What will ‘No.10 North’ mean for Sheffield?

Dear readers — we hope you had a wonderful weekend, and last night’s World Cup victory hasn’t left you with too sore a head.

If you are feeling a little worse for wear, we’ve got a packed Monday briefing to distract you. In just a few weeks time, we’ll have a new Prime Minister. Andy Burnham has promised to facilitate “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”, granting regional governments greater control over their transport, housing, education policy and infrastructure. What could that mean for Sheffield?

Plus, Sheffield council takes formal action against notorious landlord Gary Ata, who has allowed one of the city’s most important heritage buildings to start collapsing into rubble under his stewardship.

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In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Dan spoke to Ben Stevenson, a self-described “closeted Buddhist” and one of a handful of artists behind the city’s traditional signwriting renaissance. While you can spot Stevenson’s work across the city, a short stretch of Abbeydale Road essentially acts as his real-world portfolio. You can read that piece here.

Ben Stevenson in his studio. Credit: Dan Hayes/The Tribune.

Earlier in the week, our comment section absolutely exploded after Mollie spoke to the founder of a new swanky private member’s club, with even the founder himself making an appearance. In his chat with Mollie, Oliver Keane — founder of the upcoming Mulberry Club — said Sheffield’s high-flyers “want places that they’re not ashamed to take people from London”. (“If I were embarrassed by Sheffield I'd have left a long time ago,” Oliver insisted in the comments, adding that “great hospitality is about escapism”.)

And, on Thursday, Victoria returned to Little Kelham, for a story about how residents abruptly learned they were being asked to raise £1.1m by the developer that built and still owns their neighbourhood — a sum they allege had never been mentioned before. Around the time our piece came out, local MP Abtisam Mohamed spoke in Parliament about the plight of Little Kelham residents, as well as other residents in her constituency.

The big picture: Looking up 🌇

We love this moody shot of a cyclist being dwarfed by towers in the city centre, snapped by brilliant local photographer Emma Bothamley.

The big story: What will ‘No.10 North’ mean for Sheffield?

Top line: Barring something extraordinary happening, Andy Burnham is likely to become Prime Minister in just a few weeks’ time. One of his big ideas is to set up a ‘No.10 North’ in Manchester, wresting the centre of gravity of British politics away from Westminster and Whitehall and moving it northwards. What could it mean for Sheffield?

Britain Rewired: In a speech in Manchester a week ago, Burnham announced his intention to move part of the Prime Minister’s office to Manchester. He said that No.10 North would be the “nerve centre of a rewired Britain” and would facilitate "the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”.

He said he wanted the office to lead on bringing “essential utilities” such as water, energy and housing back into public ownership, re-industrialisation, and regenerating “left behind” towns.
The Guardian reported that Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief executive Caroline Simpson would head No.10 North as Burnham's new Downing Street deputy chief of staff.

Devo super-max: Since they were first set up in 2017, metro mayors have been given steadily more powers. South Yorkshire is currently one of six combined authorities outside London to be classed as “established mayoralities” and have the highest level of powers over policy areas including transport, employment, housing, economic development, the environment and health. These six combined authorities also have integrated financial settlements, meaning their government funding is guaranteed for the next four years. However, Burnham wants to go much further.

Burnham’s flagship policy in Greater Manchester has been bringing the region’s buses back under public control. He wants to repeat the trick with water and energy, giving mayors the authority to bring essential services back under public control.
In his speech last Monday, he also said he wanted to see the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war period”, using public land to reduce the cost of housebuilding, and establishing development corporations as he has in Stockport.
Burnham also said reindustrialisation is the way to achieve “good growth in every postcode”. This would include rebalancing education away from universities and towards technical education, and giving metro mayors greater power over skills.
In Greater Manchester, Burnham has championed the idea of “place-based regeneration” in “left behind towns”. He believes greater devolution, investment in transport, and a new regional industrial strategy are the way to bring this about.

What is Manchesterism? Burnham says he wants to “end neoliberalism” by bringing the “essentials of life” under public control. However, as our sister title The Mill has pointed out, that’s not really “the Manchester model”. Over the last 30 years, Manchester has succeeded by aggressively pursuing private sector investment, especially in housing. This investment has seen Manchester city centre transformed out of all recognition with dozens of gleaming skyscrapers. However, the city region still suffers from huge inequalities, with outlying areas of Greater Manchester not sharing equally in the success of the centre.

Whitehall North? While No.10 is a key part of government, it is far from the only one. Government departments employ thousands of people and make decisions that affect millions all over the country.

According to a paper written by JP Spencer, one of the people helping shape Burnham's devolution plans, metro mayors should be given power over a wider range of public services, including social care, childcare and skills.
At an Institute for Government conference in Sheffield on Thursday, Sheffield council’s CEO Kate Josephs said she would go further, not just moving some of the functions of No.10 to the regions, but much more of Whitehall as well.

Our take: While some dismissed the idea as a gimmick, the idea of moving huge swathes of high-level government work to a major northern city could be a transformative one. However, rebalancing the British economy away from London and the south east will be no easy task. Greater Manchester has surged ahead of other parts of the north over the past two decades. Whether that success can be replicated in regions like South Yorkshire remains to be seen.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🏗️ Sheffield council has entered into a “statement of intent” with the pension fund Legal and General and SYMCA to create a new Sheffield College campus on the former Castle Market site in Castlegate. The site is currently being developed into a new park with the remains of Sheffield castle and an opened up River Sheaf as its centrepieces, but the plans also include room for several buildings around the perimeter of the site. Sheffield College taking one of these plots for a new city centre campus has long been suggested. However, Sheffield council chief executive Kate Josephs and Legal and General CEO António Simões have now confirmed that plans are progressing. The park is due to be completed by late 2026 or early 2027. It’s not clear when work on the Sheffield College campus or any of the site’s other planned buildings will begin.

🏚️ Sheffield council has served an urgent repairs order on the Grade-II listed Old Town Hall, in an attempt to force the building’s owner, Gary Ata, to stop the building from slowly turning into rubble. Ata has become notorious in Sheffield for his various properties, such as Lightbox where tenants were left without heating or hot water for two months over winter. In early May, we broke the story that the Old Town Hall, which became part of Ata’s property portfolio in 2021 and is one of the city’s most important heritage buildings, had suffered a major roof collapse. The council has set Ata a deadline of 10 July to confirm how he intends to carry out essential repair work and cooperate with the local authority, and after that, he’ll have 18 months to complete the necessary works.

🏞️ A group of residents in Parson Cross have told the BBC that dirty water and waste being released into their local river is ruining their local green space, which used to be replete with deer and fish but now has an “awful smell, like toilets flushing and washing machines emptying”. Yorkshire Water said its teams had “identified a number of nearby properties where bathrooms, washing machines and sinks are plumbed into the surface water sewer incorrectly”.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on one of Sheffield’s newest nightspots — an exclusive private members’ club on George Street where even the price of entry is shrouded in secrecy.

Home of the week 🏡

This stunning three-bedroom detached house in Grenoside is in need of full modernisation but has beautiful views to the rear (for now) and an array of period features including hardwood floors, picture rails, stained glass and cast iron fireplaces. It is on the market for £350,000.

Things to do 📆

Philosophy 🧠 On Tuesday at The Fat Cat in Kelham Island join Sheffield Pub Philosophy for an evening of thinking and talking together. Based on the Philosophy for Communities approach, you'll talk and think with others, using your creative, critical, collaborative and caring thinking to ask questions and explore ideas. The two-hour session is free and begins at 7.30pm. To read about Dan’s experience of attending four years ago, click here.

Theatre 🎭 Starting on Tuesday at the Lyceum Theatre is legendary choreographer Matthew Bourne's award-winning The Car Man. Loosely based on Bizet’s opera Carmen with the action changed from a Spanish cigarette factory in the 1800s to a greasy garage/diner in 1950s America has one of the most thrilling and recognisable scores in dance company’s New Adventures’ repertoire. Tickets are priced £15-£85 and the show runs until Saturday.

Music 🎸 On Wednesday, join Jazz at the Lescar for a tribute to legendary Brazilian musician Hermeto Pascoal on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Nicknamed “the sorcerer” for his other-worldly take on jazz, his music will be played by a stellar line-up of musicians, including band-leaders Miles Pillinger and Fergus Quill, who will honour the legacy of this incredible musician. Tickets are priced £10 (£7 for students) and the doors will open at 8pm.