Reviewing the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review

Transport for the North (TfN) commissioned Steer Economic Development (Steer-ED), supported by Cambridge Econometrics (CE), to undertake a review of the 2016 Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review (NPIER) in order to inform a potential Refresh of the NPIER and accompanying five-year work programme.

The emphasis of the review was forward-looking, focusing primarily on identifying stakeholder’s current perspectives and requirements around the future of the NPIER. The scope of the review comprised: 

• Review lessons learnt from the process of developing the 2016 NPIER;
• Assess the usage and application of the 2016 NPIER and relevance against a changed political and economic context;
• Assess how a Refreshed NPIER could be augmented and whether additional questions need to be addressed, over and above those covered in the existing evidence base;
• Engage effectively and extensively with stakeholders to obtain their insights, understand their requirements for long-term economic scenarios and secure their support for an updated NPIER; and
• Develop a package of options for developing a long-term NPIER, comprising a five-year work programme including a refresh of the economic scenarios in 2019/20.