Industrial Strategy published
The government yesterday published its Industrial Strategy. The white paper, which follows a green paper published last Autumn, sets out a 10-year plan to stimulate investment and activity across 8 sectors (‘IS-8’) deemed to have the highest growth potential. These are: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Professional and Business Services. It has been published alongside Sector Plans for 5 of the IS-8, with 3 plans to follow.
The Industrial Strategy and Plans outline 4 priority areas to address: easing, speed and long-term stability for business; supporting the UK’s city regions and clusters; supporting our frontier industries; and creating an enduring partnership with business.
EngineeringUK reaction
Beatrice Barleon, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at EngineeringUK comments,
“The government’s ambitious plans for the economy should go some way to creating certainty for businesses across the UK. We hope that this certainty will in turn support employers’ confidence in investing in skills.
“We welcome the acknowledgement that the success of the Industrial Strategy relies on the UK having a skilled workforce. We are particularly pleased with the recognition of the important role engineering and tech skills have in underpinning multiple sectors. It’s vital that government links sector plans into a wider engineering & technology workforce strategy and avoids silo thinking.
“We are also pleased to see recognition of the importance of gender equity, and diversity in the workforce more generally, throughout the strategy. Addressing this imbalance will be vital to achieving the ambitions set out.
“We welcome the commitment for government, and Skills England, to collaborate regionally and across devolved nations and will look to work with government to support this effort.
“We look forward to working with government on how to take the strategy forward, for example, how we create more opportunities for 16 to 19-year-olds, and how the government can reach 1 million students across every secondary school in the UK and ensure they are offered the chance to learn about technology and gain access to new skills training and career opportunities by 2029.”
We welcome the acknowledgement that the success of the Industrial Strategy relies on the UK having a skilled workforce. We are particularly pleased with the recognition of the important role engineering and tech skills have in underpinning multiple sectors. It’s vital that government links sector plans into a wider engineering & technology workforce strategy and avoids silo thinking.
— Beatrice Barleon, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, EngineeringUK
