Too often in our talk of powerhouses, we miss out people. The focus is so often on physical infrastructure – trains, roads and housing – and while these things are all of course vital to a good economy, we must also move the discussion onto thinking about people, skills, health and communities too.

To create strong, vibrant economies, we require strong cohesive communities, designed with people in mind. The best decisions, the decisions we need to create these vibrant communities, are made by a diverse group of people who take into account the lived experience of those people whom decisions will be visited upon. Otherwise, we have policy implementation designed in Whitehall, with a ‘centre knows best mentality’.