Frequently Asked Questions

The Independent Economic Review (IER) has been commissioned by Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority to give the incoming Mayor a single, authoritative picture of the Cheshire and Warrington economy and where the greatest opportunities lie.

The Review will bring together existing evidence, data and analysis from across the region to help inform future policy and investment decisions from an independent and impartial perspective. It will also provide an important evidence base for the region’s Local Growth Plan and other future plans and strategies for Cheshire and Warrington.

The independence of the review is deliberate and important. It means the findings will be credible with audiences who need to trust them, including government, investors, businesses and the public. An independently validated economic narrative is a powerful tool for making Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority's case nationally and attracting investment.

The Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority has appointed an independent panel of leading experts from business, academia and public policy to oversee the review. The role of the panel is to ensure the review is intellectually rigorous, genuinely independent and credible to the full range of audiences it needs to reach, including government, investors, businesses and the public. The panel will provide guidance, challenge and expertise throughout the review process.

The independent panel will be co-chaired by Jennifer Halliday, most recently Chief Finance Officer of Wienerberger UK & Ireland, and Dan Corry, Chief Economist at the Future Governance Forum and former Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit. They will be joined by Huw Merriman, Pete Gladwell, Dr Kate Penney, Victoria Sutherland, Jo Holden, Dr Nicola Heron and Justin Kelly.

The work on the review will be led by economic consultancy Metro Dynamics, working with specialist partners Cambridge Econometrics and Arcadis. The team brings expertise in economic strategy and policy, forecasting, infrastructure, transport and investment.

The review will run from September 2026 until May 2027, when its findings and options for consideration will be presented to Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority and the incoming Mayor.

 The work will examine the economy through a set of deep dives that will be commissioned by the Panel. The Review will consider issues including sectors and competitive advantage, investment, innovation, transport and connectivity, energy and digital infrastructure, skills and employment, inclusive growth, the rural economy and the visitor economy.

 Further details on the deep dives will be available here [website link] after the Independent Panel meets in mid-November.

Businesses, organisations and other stakeholders will have opportunities to contribute to the review as the work progresses.

Engagement is being led by the appointed consultant team with direction from the Independent Panel. The approach to engagement is guided by the following principles:

·      Engagement will be fair and proportionate within the budget and timeframes available.

·      The Independent Panel will be asked to feed into and approve the approach to engagement as part of the methodology for each stage of work on the IER.

·      Engagement will be targeted and will involve interviews and workshops with local stakeholders, with a focus on gathering views from the private sector, anchor institutions, and civic society organisations.

·      Wider input will be sought via the review website on topics where the consultant team and panel agree it adds the most value.

Engagement around the IER builds on the principles set out above. The engagement approach is designed to provide value for money within the limited budget and time available to undertake the review, by focussing on the areas where contributions can have the greatest impact. Alongside interviews and workshops will local stakeholders, this will be done by seeking feedback on a set of targeted questions related to each of the deep dive themes. These questions, and details on how to contribute to them, will be available here [add website] from mid-November.

The Review will be presented to Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority and the incoming Mayor following the Mayoral election in May 2027 and will be published shortly afterwards.