Prime Minister Andy Burnham has launched a new cross-government taskforce to examine how greater public control could be used across housing, water, energy and transport, as part of a wider plan to “rewire Britain”.
The Public Control Taskforce is one of three new units being established inside the Office of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, alongside separate taskforces focused on the cost of living and community renewal.
The Government says the new bodies will coordinate ministers and departments around priorities set out by Burnham to Cabinet, with First Secretary of State Louise Haigh charged with driving the work across central government, local authorities and regional mayors.
Public control of four essential sectors to be examined
According to the Cabinet Office, the Government believes housing, water, energy and transport have suffered from what it describes as decades of “over-privatisation”, leading to high costs and weak accountability.
The taskforce has been instructed to examine how greater public control across those four sectors could be used to return essential services to what ministers describe as public service and bring down costs for households. It will also look at market reform that could support those aims.
This is not yet a nationalisation programme
The announcement marks a clear policy direction, but it does not amount to a decision to nationalise all four sectors.
The Government has not yet set out the ownership models, regulatory changes, funding mechanisms or timetable that could follow from the taskforce’s work.
Public control can cover a wide range of arrangements, from direct public ownership and municipal control to stronger regulation, franchising, public investment and changes to market structures.
The significance of the announcement is that all four sectors have now been formally placed within a cross-government review whose stated purpose is to increase public control and reduce costs.
Burnham had signalled the shift in the Commons
The move follows Burnham’s statement to the House of Commons on 1 September, in which he argued that Britain had taken a series of wrong turns through centralisation, privatisation, deindustrialisation and austerity.
He singled out the water industry as an example of what he regards as a failed model and said his Government’s forthcoming 10-year plan for Britain would set out stronger public control over essential services.
Burnham also pointed to public control of bus networks as an example of how local government and regional mayors could take a more active role in running essential services.
Water likely to be one of the most contentious areas
Water is likely to be among the most politically sensitive sectors covered by the review.
Burnham has repeatedly criticised water companies over sewage spills, infrastructure and resilience, and told MPs that the industry had failed to rise to the climate challenge.
The new taskforce will now consider what forms of public control or market reform could be used to change the way the sector operates. No decision has yet been announced on whether that could include full public ownership, mutual or regional models, stronger regulatory intervention or another structure.
Energy and household costs included
Energy will also form a central part of the review.
The Government says its wider agenda is focused on reducing household costs, and Burnham has previously argued that high energy prices are damaging both family finances and business investment.
The Public Control Taskforce will examine whether changes in ownership, regulation or market design could help make energy more affordable and accountable.
Housing brought into public-control agenda
Housing is another significant inclusion.
Burnham told the Commons that his Government would empower more areas to expand their public housing stock, building on allocations from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
The new taskforce broadens that approach by treating housing as one of the four essential sectors in which greater public control should be examined.
Transport provides Burnham with a working model
Transport is the area where Burnham already has the clearest practical example of public control.
As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he oversaw the introduction of bus franchising through the Bee Network, bringing decisions over routes, fares and standards under greater public control.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Burnham has backed similar moves elsewhere, including support for greater public control of bus services in the West Midlands.
Louise Haigh to drive work across government
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh will lead the coordination of the three new taskforces.
The Cabinet Office says she will work across central and local government, including with regional mayors, as ministers continue to push more powers away from Westminster.
The taskforces will sit inside the Office of the Prime Minister & Cabinet and will be integrated with Number 10 and government departments.
Two other taskforces focus on household finances and communities
The Public Control Taskforce is being launched alongside two further cross-government units.
The Cost of Living Taskforce will examine longer-term pressures facing households, building on existing measures such as lower bus fares, energy-bill support and action against subscription traps.
The Community Renewal Taskforce will focus on declining high streets, neighbourhood conditions and local regeneration, working with local leaders on plans designed to support growth and improve everyday living environments.
A significant shift in the Government’s economic direction
The taskforce launch is politically significant because it places public control of essential services at the centre of Burnham’s emerging economic programme.
Rather than treating water, energy, housing and transport as separate policy areas, the Government is now explicitly grouping them together around a common argument: that essential services should be more affordable, more accountable and more directly shaped by the public interest.
Key decisions still to come
For now, the confirmed development is the creation of the taskforce and the scope of its review.
The Government has not yet announced wholesale nationalisation of water, energy, housing or transport, nor has it published detailed proposals for changing ownership in each sector.
Those decisions are expected to form part of the policy work feeding into Burnham’s forthcoming 10-year plan for Britain.
The taskforce therefore represents the beginning of a major policy process rather than its conclusion — but it is the clearest sign yet that greater public control of essential services will be a defining theme of the Burnham Government.
Sources
- Cabinet Office: Prime Minister puts public control, community regeneration and cost-of-living at the heart of plans to ‘rewire Britain’ — 2 September 2026
- Prime Minister’s Office: PM statement to the House of Commons — 1 September 2026
- Prime Minister’s Office: Public control of West Midlands bus network — 18 August 2026