Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Paragraph: 32
Whether labelled Industrial Strategy or Plan for Growth, industrial policy in the UK will require...
Recommendation
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.
Paragraph Reference:
32
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
6. The Government published its strategic objectives for the economy in Build Back Better: our plan for growth on 3 March 2021, alongside the Budget. It sets out how the Government will support economic growth through significant investment in infrastructure, skills and innovation to pursue growth that levels up every part of the UK, enables the transition to Net Zero, and supports the Government’s vision for a Global Britain: • High-quality infrastructure is crucial for economic growth, boosting productivity and competitiveness. The National Infrastructure Strategy sets out the Government’s plans to transform the UK’s infrastructure networks. The Government is addressing historic underinvestment in infrastructure by continuing plans set out at Spring Budget 2020 to spend over £600 billion on gross public sector investment over the following five years, delivering the highest sustained levels of public sector net investment as a share of GDP since the late 1970s. • The best way to improve people’s life chances is to give them the skills to succeed. As set out in our Skills for Jobs White paper and the Plan for Jobs, the Government is encouraging lifelong learning through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, transforming apprenticeships with employer-led standards, and 4 Post-pandemic economic growth: Industrial policy in the UK: Government Response reforming post-16 technical education and training to support people to develop the skills needed to get good jobs and improve national productivity. • Innovation drives economic growth and creates jobs. The Government has a target of increasing public and private sector research and development (R&D) expenditure to 2.4% of GDP to support the UK being a science superpower with a world-class research and innovation system. The Government has also created the Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA) to fund high-risk, high-reward research. BEIS recently published an Innovation Strategy, the Government’s long-term vision to put innovation at the heart of building back better. It aims to boost private sector investment in R&D across the whole of the UK and create the right conditions for all businesses to innovate so they have the confidence to do so.