The UK Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee is launching an inquiry into “Innovation, growth and the regions” to assess the role of the UK’s innovation ecosystem in achieving the Government’s mission to kickstart economic growth across the country.

The Northern Health Science Alliance and various partners have submitted a response to the Inquiry – which considers the interdependence of health and wealth and shows how a network of devolved regions, each with a critical mass of efficient data uses, with public trust, could form a national grid of innovation that advances the UK’s global economic interests while reducing regional inequalities.

Compared to the South, people in the North of England die earlier, spend less of their lives in good health, and have just a third of the median household wealth. This results in a productivity gap that costs the UK around £13.2bn annually. At the same time, the North has strengths in the life sciences and digital sectors, with considerable headroom to grow, fed by a vibrant talent pipeline, leading data assets, and foreign direct investment. The North returns more outputs than the South for each pound invested in research. Yet, there are single buildings in the South with more infrastructure funding than the total for the North.

Read the NHSA’s response here.