Burnham to send high-performing civil servants to mayoral offices

High-performing civil servants will be sent to work in mayoral offices in England, as part of the prime minister's efforts to transfer power from central government to local leaders.

The pilot scheme, due to start in the autumn, will see every mayoral authority get between five and 10 civil servants for a six to nine month period.

The 18 mayors will be able to request civil servants with the particular skills they need and Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the scheme would help communities "unleash and unlock their own potential".

The announcement followed a virtual meeting between local mayors and the prime minister, who was working from his new No 10 North office in Manchester.

A series of devolution deals over the past 10 years have seen mayoral authorities - made up of local councils and elected mayors - given power and funding over areas such as transport and housing.

Mayoral strategic authorities have been established in areas including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire but not in others, for example Surrey and Cornwall.

Further measures announced by the government include a new civil service fast stream pilot for local authority roles in Yorkshire and Humber.

The fast stream programme recruits between around 700 and 1,400 people each year, who are then placed across different government departments.