‘Building back better’ in the North is focus of TfN webinar

Following the Prime Minister’s recent commitment to investment in infrastructure, political leaders in the North of England will discuss what ‘building back better’ could mean for the region’s economy after Covid-19 in a Transport for the North (TfN) webinar.

The ‘Northern Growth’ webinar is the latest in a series of free webinars by the regional transport body, and will discuss how ‘building back better’ could offer a solution to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The webinar will take place via the Zoom video-conferencing platform on Monday 6th July at 9am. Discussion points for the session include:

• the types of interventions we need to boost the North’s economy post-COVID-19
• TfN’s proposals for an Economic Recovery Plan for the North
• helping businesses to grow
• putting the North at the forefront of the national recovery
• how TfN’s programmes can directly enable growth in the North’s strongest industries of health, advanced manufacturing, energy and digital

Confirmed panellists speaking at the event include:

• Mayor Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester and TfN Board Member
• Lord Jim O’Neill of Gatley – Vice Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and Former Commercial Secretary to the Treasury
• Sarah Longlands – Director, IPPR North
• Miranda Barker – Chief Executive at East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce

Lord O’Neill said:

The North has great potential that is ready to be harnessed. We know that better transport connections across our region will help us to improve our productivity and realise that potential, but there is also so much more that needs to be done.”

Transport for the North has proposed a Northern Infrastructure Pipeline of road and rail schemes to help the North “build back better” and enable the region to lead the national economic recovery through transport investment, closing the persistent productivity gap between the North and the rest of England. This pipeline is being proposed as part of the Economic Recovery Plan for the North, which also includes changing ticketing on public transport and launching low-carbon pilot schemes, as well as accelerating Northern Powerhouse Rail, boosting job-creation schemes to give industry confidence, and providing better integration of local transport through more devolution.

Registration for #TfNTalks: Northern Growth is via the webinar’s Eventbrite page, where attendees may also submit questions in advance.