Statement from government on plans to change the ‘geography of government’ to ’empower local leaders’.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his new government will be ‘fundamentally rewiring the state’ – and that, ‘where possible’, the changes to the machinery of government will take effect from today.
The biggest change is the relocation of various bits of government from London, and the establishment of a so-called No. 10 North, based at Heron House in central Manchester, to promote further devolution and local growth. In a statement issued today on behalf of the government, Baroness Smith of Basildon said this ‘will include targeted transfers of overarching strategic functions: moving local economic growth and devolution strategy from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and local economic growth policy from HM Treasury directly into No 10 North.’
In addition, the Cabinet Secretary will lead the newly created Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC), which will comprise No 10 in London, No 10 North, and teams within the Cabinet Office directly serving the PM and Cabinet. OPMC will also oversee the new OneGov Delivery Agency, which will manage operational services – such as recruitment, pensions and security vetting – at arm’s length.
Among a range of other changes, the Office for Equality and Opportunity will move to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Another major change is based on the principle that technology and innovation are the basis for all future industry, culture and public service delivery. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has duly been disbanded, its functions moved to other departments. But Mr Burnham has also appointed Kanishka Narayan in a newly created position, as Minister for Artificial Intelligence. There will be a new AI taskforce in OPMC which will, said Baroness Smith, ‘drive the government’s overall strategy on AI to unlock the opportunities it holds for growth, prosperity and public sector transformation.’
How that will square with local empowerment remains to be seen. The data centres required to power AI consume a lot of energy and water, putting pressure of local resources. In May, a report by the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee warned that by 2055 there could be a daily shortfall in public water supplies of 5bn litres, while the trade body Water UK has warned that government forecasts for water use fail to include data centres.
The result is that the drive for AI at the centre of government can be a hotly contested issue at local level. For example, a petition to prevent the construction of Microsoft’s planned development of three large AI data centres in Skelton Grange near Leeds has received 5,000 signatures in just the last 24 hours.
We shall watch closely to see how the new Prime Minister and his team address these complex challenges…
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