Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the economic impact of proposals made in the Integrated Rail Plan on (a) Leeds, (b) Bradford, (c) Hull, (d) Sheffield, (e) Doncaster, (f) Liverpool, (g) Manchester, (h) Huddersfield, (i) Wakefield, and (j) Newcastle.

The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) was designed to deliver significant economic benefits to the Northern region by enhancing connectivity, improving productivity through the agglomeration of key northern hubs and making the North a more attractive place for busines domestically and internationally. A comprehensive economic appraisal was undertaken by the Department when developing the IRP which included conducting its own analysis as well as using analysis from Transport for the North (TfN) and delivery partners Network Rail and HS2 Ltd, the detail of which is presented in the IRP Technical Annex which was published by the Government on 24 January 2022. More detailed analysis of the wider economic impacts of Northern Powerhouse Rail will be outlined in the programme’s Strategic Outline Business Case.