Northern Powerhouse Partnership announces HS2 review

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership has announced its own Northern Powerhouse review into HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail to inform the government-commissioned Oakervee review of HS2, which was announced last week.

Its purpose is to offer a northern perspective and to ensure that the North is properly heard. It will make bold and realistic proposals to support its long-held view, shared by business leaders and politicians across the North, that major infrastructure investment is needed to rebalance the UK’s economy by narrowing the huge gap between what is spent in the North compared to the South.

The review will be overseen by a panel of respected leaders, including Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council, Kevin Hollinrake, co-chair of the Northern Powerhouse All Party Parliamentary Group, Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood, Paula Dillon, a respected Yorkshire business person with expertise running a global legal business and Howard Bernstein, former chief executive of Manchester City Council.

The review will bring together leading voices from across the North - it will scrutinise the case for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail and examine how we can create economic growth to make the North as prosperous as the South by promoting investment opportunities and bringing forward skilled job opportunities.

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: “The Northern Powerhouse is of critical importance to the future of UK prosperity, and without improving connectivity it will be difficult to address the underlying reasons for our lower productivity. In the coming weeks, this group of distinguished leaders and experts from across the North will be addressing the key evidence to ensure that the importance of economic rebalancing is fully understood by those undertaking the Oakervee review.”