Government announces formation of new Northern Powerhouse body

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP has announced that Local Enterprise Partnerships in the North of England are set to form a new body to support the Government’s ambitions for the Northern Powerhouse.

The Chairs of each of the eleven Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will sit on a newly formed, Government-funded board called the ‘NP11’.

The board will act as one voice representing each of their regions as a modern day ‘Council for the North’ to work with and advise the Government on issues such as how to increase productivity, overcome regional disparities in economic growth and tackle the historic north-south divide.

While speaking at the first ever Northern Powerhouse Business Summit in Newcastle Gateshead, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP said: “As we approach leaving the European Union we need to ensure that every area of the UK continues to economically flourish.

“The Northern Powerhouse will be a vital support to the UK in achieving this and so I am very pleased the eleven LEP Chairs have agreed to form the new NP11 board.

“For the first time since 1472, we will bring together the business voices of the Northern Powerhouse in our Council for the North. They have one task: to enrich all the peoples of the North of England – this is the foundation stone of the Northern Powerhouse and, with the skills and expertise of the NP11, we will shift the North’s economy into overdrive.

“Together we will deliver a North of England which is an economic powerhouse and one which can proudly take its place on the world stage both now and as we leave the EU.”

The three day summit brought together figures from across Government and industry, including Business Secretary Greg Clark and the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney.

Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and of the newly formed NP11 Board, commented: “As someone born in the North East, who spent their career in Yorkshire and who has been passionate about the North’s potential as a driving force for national productivity and competitiveness for decades, I am delighted to have been asked to chair this new body.

“By bringing together the private and public sectors, local enterprise partnerships are in a unique position to unite northern business and civic leaders behind a common goal of building a true northern economic powerhouse that brings prosperity to everyone who lives and works in the North, while also competing for the country globally.

“Our country’s success is built on northern industry, innovation, and determination. As LEP Chairs we have taken important steps in recent years to transform our own regional economies, and now I look forward to working collaboratively with the NP11 Vice-Chair, Christine Gaskell, and the other nine northern LEP Chairs to achieve extraordinary, sustained growth that we can all share in.”

Christine Gaskell, Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, who takes the role of Vice-chair of the NP11, also added: “To translate the Northern Powerhouse concept into increasing impact requires new types of conversations across the region and at the heart of this collaboration are common goals which transcend local interests.

“The NP11 will serve as a strong coherent regional voice with national government about the exciting potential of an innovation-led economy for the North.”

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