An independent Study Steering Committee (SSC) supervised the study overall. The independent SSC comprised: Professor Sally Wyke (chairperson), Dean of Research/Deputy Director, Institute of Health and Wellbeing University of Glasgow; Professor Richard Cookson, Professor and NIHR Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Economics, York University; Professor Sarah Atkinson, Professor of Geography and Medical Humanities, Durham University; Professor Jane South, Professor of Healthy Communities, Leeds Beckett University; Dr Richard Kimberlee, Senior Research Fellow, University of the West of England; Dr Peter McMeekin, Professor of Health Economics, Northumbria University; Dr Mandy Cheetham, Research Fellow, Northumbria University; Professor Chris Drinkwater, Emeritus Professor of Primary Care, Northumbria University); Professor Suzanne Moffatt (principal investigator), Newcastle University; and Professor John Wildman, Newcastle University.

Project team attendees were Dr Josephine Wildman, Dr Kate Gibson, Dr Eoin Maloney, Dr Bethan Griffiths (Newcastle University), Professor Tessa M Pollard (Durham University), and Dr Nicki O’Brien (Northumbria University).

The SSC met initially face to face during the first year of the project in June 2019. Two subsequent annual meetings (March 2020 and January 2021) were held via Zoom owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of the SSC was to monitor study progress and ensure good conduct and high standards of research.