The Commission on Poverty and Regional Inequality set out to unite England’s regions around a shared agenda to reduce poverty and raise living standards. It focused on tackling the causes of poverty linked specifically to regional economic failure, from poor job opportunities to high housing costs.

The report concludes that the UK has two major regional economy challenges – ‘low growth’ outside the south east, where places lack good jobs; and ‘overheating’ in the capital, where living costs are too high.