Sheffield and Yorkshire can be at the forefront of a historic move of power to communities - Fran Belbin

Andy Burnham is going to have a busy week. There will be a new office, a team to build and no shortage of people offering him advice. As somebody who has recently started a new job myself, I wanted to share one thing I have learnt: amid all the noise, hold on to what people told you before you got there.

In May, I was re-elected as a councillor in Firth Park, and shortly afterwards, I became Leader of Sheffield City Council.

There is no quiet period in which to prepare yourself. You have to grow into the responsibility, whilst getting on with the job.

I have been thinking about that as Andy begins his own, rather larger, new job. I joined him on the campaign trail in Makerfield a couple of times. I heard about boarded up shops and young people who felt they had to move away to find opportunity.

The people I met wanted him to succeed because he gave them hope that their town could have a better future. People across Yorkshire want the same.

That is now the challenge facing him nationally. In my own way, it is the challenge facing me in Sheffield too: how do we put life, pride and opportunity back into places where people have heard promises but not always seen enough change?

Last week, Andy spoke about the places that built the Labour movement: the shipyards, coalfields and steelworks, including those here in Sheffield. He then asked a much harder question: have we been good enough for them?

For Sheffield, that is not simply a lesson from our history. It is a live question about our future, and one that will feel familiar across Yorkshire.

I came into politics after years of being active in my own community. I saw local organisations taking on more as council budgets were cut, holding families and

neighbourhoods together, yet still being excluded from conversations about the places they knew best.

That is why No.10 North matters to me. It is not just about where the Prime Minister spends part of his week. It is a chance to bring government closer to the places its decisions affect and different voices into the room earlier.

No.10 North can be the start of that change. But for it to reach beyond one office, the rest of government has to move with it.

That is the idea behind Whitehall North.

Government already has people and expertise based across the North, including at the Sheffield Policy Campus. The opportunity now is to make that presence count for even more, with more decisions made here and national teams working with mayors, councils, trade unions, employers and communities while ideas are still taking shape, not once everything has already been decided.

Andy committed on Monday to ending rough sleeping. In Sheffield, we have made significant progress in tackling entrenched rough sleeping in collaboration with partners.

That came from starting with the person, not the boundaries between services. Someone sleeping rough does not have a separate housing problem, health problem and employment problem. They have one life, so the answer has to be shaped together.

The same is true of growth in every postcode. It will look different in a city like Sheffield, a rural town, or a coastal community, but people will judge it by whether there are decent jobs, lively high streets and a future close to home.

That is why devolution matters. Working with Oliver Coppard, councils and partners across South Yorkshire means decisions can be shaped around the different places and communities they are meant to serve.

It will not always be neat. But starting with what people are facing, rather than which organisation owns which part of the problem, gives us a better chance of getting somewhere.

That is the bigger opportunity in No.10 North. It can give the Prime Minister a base in the North, whilst building a different relationship between government and the places it serves. Whitehall North would give that ambition roots across the North and make it part of how government works every day.

This is not about making other parts of the country feel far from power. We are asking government to draw on the knowledge and experience of the whole country.

People in Makerfield and Sheffield want to know that government understands their place, sees its potential and is serious about helping shape what comes next.

No.10 North gives Andy a chance to show that the Prime Minister can be closer to those places. Whitehall North would ensure the rest of government changes alongside him.

I’m looking forward to Sheffield and Yorkshire being at the forefront of a historic move of power, opportunity and hope back into the communities that have waited long enough to share in the country’s future.