Rayner, Powell and Haigh likely to regularly work from No 10 North

Image caption, Mancester's Heron House is the initial home of No 10 North By Judith Moritz , Special correspondent  and  Daniel Wittenberg , Senior producer in Manchester Published 28 minutes ago Senior ministers and aides close to Andy Burnham are expecting to regularly work from No 10 North, which the prime minister has said will be the "dominant driver of the UK's economy". Education Secretary Lucy Powell, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, and Louise Haigh, who is overseeing No 10 North in her role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, are planning to work there. The new branch of Downing Street is currently operating from Heron House in Manchester city centre, whilst a brownfield site is redeveloped. A blueprint for No 10 North produced by the think tank Re:State recommends a workforce of as many as 300 staff within 18 months. Burnham aims to base himself at No 10 North at least one day a week and is expected to start work there for the first time in coming days. He will be joined by his closest adviser, Kevin Lee, the director of his mayoral office, who will move to No 10 North after next week's Greater Manchester mayoral election. Lee is one of at least seven Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) employees, including four senior managers, to have been recruited by Burnham and are already moving into No 10 North. Chief executive Caroline Simpson is moving to become Downing Street deputy chief of staff based at No 10 North, Directors John Wrathmell and Claire Norman will also move across. Some London-based civil servants have voiced concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the plans, with most details expected to be announced in the weeks ahead. In the weeks before Burnham became prime minister, the BBC has been told that senior officials were summoned to calls informing them that a significant programme to move staff out of London was being developed. Image source, EPA Image caption, This brownfield construction site will become the Manchester Digital Campus, a civil service hub that will house No 10 North Those who were on leave were told the plans would already be under way by the time they returned, according to a senior civil servant familiar with the discussions. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, welcomed the changes to the structure of government but cautioned that relocation was a big decision for staff. "Those considering a move out of London have the added concern that a return would be difficult given the disparity in house prices," he said, adding a major consideration would be "whether it feels like a permanent reorganisation or something that could change quickly with a future government". Burnham has told cabinet members No 10 North is not a gimmick in a bid to reassure critics – and civil servants whose careers may be reshaped by the plan – who say it still has to prove it can make a lasting difference. Dr Simon Kaye, author of the Re:State report – whi