Police forced to work on rest days to protect Number 10 North, officers claim

Police officers are having to staff Andy Burnham’s Number 10 North on their rest days, LBC has been told. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Federation chair Sergeant Mike Peake said the force had to react rapidly to Prime Minister’s “quick decision” to open the office. It was one of Mr Burnham’s first announcements when he took over from Sir Keir Starmer in July 2026. Sergeant Peake told LBC: "There aren't enough volunteers to work overtime to cover these things, so the force is having to cancel rest days constantly.

"The fatigue factors in GMP are massive. Officers are facing burnout and if something doesn't change, I fear the worst for the future." He is calling on the government to put more funding into policing Number 10 North, as GMP faces growing pressures alongside Oasis concerts, a G20 summit and Euro 2028 matches in the coming years. "The outcome of that is burnout, and that performance will not be maintained in the long term because people are absolutely falling to their knees."

It comes after a Police Federation report into pay and morale found that 92% of officers in Greater Manchester do not feel fairly paid for the stresses and strains of the job. It also found 34% of GMP officers were often or always felt pressured to work long hours and 50% had annual leave requests refused. "There is a long-term plan in place to recruit an additional 60 officers who will then ultimately perform that duty during duty time rather than on a rest day.

"But that's going to take a lot of time and a lot of money, and the government aren't giving any money to policing anytime soon." Sergeant Peake’s call for more funding was echoed by Greater Manchester’s Labour mayor Bev Craig, who succeeded Andy Burnham in August. She said: "I'm not shy in asking for what Greater Manchester needs and we're having good and productive conversations with government to see that funding matched and increased."

Ms Craig said the government should commit to ensuring the policing of Number 10 North isn't taking away from neighbourhood policing, and that it will eventually be funded nationally on top of GMP's funding. A government spokesperson said: "Number 10 North is central to the Prime Minister’s commitment to bring government closer to the communities it serves. "Police force funding this year is at a historic high of £18.5 billion, with Greater Manchester Police seeing a cash increase of £33.3 million.

"While decisions about officer rotas are for the force, we have also invested £2.4m to rollout measures, including psychological health checks and expansion of a dedicated Mental Health Crisis Line." “We recognise the challenges highlighted by the Federation in respect of workload, fatigue, wellbeing and work-life balance, and it is right that we continue to listen to what officers are telling us. "We already have a significant amount of work ongoing to mitigate a number of the issues raised."

Meanwhile a GMP spokesperson said wellbeing of staff is their priority. “In relation to ‘No10 in the North’, it is right and proper that GMP and other agencies work to ensure a safe security operation is delivered in Greater Manchester. "As is routine in many other Policing operations this does involve the use of Police Officers voluntary working overtime.” “Policing is a job like no other and we value the extraordinary commitment and hard work of our officers day-in day-out.

They put their own safety on the line to protect those who live and work in Greater Manchester.