Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to nominate a capital of the Northern Powerhouse; and if so, how it will be chosen, and whether cities will be able to bid formally for that status.

The exact extent of the North in the context of the Northern Powerhouse is not prescribed by the Government. There will not be a secretariat and we do not intend to nominate a capital.

However, the Government considers the following eleven Local Enterprise Partnerships to be part of the North:

• North East Local Enterprise Partnership
• Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership
• Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership
• York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership
• Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership
• Humber Local Enterprise Partnership
• Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership
• Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership
• Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership
• Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership
• Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership

It is important, for the Northern Powerhouse to work with its neighbouring Local Enterprise Partnership areas across the UK to ensure rebalancing across all regions and nations of the UK – as set out in the Government’s long-term economic plan.