Monday 28 September 

Private roundtable: Northern Prosperity: Growth through Health Research and Innovation

Time: 12:00pm – 13:30pm

Cities such as Manchester and Liverpool are already among the fastest-growing in the country, while Northern regions more widely continue to demonstrate significant potential for innovation-led growth. However, persistent barriers remain, including challenges with cross-sector collaboration, talent mobility, and the need to better support and retain the clinical academic workforce. 

Our private roundtable ‘Northern Prosperity: Growth through Health Research and Innovation’ will focus on how the North can develop a more connected, scalable and impactful research and innovation ecosystem, and how partners across the sector can work together to strengthen the region’s contribution to national growth. 

This event is invite only and is being supported by Inflect.

Tuesday 29 September 

Panel event: What next for Children’s Mental Health in the North of England? 

Time: 8:15am-9:30am

Location: Exhibition Event Space 1, Exhibition Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus 

Speakers:

• Lewis Atkinson MP, Sunderland Central
• Professor David Taylor-Robinson, Academic Co-Director of Health Equity North, Consultant in Public Health at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool
• Greg Kay, Public Affairs Adviser for the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition
• Youth representatives from the University of Liverpool Young Person Advisory Group

More speakers TBC

Increasing numbers of children and young people are experiencing poor mental health and nowhere has this strain been seen more than in the North. 

In the first of our panel events at Labour Party Conference 2026 in Liverpool, we will examine the recent Child of the North APPG report, hear from children with lived experience, and ask what the new Burnham government should do to support children’s mental health. 

Join us inside the secure zone at 8:15am on Tuesday, September 29 to hear from our expert panel on how we can build support for young people in order to help them thrive.  

Panel event: Addressing Inequalities in Health: From Minority Ethnic Women’s Perspective

Time: 9:45am-11:00am

Location: Exhibition Event Space 1, Exhibition Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus 

Speakers:

• Kim Johnson MP, Liverpool Riverside
• Professor Clare Bambra, Academic Co-Director at Health Equity North and Professor of Public Health, University of Newcastle
• Dr Oluwaseun Esan, Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Liverpool  

More speakers TBC

An expert panel of women with lived experience & key academic authors give an exclusive preview of an upcoming Women of the North report into inequalities faced by ethnic minority women. 

Join us inside the secure zone to hear from an expert panel, focussing on the actions government need to take to both understand the inequalities & the policy solutions needed to reverse those barriers. 

Panel event: Poverty in Place: How Local and Regional Government Can Tackle Poverty 

Time: 11:15am-12:30pm

Location: Exhibition Event Space 1, Exhibition Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus 

Speakers:

• (Chair) Beatrice Orchard, Head of Policy at the Trussell Trust 
• Rachel Maskell MP, York Central 
  
• Professor Brian Ferguson, University of York & NIHR Public Health Strategic Advisor 
• Dr Kit Colliver, Research Associate at the University of York
• Laura Burgess, Senior Policy and Research Advisor at Resolve Poverty

More speakers TBC

This panel session at Labour Party Conference 2026 in Liverpool will bring together policymakers & researchers to examine how local & regional government can lead the fight against poverty.

Drawing on the latest evidence, the panel will explore what works, where the barriers lie, and how national & local government can work in partnership to make a lasting difference to the people most affected. 

This event is being held by The York Policy Engine in partnership with Health Equity North.