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As part of an initiative to shift authority from central government to local administrations, high-caliber civil servants will be assigned to work within mayoral offices across England. This pilot programme, set to begin in the autumn, aims to provide each mayoral authority with a deployment of five to ten civil servants for a period lasting between six and nine months.
The 18 elected mayors involved in the scheme will have the ability to select civil servants possessing the specific expertise they require. Prime Minister Andy Burnham emphasized that this move is designed to enable communities to “unleash and unlock their own potential.” The announcement came after a virtual gathering between the prime minister and local mayors, held while Burnham operated from his new No 10 North office situated in Manchester.
Over the last decade, numerous devolution agreements have empowered mayoral authorities—comprising local councils and elected mayors—with responsibilities and budgets concerning key areas such as housing and transportation. These strategic mayoral authorities have been established in regions including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire, although some areas like Surrey and Cornwall remain without such structures. Alongside the civil servant placement pilot, the government revealed plans for a civil service fast stream pilot focused on local authority roles specifically in Yorkshire and Humber.
The fast stream programme annually recruits between approximately 700 and 1,400 individuals across various government departments. For this new regional pilot, applications will open in October, with successful candidates commencing work in September 2027. Moreover, the Future Leaders Scheme, which offers training and development for senior civil servants, will extend its availability to staff working within mayoral and local government bodies. Complementing these efforts is a digital devolution initiative, which plans to establish a data-sharing framework between central government and mayoral authorities.
Having served nearly ten years as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham has consistently advocated for decentralising power from the centre. During his campaign for prime minister, he pledged to create a dedicated Downing Street team based in Manchester called “No 10 North.” This unit, managed by senior minister Louise Haigh, is tasked with becoming the “dominant driver of the UK’s economy.” Prior administrations have also expressed intentions to relocate more civil servants outside London, setting a target last year to reduce the capital’s civil service workforce by 12,000. Recent data shows that 19.6% of civil servants remain based in London, although this figure has been slowly declining over the past four years.
Zöe Franklin MP, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for local government, remarked on the pilot scheme: “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.
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