Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, to publish her Department’s economic forecast on the impact of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Liverpool–Manchester Railway on (a) regional productivity, (b) labour market access and (c) job and skills creation in the North-West.

The Northern Growth Strategy: Case for Change set out this Government’s ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail, which will deliver a turn-up-and-go railway along the Northern Growth Corridor from Liverpool to York and forms a key part of the strategy to realise up to £40bn in Gross Value Added by bringing the economic output of the North’s biggest cities to the UK average. Detailed work to develop the Programme Business Case for NPR is underway and the Government intends to publish this later this year.