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33rd Report - Supporting the UK’s priority industry sectors

Public Accounts Committee HC 1070 Published 25 June 2025
Report Status
Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations
28 items (9 recs)
Government Response
AI assessment · 28 of 28 classified
Accepted 16
Acknowledged 12
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-third report from Session 2024-26 · published 18 Sep 2025
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Recommendations & Conclusions

12 items
10 Recommendation 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 … Read more
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 Recommendation 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 … Read more
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 Recommendation 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 … Read more
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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14 Conclusion Acknowledged

Department directly supports industry through varied interventions including grants and sector funds

Conclusion
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 … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Acknowledged

Department tracks overall spending but lacks systems to breakdown support by type

Conclusion
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 … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Acknowledged

Department lacks standardised approach for balancing metrics in industry support decisions

Conclusion
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. … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Acknowledged

Ministerial decisions on industry support trade-offs lack explicit, detailed methodology

Conclusion
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 … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Acknowledged

Government prioritises eight growth sectors while recognising broader foundational industries

Conclusion
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 … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Acknowledged

Departmental sector team staffing levels lack correlation with industry importance or spending

Conclusion
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 … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Acknowledged

Department reviewing resource allocation to align with Industrial Strategy priority sectors

Conclusion
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. … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Acknowledged

Department demonstrates agility for urgent issues but faces specialist recruitment challenges

Conclusion
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, … Read more
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.
HM Treasury
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24 Recommendation 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 … Read more
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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