Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Paragraph: 61
As we highlighted in our recent report on industrial policy, the local industrial and economic...
Recommendation
As we highlighted in our recent report on industrial policy, the local industrial and economic insights and intelligence that came from creating Local Industrial Strategies should not be lost. We recommend that the Government provide support and funding through its new regional Cities and Local Growth Unit teams to update and adapt the published and remaining ‘oven ready’ Local Industrial Strategies to incorporate the post pandemic circumstances and Government’s Plan for Growth. These local strategies can provide the ‘bottom up’ mechanism, for evidence to flow from the regions to the centre, informing the Government’s over-arching strategy on levelling up.
Paragraph Reference:
61
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
We are grateful for this recommendation and can say that the work carried out through the development of Local Industrial Strategies has been hugely helpful in developing our understanding of local economies across the UK and informing Government’s drive to boost economic development up and down the country. We start from the place that local places are best placed to set their own economic strategies to drive forward growth in their respective local economies. As part of the transition from the 2017 Industrial Strategy to the Plan for Growth, the Government encourages places to consider key sectors, assets and clusters they want to support to foster their long-term growth ambitions. We also encourage areas to continue to develop evidence-led thinking, collaborating closely with local partners. These would be locally owned plans that do not require the agreement of government and will help to build on the work undertaken as part of the Local Industrial Strategies. We recognise the importance of a more detailed plan for levelling up and, rightly, that many people are keen to understand how efforts already announced since 2019 map together within a wider approach. In developing the Levelling Up White Paper we strongly agree that input from places is imperative to ensure a comprehensive evidence base to build on, which is why we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across local Government.