A new Government-backed organisation could be created to help grow the economy of the North of England, attract more foreign investment and act "as one external voice" for the region of 15m people.
The Northern Agenda politics newsletter has learned that Michael Gove's Levelling Up department has started talks about a publicly-funded "pan-regional partnership" (PRP) for the North similar to bodies in the Midlands and Oxford-Cambridge.
But despite being at an early stage the idea already faces opposition. A leading business organisation says the PRP risks becoming a "talking shop" to give the impression the Government is committed to the Northern Powerhouse idea.
