What should the government focus on to develop the economy in your region in the future?
The government’s Industrial Strategy Green Paper is a discussion document that asks contributors to highlight what they would like to see both nationally and locally in terms of developing the country’s industrial strategy.
ACCA will be responding on behalf of our members before the 17 April deadline and we welcome your thoughts and input into our response. Some areas are very important to all businesses, while others are niche. If you have a strong view on what you need for your business – or the businesses you represent – we want to hear from you!
In the paper the government’s position rests on ten pillars which it states ‘are important to drive forward our industrial strategy across the entire economy:
science
research and innovation skills
infrastructure
business growth and investment
procurement
trade and investment
affordable energy
sectoral policies
driving growth across the whole country
creating the right institutions to bring together sectors and places.’
Below are examples taken from the document highlighting the identified pillars and some related comments or questions:
Pillar: Research and innovation skills Comment: ‘We have launched a review of the tax environment for R&D to examine whether there is more we should do to stimulate private sector investment and make the UK an even more competitive place to do R&D.’
Pillar: Procurement Questions: 23. Are there further steps that the government can take to support innovation through public procurement? 24. What further steps can be taken to use public procurement to drive the industrial strategy in areas where government is the main client, such as healthcare and defence? Do we have the right institutions and policies in place in these sectors to exploit government’s purchasing power to drive economic growth?
Pillar: Trade and investment Question: 25. What can the government do to improve our support for firms wanting to start exporting? What can the government do to improve support for firms in increasing their exports? 26. What can we learn from other countries to improve our support for inward investment and how we measure its success? Should we put more emphasis on measuring the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on growth?
Pillar: Local Questions: 36. Recognising the need for local initiative and leadership, how should we best work with local areas to create and strengthen key local institutions? 37. What are the most important institutions which we need to upgrade or support to back growth in particular areas? 38. Are there institutions missing in certain areas which we could help create or strengthen to support local growth?
Your comments Please send your comments on what you would like to see in your region – or comments on the tax environment that would help you and your clients' businesses – to advisory@accaglobal.com with a header Industrial Strategy (your region).
