Andy Burnham has urged Scotland and Wales to consider following England's regional mayor model as a method of giving more power to cities.
The Prime Minister's comments come as he vowed to meet with the First Minister John Swinney, along with his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts, in October to discuss ways of boosting the UK economy.
The Times reports that, during a visit to Wales this week, Burnham said: “Maybe there’s an argument for deeper devolution, so more power into the cities and the regions of Wales, to north Wales working more with the North West, or mid Wales more with the West Midlands, of the kind of devolution that is developing now quite quickly across England.
“I’ve called a National Economic Council with the devolved nations for October to discuss precisely those things.”
The National Economic Council was originally set up by Gordon Brown's government following the 2008 financial crash.
Burnham announced the council's revival following a meeting with Swinney in Glasgow last month.