Recommendations & Conclusions
13 items
2
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
The Government now has an opportunity via its Plan for Growth to deliver a more narrow and focused set of polices than the 142 that emerged from the 2017 strategy. We note that the Industrial Strategy Council’s analysis suggests the Government has not started well in this regard. The Government …
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The Government now has an opportunity via its Plan for Growth to deliver a more narrow and focused set of polices than the 142 that emerged from the 2017 strategy. We note that the Industrial Strategy Council’s analysis suggests the Government has not started well in this regard. The Government should refine a set of prioritised policies which have sufficient scale and scope to make progress against the Government’s strategic objectives. Government should publish the metrics it will measure to show progress in the delivery of these strategic objectives.
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Government response AI summary
The government refers to its published 'Build Back Better: our plan for growth' and outlines existing strategies and investments in infrastructure, skills, and innovation, stating these deliver its strategic objectives rather than committing to further refining or new metric publication.
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Department for Business and Trade
4
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
Whether labelled Industrial Strategy or Plan for Growth, industrial policy in the UK will require scale and a long-term commitment from Government to be successful. In response to this report the Government should set out: • How it will improve coordination of relevant polices across its Departments and ensure a …
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Whether labelled Industrial Strategy or Plan for Growth, industrial policy in the UK will require scale and a long-term commitment from Government to be successful. In response to this report the Government should set out: • How it will improve coordination of relevant polices across its Departments and ensure a strategic, long-term approach to industrial policy within Government, including clarifying the respective roles of HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in delivering the Plan for Growth; • The specific features and policies of the 2017 Industrial Strategy that will be retained, including clarity on the future of the Grand Challenges and missions and their applicability to future policy; • The objectives of its revised approach to industrial policy and how delivery against these will be measured and monitored; • How it intends to engage with sectors and seek external expert policy evaluation, to ensure robust future industrial policymaking processes.
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Government response AI summary
The government states its approach to industrial policy is set out in "Build Back Better: our plan for growth" and other related strategies, detailing its plans for infrastructure, skills, and innovation, rather than committing to a new statement addressing the specific questions posed.
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Department for Business and Trade
5
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
Abolition of the Industrial Strategy Council suggests that the Government’s commitment to coordinated industrial policy that can withstand and benefit from independent scrutiny has waned. The Council’s abolition risks expanding the gap between Government and the industries that must deliver productivity improvements, economic growth and achieve the UK’s net zero …
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Abolition of the Industrial Strategy Council suggests that the Government’s commitment to coordinated industrial policy that can withstand and benefit from independent scrutiny has waned. The Council’s abolition risks expanding the gap between Government and the industries that must deliver productivity improvements, economic growth and achieve the UK’s net zero target, as well as limiting the transparency of the Government’s industrial policy objectives and Post-pandemic economic growth: Industrial policy in the UK 49 progress.
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Government response AI summary
The government details its 'Build Back Better: our plan for growth,' outlining significant investments in infrastructure, skills, and innovation, alongside initiatives like the Advanced Research & Invention Agency and an Innovation Strategy, as its comprehensive approach to economic growth and productivity.
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Department for Business and Trade
12
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
Overall, the Industrial Strategy’s blend of horizontal policies with vertical sector- based interventions and a mission-oriented approach offered significant flexibility for policymakers. The mission-based approach helped to provide direction of travel and focus for both the Government and industry on a set of objectives, though 50 Post-pandemic economic growth: Industrial …
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Overall, the Industrial Strategy’s blend of horizontal policies with vertical sector- based interventions and a mission-oriented approach offered significant flexibility for policymakers. The mission-based approach helped to provide direction of travel and focus for both the Government and industry on a set of objectives, though 50 Post-pandemic economic growth: Industrial policy in the UK converting the missions into discrete and specific policy programmes that spanned government departments and delivered meaningful engagement in local economies proved challenging.
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Government response AI summary
The government outlines the core programmes of the 2017 Industrial Strategy and states that ongoing aspects will continue, with some policies evolving as part of the Plan for Growth.
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Department for Business and Trade
15
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
While we recognise it has chosen not to replicate the Industrial Strategy’s formal structure of Sector Deals, Foundations, and Grand Challenges and missions, the Government should clarify what balance it has sought between vertical, horizontal and mission-led policy in the Plan for Growth. Doing this would ensure the Plan for …
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While we recognise it has chosen not to replicate the Industrial Strategy’s formal structure of Sector Deals, Foundations, and Grand Challenges and missions, the Government should clarify what balance it has sought between vertical, horizontal and mission-led policy in the Plan for Growth. Doing this would ensure the Plan for Growth appropriately captures and balances the benefit of each approach. (Paragraph 64) Sector deals
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Government response AI summary
The government clarifies that its Plan for Growth adopts a balance of both horizontal, economy-wide interventions and complementary sector-focused vertical policies, with its Innovation Strategy outlining a renewed approach to mission-based innovation.
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Department for Business and Trade
16
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
A fundamental flaw of post-2017 industrial policy is that the Industrial Strategy failed to embed itself as touchstone for British industry. Each foundation and mission of the Strategy was appropriate in its own right, but in combination the Industrial Strategy was complex and remote. The ‘opportunistic’ nature of the agreed …
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A fundamental flaw of post-2017 industrial policy is that the Industrial Strategy failed to embed itself as touchstone for British industry. Each foundation and mission of the Strategy was appropriate in its own right, but in combination the Industrial Strategy was complex and remote. The ‘opportunistic’ nature of the agreed sector deals and their lack of ‘complementarity’ with the wider Industrial Strategy may have exacerbated this problem, given the role the deals may have played in shaping perceptions of the wider strategy among businesses in those sectors.
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Government response AI summary
The government describes the core programmes of the 2017 Industrial Strategy and states that ongoing aspects will continue, with some policies evolving as part of the Plan for Growth, without directly addressing the committee's critique of the strategy's complexity or remoteness.
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Department for Business and Trade
18
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
Sector deals can have a galvanising effect across industries, bringing to bear an industry-wide focus on enhancing skills and advancing research and development. We are mindful, however, that multiple sector deals can spread resources too thinly and that ‘horizontal’ mission focused interventions can be effective across multiple sectors.
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Sector deals can have a galvanising effect across industries, bringing to bear an industry-wide focus on enhancing skills and advancing research and development. We are mindful, however, that multiple sector deals can spread resources too thinly and that ‘horizontal’ mission focused interventions can be effective across multiple sectors.
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Government response AI summary
The government outlines its approach to sectoral policy within the Plan for Growth, which adopts a balance of both economy-wide horizontal interventions and sector-focused vertical policies.
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Department for Business and Trade
22
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
In response to this report the Government should set out how it intends to take forward a sectoral approach to industrial policy. The Government should explain how reprioritisation may be consistent with maintaining the existing deals and whether a coordinated process will be established for agreeing new sector deals.
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In response to this report the Government should set out how it intends to take forward a sectoral approach to industrial policy. The Government should explain how reprioritisation may be consistent with maintaining the existing deals and whether a coordinated process will be established for agreeing new sector deals.
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Government response AI summary
The government clarifies its sectoral approach involves publishing visions for high-growth sectors, citing the Life Sciences Sector Vision as an example, and confirms that while the Sector Deals Programme is now closed to new deals, existing deals will continue.
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Department for Business and Trade
24
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
Government should develop clear ‘defensive’ interventions for sectors going through rapid change, to prepare workers and communities for the loss of jobs and/or businesses that will inevitably occur in their local communities, and to support them in taking advantage of new work and business opportunities. These interventions should be delivered …
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Government should develop clear ‘defensive’ interventions for sectors going through rapid change, to prepare workers and communities for the loss of jobs and/or businesses that will inevitably occur in their local communities, and to support them in taking advantage of new work and business opportunities. These interventions should be delivered locally so that workers and businesses are aware of the opportunities for support available to them and can therefore effectively engage with industrial policy in their local economy. (Paragraph 88) Local industrial strategies
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Government response AI summary
The government states that its existing Plan for Jobs, including schemes like Restart and Kickstart, and the UK Community Renewal Fund, already provide support for workers and communities in changing sectors. It also highlights the upcoming Levelling Up White Paper which will set out further …
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Department for Business and Trade
36
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
On this basis, we share the concerns of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which called into question the extent to which the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) supports research-orientated small businesses. Given the scale of the funding attached to the ISCF, the fund should represent a realistic source of alternative …
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On this basis, we share the concerns of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which called into question the extent to which the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) supports research-orientated small businesses. Given the scale of the funding attached to the ISCF, the fund should represent a realistic source of alternative funding for small businesses seeking to innovate. However, if the ISCF funding becomes ever more concentrated in certain parts of England, and the flow of support trends towards larger businesses, the ISCF will not be regarded as a viable alternative to traditional sources of growth finance.
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Government response AI summary
The government recognises the Committee's concerns regarding the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and states it has agreed a robust action plan to address these, in line with recommendations from various bodies and the levelling up agenda.
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Department for Business and Trade
37
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
We are concerned that the ISCF as a source of public finance should not reinforce the trends seen in access to private finance, in particular venture capital. In addition, we are concerned that difficult approval processes and the challenge of providing finance to satisfy the collaborative approach disincentivise small, innovative …
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We are concerned that the ISCF as a source of public finance should not reinforce the trends seen in access to private finance, in particular venture capital. In addition, we are concerned that difficult approval processes and the challenge of providing finance to satisfy the collaborative approach disincentivise small, innovative businesses from engaging with the ISCF.
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Government response AI summary
The government recognizes the Committee's concerns regarding the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) and has agreed a robust action plan to address these, aligning with its broader levelling up agenda.
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Department for Business and Trade
38
Recommendation
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
We recommend that UKRI put in place an action plan which: • sets out how they will ensure that the ISCF stimulates innovation in all the nations and regions of the UK; • details how UKRI will reverse the trend of funding moving sharply away from SMEs to larger businesses; …
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We recommend that UKRI put in place an action plan which: • sets out how they will ensure that the ISCF stimulates innovation in all the nations and regions of the UK; • details how UKRI will reverse the trend of funding moving sharply away from SMEs to larger businesses; • addresses concerns that the collaborative co-investment bid process is not appropriate for SMEs which are unable to meet co-financing requirements.
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Government response AI summary
The government recognizes the committee's concerns regarding the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) and has agreed to a robust action plan to address the recommendations, including ensuring innovation across the UK and better supporting SMEs.
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Department for Business and Trade
41
Conclusion
First Report - Post-pandemic economic g…
Accepted
The post-pandemic and post-Brexit environment will provide the Government with an opportunity to reshape how public procurement can be used to drive innovation by British businesses. Whilst there was no appetite amongst witnesses for industrial policy to be used to prop-up failing businesses, beyond support for defensive policy to support …
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The post-pandemic and post-Brexit environment will provide the Government with an opportunity to reshape how public procurement can be used to drive innovation by British businesses. Whilst there was no appetite amongst witnesses for industrial policy to be used to prop-up failing businesses, beyond support for defensive policy to support change, it was clear that there is a desire for the power of government to more effectively harnessed to meet the Grand Challenges established by the 2017 Industrial Strategy.
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Government response AI summary
The government published a Green Paper, 'Transforming Public Procurement,' setting out proposals to simplify processes and reduce bureaucracy, and aims to bring forward primary legislation soon after analysing the consultation responses.
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Department for Business and Trade