Andy Burnham will place greater public control of essential services at the centre of his economic programme when Parliament returns on Tuesday, arguing that high household bills and unreliable services are holding back growth.
The prime minister is expected to use a major Commons statement to make the case for changing how water, energy and transport are run.
Rather than treating public ownership solely as an ideological argument, Burnham will link it directly to household finances and the wider economy. His case will be that families spending more on essential services have less money available for local shops, hospitality and other parts of the economy.
Downing Street sources told The Guardian that Burnham believes taking greater control of those services can unlock investment, create jobs and support growth across the country.
A No 10 source said the prime minister was determined to make this “the moment we bring back hope”.
Burnham returns to the government frontbench
The statement will mark Burnham’s first Commons appearance from the government frontbench in 16 years.
He previously served as health secretary under Gordon Brown before Labour lost the 2010 general election. Burnham remained an MP until 2017, when he left Westminster to become mayor of Greater Manchester.
He returned to Parliament in June after winning the Makerfield by-election with 54.8 per cent of the vote and a majority of 9,231. A month later, he replaced Keir Starmer as Labour leader and became prime minister.
Parliament went into its summer recess shortly afterwards, meaning MPs have not yet had an opportunity to question Burnham in the Commons about the large number of policies announced during his first six weeks in office.
Tuesday’s statement is expected to last around two hours and will be followed later in the week by Burnham’s first session of Prime Minister’s Questions.
What does ‘public control’ mean?
Burnham has repeatedly used the phrase “public control”, but it does not necessarily mean the same arrangement for every industry.
For rail services, the government is already moving operators into full public ownership as their private contracts expire. South Western Railway, c2c, Greater Anglia, West Midlands Trains and Govia Thameslink Railway have transferred since May 2025.
Chiltern Railways is due to follow on 20 September, with Great Western Railway transferring in December. The programme was enabled by the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act passed in 2024.
According to the Department for Transport, most passenger services have now returned to public ownership as the government prepares to establish Great British Railways.
The approach to buses is based on local franchising rather than councils owning every vehicle or employing every driver.
As mayor, Burnham brought Greater Manchester’s bus network under local control through the Bee Network. Private companies can still operate services, but the public authority decides routes, fares and service standards.
Transport for Greater Manchester reported that bus journeys rose by 14 per cent in the year to March 2025, while punctuality improved from 71.6 per cent to 75.8 per cent.
Burnham is expected to point to that record as evidence that public control can improve services and support regional economies.
Liverpool City Region will begin taking control of its bus services next weekend, while the government is also working with the West Midlands Combined Authority on expanding local control.
Thames Water will be the major test
Water is likely to prove more difficult.
Thames Water supplies around 16 million customers and is carrying approximately £20 billion of debt. Its financial problems have prompted repeated calls for ministers to place it into a special administration regime, which would put the company under temporary government control while its future was decided.
Burnham has said public control of failing water companies is central to his plans, but ministers decided against immediately forcing Thames Water into administration after receiving warnings about the cost and potential legal action from creditors.
The estimated cost to taxpayers could reach £2 billion before any longer-term restructuring takes place.
The government is now considering changes to insolvency law that could make it easier to intervene in struggling utilities before they collapse. One option would allow ministers to act where a company’s financial or environmental condition presents a serious risk, rather than waiting until it is formally insolvent.
Burnham must also decide what happens after an intervention.
Full nationalisation is one possibility, but Labour MPs and regional mayors have proposed converting failed water companies into customer-owned, not-for-profit organisations. Under that model, creditors and shareholders would absorb more of the losses while control passed to an organisation operating for customers rather than investors.
The choice will determine whether Burnham’s promise leads to direct state ownership, a cooperative structure or stricter regulation backed by new intervention powers.
The argument linking household bills to growth
Burnham’s wider argument is that the cost of essential services cannot be separated from Britain’s economic performance.
Water and energy bills have increased while many households have also faced higher housing and transport costs. When a larger share of household income is absorbed by unavoidable bills, less is spent elsewhere.
The government has already announced the removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October for the remainder of the financial year. It has also promised to restore a £2 cap on single bus fares outside London from January 2027.
Burnham will present these measures as part of a broader attempt to reduce everyday costs rather than a collection of short-term giveaways.
He is also expected to argue that public control can unlock longer-term infrastructure investment. Water companies need to modernise ageing networks, the energy system requires significant investment in generation and distribution, and public transport outside London remains inconsistent.
The question facing ministers is how much of that investment will come directly from the state and how much will continue to depend on private capital.
MPs will press Burnham on the cost
Opposition parties are expected to question how the government intends to fund its commitments while remaining within Labour’s fiscal rules.
Alongside the public control programme, Burnham has announced the temporary VAT cut on electricity, a national care service, expanded devolution and lower bus fares.
The Treasury must also address a reported £4.7 billion gap in the defence investment plan inherited from Starmer’s government.
Burnham has said he will honour Labour’s manifesto promises not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT. Chancellor John Healey is due to present the government’s first Budget on 28 October, when the funding behind much of the programme will become clearer.
Kemi Badenoch has appointed Andrew Griffith as shadow chancellor in a reshuffle intended to sharpen the Conservatives’ attack on Burnham’s economic plans.
Griffith is expected to argue that expanding state control will expose taxpayers to debt and financial risk. Burnham’s response will be that the existing privatised model has already left customers paying higher bills for services that are often unreliable.
Tuesday’s statement will begin turning that argument into policy. The handling of Thames Water may provide the first indication of how far Burnham is genuinely prepared to go.
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