Downing Street has set up a new Office for the Impact Economy, promising a simpler way for investors, philanthropists and purpose‑driven firms to put money into local projects. Based in the Cabinet Office, the team is designed as a single contact point to cut the Whitehall runaround and get funding into the right places, from affordable homes to home retrofits and innovation hubs beyond the M25. Plans were unveiled at No10 on 11 November 2025.

Darren Jones will lead the new unit as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. “Change comes as much from the ground up as from the top down,” he said, arguing that real results come when communities are backed to lead. He set up the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group while at the Treasury to bring serious capital to community priorities.

Officials say the impact economy-bringing together social investors, philanthropists and purpose‑driven businesses-contributes an estimated £106 billion to the UK. The new office will broker partnerships to stretch public money further, working with DCMS, HM Treasury, the No10 Partnerships Unit, the Office for Investment and devolved governments.

For the North, the pitch is simple: more patient capital for schemes that too often stall at the last mile. In October, Legal & General committed £2 billion by 2030 for regeneration, affordable housing and infrastructure-aiming to support around 10,000 social and affordable homes and about 24,000 jobs nationwide. That is the kind of scale northern councils and combined authorities say is needed on brownfield plots, high streets and heat‑leaky terraces.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said partnering with investors and business can bring transformational opportunities, stressing that “everyone in our communities, regardless of their background or postcode, deserves the chance to reach their full potential.” The message echoes the Chancellor’s September pledge that “no region will be locked out of investment.”

James Murray, now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, called the office a way to “drive growth and support national renewal.” The move builds on July’s £500 million Better Futures Fund-described by the Treasury as the world’s largest outcomes fund-which aims to support up to 200,000 children and families over ten years by bringing public, social and philanthropic money together.

Today’s decision lands a week after the advisory group delivered its final report. Chaired by Dame Elizabeth Corley, it urged ministers to create exactly this “front door” to government and estimated the impact economy controls around £106 billion in assets, with at least £42 billion already pointed at national priorities such as affordable housing and clean energy.

What matters now is delivery. The Cabinet Office says the design of the new office will be shaped with investors, foundations, councils and social enterprises over the coming months. For the North’s combined authorities-Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region and the North East-that means lining up investable pipelines: retrofit programmes for pre‑1919 terraces, town‑centre conversions, skills hubs linked to local employers, and community health projects with measurable results.

Crucially, the new team will work with the Office for Investment’s impact‑capital function, which engages large pools of capital, and coordinate with No10’s Partnerships Unit. If that coordination holds, it should cut the ‘departmental treasure hunt’ that has put off smaller councils and charities outside London.

Northern communities will judge this on where the money actually lands. Publishing a clear project pipeline, naming decision‑makers and releasing quarterly place‑by‑place data would build confidence quickly. After years of warm words, town halls and community groups want to see deals closed in the places that usually miss out.

For entrepreneurs and social enterprises, the message is to be ready. Evidence‑led business cases, blended finance models and local co‑funders will move fastest through a centralised front door. With the Sterling 20 pension group now active and L&G’s pledge on the table, conditions look better for schemes that can be made investment‑ready at pace.

Dame Elizabeth Corley welcomed the move as “a focal point for new partnerships” and a way to build the skills inside government to bring in the sector’s capital and know‑how. The practical test is whether the North sees more keys turning in new homes, warmer houses after winter retrofits and busier high streets backed by patient capital.