THE Government is “absolutely determined” that nobody in the North-East will be left behind, according to the Northern Powerhouse minister.

MP Jake Berry visited businesses in the region as part of a road-trip around the North on Monday, stopping in Saltburn and Whitby to meet workers at British Steel and Sirius Minerals.

He told The Northern Echo that the trip had been arranged to ensure that the Northern Powerhouse was a “powerhouse of the people” and not simply political.

Mr Berry said: “I wanted to go beyond just talking to people who own businesses and that’s why I’m doing this.

“It’s about talking to the workers, trade unions and business owners about what is next for the Northern Powerhouse.

“This is about the people of the North and I’m learning that for those people, this is not about politics, it’s about the place that they live.

“The people I’ve been speaking to really buy into that vision and the Government’s vision of growing the North’s economy.”

The politician said he would be using feedback from workers to underpin representations to the Government and to help to shape plans for the Powerhouse going forward.

He said he was ambitious for the future of Teesside’s steel industry and hopeful of Government support for the steel industry and steel workers of the region as he claimed there would still be a need, post-Brexit, for steel products made in the North-East – seen as “not just the best in Britain but the best in the world” –to be exported.

Mr Berry said he was also convinced that new plans being led by the South Tees Development Corporation - the first mayoral development corporation outside of London - for the SSI site in Redcar, which closed in 2015, would help to bring “high tech, high paid” jobs to the area.

He said it was an “exciting time for the people of the Tees Valley”, adding: “I hope what people will see is that the Government, despite the terrible closure of SSI, is absolutely determined to work with the Tees Valley’s mayor and MPs to make sure nobody is left behind.

“That is why we are investing and building and have the South Tees Development Corporation to help to create new, highly paid jobs to replace the jobs that have been lost.”

Mr Berry said that Brexit represented a “real opportunity for the North-East”, adding: “People are interested in doing business with the North, in particular the Northern Powerhouse as they recognise that we have some of the best tech and high skilled work forces in the world.”