Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has announced a new initiative to strengthen regional governance by deploying more than 100 Whitehall officials to mayoral offices across England. The plan, which emerged from a meeting of regional leaders at Burnham’s base, is designed to bolster local teams and improve coordination between regional authorities and the central government.

The government has characterized these meetings as a "situation room," intended to bring local and regional leaders directly into the national decision-making process. Under the pilot program, which will span 18 mayoralties, each office will receive between five and 10 civil servants for secondments lasting less than one year.

According to reports, the request for additional capacity originated from the mayors themselves during their first formal meeting with Burnham. The initiative is framed as a strategic effort to "spread growth" across the country, though the long-term impact of these secondments remains to be seen as the program begins its initial phase.