Government plans for a new ‘voice of the North’ organisation to help grow region’s economy

There are five current PRPs operating across the country, the Midlands Engine, Thames Estuary Growth Board, Great South West, Western Gateway, and the Oxford to Cambridge Partnership. All have a remit to operate at scale, growth their global footprints, and develop robust regional evidence bases. They have delivered important growth outcomes. 

The NP11 (the representative body for the North’s Local Enterprise Partnerships), with MHCLG steers, commenced work to identify the most appropriate governance arrangements for a Northern PRP. Given our previous work exploring appropriate governance arrangements for different tiers of local government, and strong links into Ministers and senior officials, we were commissioned by the NP11 to take on their initial work and build consensus around the most suitable governance option with the North’s key decision makers.

Building on initial ideas developed by the NP11, we commenced the project by reviewing governance structures other PRPs had implemented, seeking to learn from best practice when considering how the Northern PRP could avoid duplicating effort and deliver value for money. With an initial list of governance options developed, we then progressed a robust stakeholder engagement exercise with the North’s academic, business, civic and political leaders. The purpose of this engagement exercise was to understand further which policy areas would benefit from greater collaboration at the pan-regional level and to sense-check appetite for initial governance options developed. Alongside engaging the North’s key decision makers, we progressed a comprehensive engagement exercise with critical government departments, including HMT, DBT, MHCLG, DfT and DESNZ to build cross-Whitehall support for the Northern PRP. 

With insights collated, we selected a governance option focused on facilitating enhanced trade and investment outcomes for the North. This option was presented to the NP11 Board and fully endorsed. The NP11 is now working with the government to deliver the recommended functions for the Northern PRP.