Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors
Public Accounts Committee
HC 1070
Published 25 June 2025
Recommendations
7
Accepted
Businesses receive duplicate or conflicting information from multiple government departments
Recommendation
To support industry, government must listen to the needs of businesses. The Department told us that while every government department engages with industry in some form, the Department for Business and Trade aspires to be a ‘front door’ for all …
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Government Response Summary
The government conducted a detailed consultation with business through the green paper Invest 2035, introduced a cross-government Account Management initiative, appointing dedicated account managers to lead strategic relationships with key businesses, and established a dedicated area to coordinate business engagement and insights.
HM Treasury
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8
Accepted
Department improved intelligence sharing and single account management for top businesses
Recommendation
The Department recognised the importance of sharing business intelligence across government. It said that while the legal and technical issues surrounding this could be resolved, creating the right culture and incentives was harder. The Department told us it takes an …
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Government Response Summary
The government has developed a new cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence, enable logging of business engagements, sharing company statistics, business insights and government priorities for engagement.
HM Treasury
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9
Accepted
Department struggles monitoring sector engagement with inaccessible digital systems and inconsistent records
Recommendation
We asked the Department about its ability to monitor its engagement with economic sectors, given that officials do not consistently record their interactions with companies, and its digital system — DataHub — is not accessible across the whole of Whitehall.17 …
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Government Response Summary
The government developed a cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence.
HM Treasury
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10
Acknowledged
Department must collaborate with multiple government departments to achieve its business objectives
Recommendation
While the Department is responsible for supporting businesses overall, it does not ‘own’ every sector of the economy nor is it responsible for every support intervention delivered by government. Many of the levers needed to bring about change to the …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the recommendation and states the department developed the whole of the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments, with Sector Plans led by relevant departments and that this is an ongoing programme.
HM Treasury
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11
Acknowledged
Department's inter-departmental working relationships vary, with limited adoption of handshake agreements
Recommendation
The Department’s working relationships with others in government vary in maturity and other government departments have mixed views on the Department’s remit.20 To agree roles and responsibilities between departments, the Department told us it had introduced ‘handshake agreements’.21 However, the …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the recommendation and states the department developed the whole of the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments, with Sector Plans led by relevant departments and that this is an ongoing programme.
HM Treasury
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13
Acknowledged
Department significantly improved sharing business intelligence reports across Whitehall departments
Recommendation
To monitor the performance of economic sectors and share information, the Department produces business intelligence products. The Department told us it recognised these products had not previously been shared well across Whitehall and that it had taken steps to do …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the recommendation and states the department developed the whole of the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments, with Sector Plans led by relevant departments and that this is an ongoing programme.
HM Treasury
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16
Accepted
Department lacks complete overview and accurate data on industry support spending
Recommendation
The Department does not have a complete overview or accurate data on what it, and wider government, spends on supporting industry. The Department found it difficult to readily provide the NAO with a breakdown of its support for industry. It …
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Government Response Summary
The government will collaborate across government and public bodies to enhance tracking and reporting of support to the Industrial Strategy sectors, refine sector definitions, and conduct strategic analysis to assess policy effectiveness and economic trends.
HM Treasury
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20
Accepted
Cross-Whitehall collaboration essential for Industrial Strategy delivery despite misaligned objectives
Recommendation
We asked the Department to clarify its relationships with other departments and the influence it has in decision-making and trade-offs.40 The Department recognised it cannot deliver the forthcoming Industrial Strategy in isolation, and that other government departments have a role …
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Government Response Summary
The government developed a cross government digital customer relationship management system called the Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve the sharing of business intelligence.
HM Treasury
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24
Acknowledged
Forthcoming Industrial Strategy focuses on eight growth sectors with industry partnership
Recommendation
The government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy, which aims to channel support to eight growth-driving sectors, is expected to be published in spring 2025 alongside the Spending Review.49 The Department told us the eight priority sectors were collectively responsible for 30% of …
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Government Response Summary
The government has committed to regularly reviewing progress against the Industrial Strategy, supported by the ISAC through its expertise on monitoring and evaluation and continued advice on policy development and delivery.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (19)
2
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department is not working effectively enough with other departments to support industry and achieve the greatest impact. The Department views the economy through the lens of 10 economic sectors and 41 sub-sectors. While the Department is responsible for supporting businesses in general, it is not itself responsible for all …
Government Response Summary
The government states it developed the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments, established governance and boards for coordination, and implemented a new digital Strategic Company Insight Tool (SCIT) to improve cross-government intelligence sharing, with usage currently expanding.
3
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department lacks a comprehensive understanding of its support for industry, including how much it spends per sector and the types of support it offers. The Department supports industry through a range of interventions, which vary in form and scale. Some interventions support individual sectors while others are designed to …
Government Response Summary
The government states it will collaborate across government to enhance tracking and reporting of support to Industrial Strategy sectors, refine sector definitions, and conduct strategic analysis to assess policy effectiveness and economic trends.
4
Conclusion
Accepted
It is not clear how the Department balances multiple government objectives, such as growth and net zero, when making decisions about how to support industry. Government needs to consider a wide range of metrics when making investment decisions including employment, net zero, and economic growth. Pursuit of these metrics requires …
Government Response Summary
The government will provide greater transparency by using new 'place-based business cases' and supplementary guidance to assess projects and private sector contributions. It will also work with various bodies to maximise the impact of business-facing funds, with an approach already outlined in the Industrial Strategy's Technical Annex and a new supply chain centre being established.
5
Conclusion
Accepted
There is a risk that the Department is not set up internally to support the aims of the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and to respond to ongoing issues facing UK businesses. The composition of sector teams in the Department’s Business Group varies by size and grade distribution, and is not always …
Government Response Summary
The government states it has transitioned the Industrial Strategy Unit into a permanent delivery unit and has set out plans to restructure teams to focus on Industrial Strategy delivery, with this transformation already in progress and mostly completed by Spring 2026.
6
Conclusion
Accepted
It is essential that the government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy has clear measures of success and effective processes for monitoring and evaluation. The government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy is central to its economic growth mission. The Department is placing great emphasis on the Strategy and sees it as an opportunity to set …
Government Response Summary
The government has committed to regularly reviewing progress against the Industrial Strategy, supported by the ISAC, and has implemented a public monitoring and evaluation approach underpinned by an impact pathway outlined in the technical annex. All government departments will carry out monitoring and evaluation for their individual policies and Sector Plans.
1
Conclusion
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Business and Trade (the Department) and HM Treasury on support for the UK’s priority industry sectors.1
Government Response Summary
The government states it conducted a detailed consultation, introduced a cross-government Account Management initiative with dedicated account managers and ministerial engagement, and established a dedicated area to coordinate business engagement. It also published 'The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy' and will explore establishing dedicated Sector Offices.
12
Conclusion
Accepted
In the absence of formal agreements, the NAO reported that teams had taken different approaches to agree roles and that structures had emerged to overcome cross-departmental barriers.24 The Department highlighted the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), its cross-department skills forum, and the recent Growth Mission Board as examples of government …
Government Response Summary
The department developed the whole of the Industrial Strategy in partnership with other departments and this ongoing programme of work involves sector councils and taskforces.
14
Conclusion
Acknowledged
While it is not the only department to do so, the Department for Business and Trade directly supports industry through a range of interventions with a range of policy objectives. Some of the Department’s interventions are aimed at specific sectors whereas others are designed to improve the general business environment. …
Government Response Summary
The department currently supports industry through a range of interventions, the scale and form of which varies greatly, spending £790.9 million on business support grants in 2023–24, with 62.5% going to the advanced manufacturing sector and 29.9% to the energy sector.
15
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Department tracks its programme spending, grant expenditure and Business Group resource spending across sector teams but does not have processes to break this down by support type using existing systems. In 2023–24, the Department spent £790.9 million on business support grants, 62.5% of which was allocated to advanced manufacturing, …
Government Response Summary
The department currently supports industry through a range of interventions, the scale and form of which varies greatly, spending £790.9 million on business support grants in 2023–24, with 62.5% going to the advanced manufacturing sector and 29.9% to the energy sector.
17
Conclusion
Acknowledged
While its primary objective is economic growth, the Department uses a range of metrics to guide its work, some of which require trade-offs. Factors considered by the Department when designing support initiatives include GVA, net zero ambitions, and national security. The NAO found that the Department lacked a standardised approach …
Government Response Summary
The government is aligning industry support with strategic priorities, including the Industrial Strategy, and will use new 'place-based business cases' to assess complementary projects in specific regions, with supplementary guidance on economic resilience.
18
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked the Department how it balances trade-offs when making decisions about support, and how it makes this explicit. Officials told us that it assesses interventions using HM Treasury’s five principles. Proposals are then put to Ministers who make decisions based on advice from the Department and their own understanding …
Government Response Summary
The government is aligning industry support with strategic priorities, including the Industrial Strategy, and will use new 'place-based business cases' to assess complementary projects in specific regions, with supplementary guidance on economic resilience.
19
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Department noted that one of the criticisms of the 2017 Industrial Strategy was that it was too broad and not enough choices were made. The government has now designated eight growth-driving sectors, and the Department told us these were selected on the basis of joint analysis with HM Treasury, …
Government Response Summary
The government is aligning industry support with strategic priorities, including the Industrial Strategy, and will use new 'place-based business cases' to assess complementary projects in specific regions, with supplementary guidance on economic resilience.
21
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Following its formation in February 2023, the Department consolidated teams from the former BEIS and DIT into 25 sector-facing teams within its Business Group. These sector teams vary by size and grade distribution. The Department’s Business Group also has teams that work across sectors, such as the Business Intelligence Unit. …
Government Response Summary
The department will ensure effective implementation of the Industrial Strategy by using a permanent delivery unit and restructuring teams, which will be mostly completed by Spring 2026.
22
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked the Department about its overall priorities and whether it had aligned its resources accordingly. The Department explained that when the former DIT and BEIS merged, two sets of teams came together, which it structured around 10 economic sectors. Its directorates were approximately the same size, but the size …
Government Response Summary
The department will ensure effective implementation of the Industrial Strategy by using a permanent delivery unit and restructuring teams, which will be mostly completed by Spring 2026.
23
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked the Department if it was agile enough to respond to emerging issues such as changing tariff rates affecting UK businesses. The Department told us it understands the importance of ‘surging’ resource to where it is needed most urgently, and said it has been able to flex resources across …
Government Response Summary
The department will ensure effective implementation of the Industrial Strategy by using a permanent delivery unit and restructuring teams, which will be mostly completed by Spring 2026.
25
Conclusion
The Department said it recognises that, with limited resources, it will be required to make difficult decisions about what it is prioritising in the forthcoming Strategy, noting that “some people will be disappointed in what we are able to do for them, because government cannot do everything.” The Department told …
26
Conclusion
We asked the Department what the forthcoming Industrial Strategy will mean for the scale and composition of its support for industry going forward. The Department told us it was preparing for an upcoming spending review and therefore could not provide more insights now, but that it was using the process …
27
Conclusion
We asked the Department about gaps in its monitoring and evaluation of support programmes.54 Of the Department’s Business Group’s 32 initiatives to support sectors, it provided monitoring and evaluation evidence for just 11.55 The Department told us there is a value for money judgement regarding where it focuses its monitoring …
28
Conclusion
We asked the Department how it would measure success. Officials told us growth was its overarching objective as measured by GDP per head and real household disposable income. The Department highlighted that trade-offs were required under an industrial strategy and deciding to support one sector over another could not be …