Recommendation 1

Witnesses were mostly unpersuaded by the Government’s arguments for the abolition of the Industrial Strategy and its replacement with the Plan for Growth. More importantly, we are particularly concerned at the ‘chop and change’ and lack of long-termism in growth strategy and policy, without which businesses themselves are unable to plan and invest themselves. This churn also makes it difficult to assess the success or otherwise of initiatives such as the Industrial Strategy in improving growth and productivity.