Staff at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) have expressed concern that their boss will leave without serving out her notice period. Chief Executive Caroline Simpson is due to run Andy Burnham’s flagship ‘Number 10 North’ - a new government office moving some functions of Downing Street to Manchester.
Burnham's Move to Number 10
Mr Burnham, the new Makerfield MP, is set to become Prime Minister on Monday. He has reportedly selected Ms Simpson as his chief of staff for the new Northern office. Earlier this week, the M.E.N. revealed Mr Burnham intends to launch the new site from his very first day on Monday, July 20.
The rapid turnaround has left some sources within the GMCA concerned that Ms Simpson will exit her current £240,000-a-year role without serving out her notice period, leaving the organisation scrambling to find a new boss.
Internal Anxiety
“There’s been a lot of anxiety and a lot of conversations behind closed doors,” one source told the M.E.N. “At the same time, everyone in local government seems to be batting their eyelids at Burnham for a job at Number 10 North.”
Ms Simpson, who heads up both GMCA and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), is currently using up her accrued leave days, according to staffers, with some saying she ‘effectively doesn’t work here anymore’. The former Stockport chief executive, who has worked with Mr Burnham for years, previously shared a letter with staff promising to ‘continue to steer the transition to a new Mayor of Greater Manchester over the summer’.
Role Changes
She has given up her responsibilities as returning officer - a role that oversees the election process - ‘to ensure absolute focus remains on the Mayoral by-election’. It is understood that Deputy Chief Executive Andrew Lightfoot is currently carrying out these duties. GMCA declined to comment.
Number 10 North Location
The new Number 10 North is tipped to be located at the new civil service building currently being built on the former Toys R Us site in Ancoats. With construction only due to be completed in 2028, Mr Burnham’s team will have to find an interim location. This hasn’t been revealed for security reasons, though some have conjectured it could be Heron House near the town hall, Manchester’s current GCHQ headquarters.
The new government office is supposed to shift some of the power of Westminster to the north, becoming the ‘nerve centre of a rewired Britain’. Its focus will be on increasing public ownership of essential utilities, re-industrialising the country, and bringing investment to struggling towns.
