayoral regions first with this staffing trial.
“Local authorities across the board should be given the same funding and staffing opportunities if he truly wants to grow every region in England.”
