When people talk about the Prime Minister establishing an office in Manchester, the discussion usually centres on politics, regional investment and the symbolism of moving government outside Westminster.

There is another consequence that deserves attention.

Security.

London has evolved a policing model built around permanent protection of Downing Street, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, diplomatic missions and other nationally significant sites. The Metropolitan Police developed dedicated firearms protection capabilities because that demand exists every day.

Greater Manchester has a different policing model. Its armed capability is focused on responding to incidents across a large metropolitan area, not maintaining permanent armed protection around a seat of government.

If the Prime Minister is going to spend increasing amounts of time operating from Manchester, that changes the equation.

Every officer committed to protective duties is an officer unavailable for another firearms deployment, unless additional resources are provided. That has implications for staffing, funding, infrastructure, intelligence and specialist training.

It also raises some interesting questions.

Should protective policing remain a Metropolitan Police responsibility wherever ministers work?

Should regional forces receive dedicated Home Office funding if they become responsible for protecting nationally significant locations?

Does the UK’s protective policing model need to evolve if government itself becomes more geographically distributed?

These are operational questions, not political ones.

They also reinforce something that is easy to overlook. Every new security requirement creates a new training requirement. Protective policing demands different tactics, different decision making and different preparation from armed response policing. As government changes, training needs to keep pace.

The conversation shouldn’t end with where ministers choose to work. It should include whether the systems, people and training supporting them are evolving at the same speed.

What do those working in policing and protective security think?