Suzanne Malcolm: Council officials lack the knowledge to deliver economic development

Expertise in this are is key to successful localism and devolution and improving our prosperity, productivity and competitiveness.

Charlie Elphicke: Ready on Day One for lower, fairer, simpler taxes to boost jobs and growth

The fourth article in a five-piece series by the author on how Britain must prepare for March 31 2019 – and has less than 600 days to get it right.

James Palmer: The Land Value Cap offers the chance of more affordable infrastructure

Capping the value of land adjacent to a new motorway, and recouping a charge from those who develop it, would help fund essential new roads.

Andrew Laird: Greater devolution would make for a more smooth-running nation

More powers for Andy Street in the West Midlands should just be the start.

Prospects for the economy 2) Andy Silvester: The fundamentals are strong. But confidence is in shorter supply.

Doomsday predictions remain overblown, but the real, specific concerns of business are worth listening to nonetheless.

Judy Terry: The Local Enterprise Partnerships are a Conservative success story

They provide much better value for money than Labour’s unwieldy Regional Development Agencies managed.

Free marketeers and interventionists battle for the soul of the Conservative manifesto

The former fear that it will revive what they believe are business-unfriendly ideas about foreign takeovers and workers on boards.

Sean Worth: The right industrial strategy could pay electoral dividends

Downing Street can win votes in the regions without resorting to Blair’s pork-barrel spending.

Judy Terry: Councils must be included in the industrial strategy

Local Enterprise Partnerships have shown how business can prompt local authorities to speed up decision making.

Enterprise Zones have proved a quiet success story – let’s have more of them

Brexit will allow us to decide on our own regional policy.

Simon Parker: Brexit wasn’t just about control. It was about people being left behind by the London elite

The focus on leaving the EU needs to be balanced by a powerful new Department for Growth, with a mandate to devolve power and drive up regional prosperity.

How London and Scotland stand out

It’s about what they contribute – and take from – the public finances.

David Kirkby: The National Living Wage could undermine the Northern Powerhouse – so let’s vary it by region

There are negative possibilities for the supply of jobs, positive ones for productivity – and a lot of variation across sections.

Steve Hughes: Osborne’s record. Some progress on the deficit. Slower going on rebalancing. But now he has a chance to deliver.

The second piece in our mini-series on whether the Chancellor is achieving the rebalancing of the economy he wants.

Cllr Robert Pritchard: The West Midlands Powerhouse draws nearer

Tamworth will be there at the table grabbing the opportunity of the new Combined Authority.