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Greater Manchester At £46 billion, Greater Manchester comprises almost 40% of North West GVA and is the central driver of the North West and wider Northern economy. In labour market terms, 38% of the North West’s jobs are in Greater Manchester. With a population of 2.58 million, it is a coherent economic geography, with substantial travel across local authority boundaries for work, education, and recreation. Its economic influence extends to parts of the High Peak, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Warrington. The economic geography of the area has a number of distinct permutations reflecting local housing markets, business linkages, travel to work movements, administrative areas, and travel to learn patterns. The area has extensive public transport, road and motorway networks which provide a high level of connectivity between places and allows for significant cross boundary travel. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has a strong track record of collaborating on a wide range of issues, including the Statutory City Region Agreement. This included an agreed scheme for Greater Manchester to become a Combined Authority, which is currently awaiting endorsement and follows a government consultation. Central to this is the Greater Manchester Strategy which aims to accelerate economic growth, secure the active participation of residents in the economy and present a framework for making choices about Greater Manchester’s priorities for investment.
Lancashire Lancashire's economy is the second largest in the North West, worth approximately £22.5 billion (19% of North West total) and employing some 625,000 people. The economy is a sophisticated mix of advanced manufacturing firms, an emerging high-value office economy, a significant visitor economy and a significant future in low carbon/energy technologies. The county has a diverse geography with an inter-linked network of cities, towns and settlements, within an extensively rural context and a high-quality natural environment in places such as Morecambe Bay and the Forest of Bowland. It is well placed to capitalise upon and develop links with adjoining areas particularly opportunities in Manchester,
Liverpool, South Cumbria and West Yorkshire. In addition, there are opportunities to exploit its higher education institutions, green infrastructure and the environment, and its attractiveness as a place to live, work and invest. Three Multi-Area Agreements have been developed covering Pennine Lancashire, the Fylde Coast and Mid-Lancashire authorities.
Liverpool city region The Liverpool city region has experienced significant improvements to its economy over the last decade. The total GVA is £19 billion, just over 16% of the North West total. Significant public and private investment, particularly in the City of Liverpool itself, has transformed the image of the city region and increased investor confidence. However, despite this strong growth in the past decade there are still significant gaps in the employment base, business density and productivity rates relative to the North West. The Liverpool city region Multi-Area Agreement covers the local authority areas of Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral and the City of Liverpool and sets out the approach to achieving a step change in the city region’s economic performance based upon established strengths in culture and the visitor economy, ports and logistics, the low carbon economy and the knowledge economy.
Links between areas These recognised local area groupings provide a good foundation for action to secure a sustainable and prosperous future for the North West. In practice, many issues do not lend themselves to being tackled on the basis of local administrative boundaries and it is essential therefore to recognise the links with neighbouring areas and the importance of collaborating across boundaries on certain issues such as economic development, transport, housing and infrastructure. The map overleaf illustrates the dynamic nature of the relationship between places. It shows the indicative functional economic areas and how they overlap between local areas and extend to neighbouring countries and regions.