Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made a direct offer to the Scottish Government: work with Westminster to push power out of both London and Edinburgh, and build a new model of regional empowerment for Scotland. Speaking to young people in Lanarkshire on 16 October 2026, Burnham invited First Minister John Swinney to develop the plan jointly through No10 North and the Scotland Office — but with a condition attached. The next stage of devolution, he argued, requires Holyrood itself to hand decisions down to Scotland’s regions and cities.
“This is me making an offer to the Scottish Government,” Burnham said. “With us working together, there is no limit to what we can achieve for the Scottish people.”
What Burnham is actually proposing
The core of the pitch is a joint UK–Scottish Government programme to devolve decision-making below Holyrood, aimed at driving what the Prime Minister called reindustrialisation. He wants work on a new deal for regional economic development to begin within the next few months, including an offer of devolution from the Department for Work and Pensions — meaning employment support could move closer to the communities that use it.
Burnham’s argument rests on a diagnosis: Scotland is the most devolved nation in the UK, yet “one of the most centralised in Europe”. Devolution, he told his Motherwell audience, was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament when Holyrood opened in 1999. It was meant to be “the start of something deeper”, where communities had more of a say in their own future.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander reinforced the message. “People in North Lanarkshire, in Fife or in the Highlands know what their communities need better than any minister, whether they sit in London or Edinburgh,” he said, adding that the Scotland Office was ready to “roll up its sleeves”. “Two governments, one goal — good jobs and real opportunity in every corner of Scotland.”
The awkward part: Holyrood would have to give something up
Here is where the offer gets uncomfortable for the SNP. Burnham made clear he expects the Scottish Government to devolve some of its own powers to regional authorities. He stopped short of imposing an English-style model — there will be no template of metropolitan mayors copied north of the border — but he did say the Scottish Government’s own local government reform plans need to “move faster”.
Those plans are substantial. Last month the Scottish Government set out a radical rethink of the country’s regional authorities: a new two-tiered system would replace the 32 local authorities with six new regional bodies holding power over major issues such as economic growth and education. Below them, between 120 and 160 community authorities would govern more local matters like licensing and town centre improvements. It would be the most significant change to Scotland’s regional makeup since the current system was introduced in 1996.
What is not yet clear is exactly which powers would sit at regional level beyond employment support. That detail — the substance behind the headline — is what the promised joint work through No10 North and the Scotland Office is meant to settle.
Swinney’s careful response
The First Minister struck a constructive tone without committing to much. Before the speech, John Swinney said he was interested in “working constructively” with Westminster and was “all for the Scottish Parliament having as many powers” as possible — a formulation that keeps the door open while protecting the independence argument.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Transport Secretary at Holyrood and the party’s former leader at Westminster, pointed out that the Scottish Government had been asking for exactly this kind of transfer since the Smith Commission report was published in 2014. He also revealed the timing detail that will irritate Downing Street: Swinney sent Burnham a letter on Monday outlining points he wanted engagement on, and regional devolution “was number seven on that list”. “We will of course engage with the prime minister fully in respect of his announcement today,” Flynn said.
In other words, the SNP is happy to take the powers — it just notes, pointedly, that it asked for them first.
The constitutional question Burnham wants to bury
Burnham used the Lanarkshire event to draw a line under the independence debate, at least rhetorically. Asked whether devolving power more locally would make independence more or less likely, he replied: “I don’t want to be the last PM of the UK.”
“I just feel we all have to move beyond the constitutional questions,” he said. “In my view, people in Scotland are suffering from the cost of living crisis, like they are in England and everywhere else, and I think our job is to focus on the practicalities, to focus on solutions for people right now.” Too much time, he added, is “wasted on those dramas”.
The recent history between the two governments makes that easier said than done. Swinney had previously welcomed Burnham telling MPs that a border poll would be considered in both Scotland and Northern Ireland if there was a clear consensus and public opinion had changed. But Burnham later pushed back at a meeting in Glasgow, telling Swinney that a second Scottish independence referendum remains “off limits”.
The timing of the offer is no accident. Swinney is expected to promote his renewed push for independence in his keynote speech at the SNP conference on Saturday, and Burnham’s visit to Scotland came during conference week. The Prime Minister also called for an end to “tribal politics” between the Scottish and UK governments, saying he and Swinney “agreed on some things” but “didn’t have to agree on everything”.
What happens next
The next scheduled checkpoint is a meeting at the end of this month, when Burnham sits down with all the devolved first ministers. Further discussions on the regional empowerment model are expected to follow from there.
Whether the offer lands as partnership or provocation may depend on perspective. For Downing Street, it is a genuine invitation — two governments working to spread opportunity into Scotland’s regions and cities. For the SNP, it is a long-requested power transfer arriving wrapped in a suggestion that Holyrood itself is too centralised. Both things can be true at once, and both sides know it.
The Conservative counterattack
UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saw the announcement very differently. She said Burnham should be focusing on creating new opportunities in the energy sector rather than restructuring Scottish local government.
“This regional devolution plan is more jobs for the boys,” she said. “What Andy Burnham should be doing is granting new oil and gas licences in the north sea.” Her verdict on the whole enterprise: “Devolution is a process, not a solution.”
That critique lands on a government already navigating sensitive energy territory — Burnham said decisions on the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields were coming “shortly” when asked during his Scotland visit.
Why this offer matters
Twenty-seven years after Westminster devolved significant powers to Holyrood, the debate in Scotland has shifted from whether power should leave London to whether enough of it should leave Edinburgh. Burnham’s offer formalises that shift: the UK Government is willing to move on employment support and work jointly on a regional model, but only if the Scottish Government matches the direction of travel.
For Swinney, the calculation is delicate. Engaging fully delivers powers the SNP has demanded since 2014 — and hands the party a practical answer to the charge that independence is its only idea. But it also means conceding, in practice, that the Scottish Parliament is not the final destination for devolution. His conference speech on Saturday will show which way he wants that argument to run.
FAQ
What did Andy Burnham offer the Scottish Government?
On 16 October 2026, the Prime Minister invited First Minister John Swinney to work with the UK Government through No10 North and the Scotland Office to develop a new model of regional empowerment for Scotland, including an offer of devolution from the Department for Work and Pensions over employment support.
Does the offer require Holyrood to give up powers?
Yes. Burnham said the Scottish Government’s local government reform plans need to move faster and indicated he expects Holyrood to devolve some of its own powers to regional authorities, though he will not impose an English-style metro mayor model.
How has the SNP responded?
John Swinney said he was interested in working constructively with Westminster and was ‘all for the Scottish Parliament having as many powers’ as possible. SNP Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn noted that Swinney had already written to Burnham on Monday listing points for engagement, with regional devolution at number seven on that list.
What reform is the Scottish Government already planning?
Last month the Scottish Government set out plans to replace Scotland’s 32 local authorities with six new regional authorities covering issues such as economic growth and education, plus between 120 and 160 community authorities for local matters — the biggest change to Scotland’s regional makeup since 1996.