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IET Consultation

Through this consultation the IET asks members to critically review the current proposals and status of the Northern Power House (NPH) and provide evidence that will shape the future of how the NPH is delivered and the benefits it will deliver.

The questions to be reviewed as part of this consultation should include:





  • Development of digital procurement portal.



The consultation process will consist of two parts:

- Consultation Part 1
: Dedicated online discussion forums have been created to allow members to submit and discuss views and evidence. 5 forums have been created, each focusing on one of the questions above. Click on the individual links above or click here to join in the discussion.
- Consultation Part 2: We will schedule a discussion workshop to review the thoughts and evidence submitted and develop a submission paper.


The outputs from this consultation will be submitted as a formal Parliamentary submission to help develop and shape the future of the NPH.

You can find out more about the background of the NPH strategy below.

We look forward to your input. If you have any queries in the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact Christopher Proudfoot (chris_proudfoot@btinternet.com).


 

Introduction

The UK Government has published a Green Paper titled “Building Our Industrial Strategy” which identifies 10 pillars that are believed to be important to drive forward an industrial strategy across the UK economy. These pillars are: Science Research and Innovation; Developing Skills; Infrastructure; Business Growth and Investment; Procurement; Trade and Investment; Affordable Energy; Sectorial Policies; Driving Growth Across the Whole Country; and Creating the right Institutions.  The way in which these pillars relate to specific places (e.g., The North) will vary and will change over time.


The output of the Green Paper has been utilised to develop corresponding strategies for the Midlands (The Midlands Engine) and the North (The Northern Powerhouse). These strategies build on the pillars identified in the Green Paper and focus on the specific requirements in those regions.


The Government Green Paper and Midlands Engine strategy have been reviewed by The Midlands Manufacturing Network (including the IET) and feedback has been given as a formal Parliamentary submission of evidence for development of the Industrial Strategy and Midlands Engine Strategy.


The NPH Strategy

The NPH Strategy objective is to achieve a sustained increase in productivity across the whole of the North. The strategy has identified four primary capabilities and three enabling capabilities within the North. These are: (Primary) Advanced Manufacturing; Digital; Energy; and Health Innovation; (Enabling) Education; Logistics and Finance and Professional services. It has also identified the North faces persistent barriers across a range of areas fundamental to productivity. These relate to the pillars on the Industrial Strategy and include the following:

  • Connectivity: The North’s economy is fragmented. Employers in northern cities draw workers from smaller areas than in the South: in 2011, almost half a million commuters travelled over 30km to work in London, double the number that travel the same distance to work across all six major city regions in the North.12 This limited reach of northern cities’ labour markets means that workers choose from fewer employers, and vice versa, holding back wages and productivity.

  • Skills: The proportion of graduates in the North is 4.4 percentage points below the UK average, and the proportion of people with no qualifications is 1.2 percentage points above the UK average.

  • Enterprise and Innovation: The North has 34% fewer patents per head than the UK average and 17% fewer businesses per head.

  • Trade and Investment: The number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects per head in the North is 66% lower than in London and the South East.

  • Engagement: The government will engage with local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, businesses and others across the North to consider what more can be done to support the delivery of the NPH.

The strategy sets out the next steps the government intends to take. These include investing in the North’s transport infrastructure to improve connections between and within the North’s towns and cities, improving the skills system at all ages, building on the North’s existing science strengths, and continuing to promote the North to foreign markets and investors.

Let us know your feedback on the NPH strategy here.




 
  • The topic of the Northern Powerhouse does not appear to have a very high profile at the moment.  There are other issues that have a higher National priority at the moment with Brexit, but the issues of developing the economies of the north of England and Wales remain.  It will be interesting to see how the feedback from the IET Members contributes to the discussion on the progress and future of the "Northern Powerhouse" in 2019.
  • Thanks, Gemma. This is an important area, underlined, even yeterdeay, by the Government's continued committment to funding. There is a lot of general discussion on NPH across the North, incluidng within local IET branches.I see an opportunity for the IET to focus its authority and begin to help define what are the real issues and how they can be addressed. One opportunity, as outlined in the blogspot, is in improving supply chain, where significant improvment on  visibility of opportunities to both sellers and suppliers could be made, together with simplification of trading through, for example, digital platforms.
  • Interesting topic area - looking forward to reading responses Gemma Hadley‍