How Burnham can make devolution work

On his first morning as prime minister of the UK, Andy Burnham visited a charity for the homeless and pledged to end rough sleeping nationally by expanding the “Housing First” strategy he pursued as mayor of Greater Manchester. In doing so, he offered an early glimpse of his model of government: a state that provides resources from the center, then entrusts delivery — and the lessons that come with it — to local authorities. The discourse surrounding Burnham’s devolution agenda often presents a false dichotomy between Manchester and Westminster, or localism versus centralism.