© Supplied by ScottishPower The Government’s forthcoming industrial strategy must deliver a sweeping package of reforms and action to slash energy costs if a “moment in history” is not to be lost, according to a new report by MPs.
The Business and Trade Committee said the new strategy was a “once in a century” opportunity for the economy.
The MPs stressed that pro-growth reforms were needed to transform the UK’s international competitiveness, including cutting industrial energy costs which were said to be among the highest in the world.
Other issues holding back growth included a “chronic” skills gap and a broken system of public procurement, the report said.
The MPs called on ministers to transform the way public and private sectors worked together.
Liam Byrne, who chairs the committee, said: “Britain stands at the cusp of the next economic and technological evolution in pole position: an open, rules-based economy at the junction of newly forming trade and defence alliances that unite the world’s largest markets.
“In a splintering global order, we are home to world-leading science and technology, a bastion of political stability, a creative leader that plays by the rules and one of the world’s greatest financial centres. In the new world that is taking shape, we hold a lot of aces.
“Yet the evidence we’ve heard from the nation’s leading industrialists, scientists, economists and trade unionists is that this moment of history will be lost if the
Chancellor’s new investment is not matched by a remaking of the British state for a new economic era.
“Ministers’ task now is to reshape the way public and private sectors move together, at unprecedented speed, to unlock new technologies and new markets in ways that create quality, well-paying jobs – not in some parts of Britain, but in every part of our United Kingdom.”
Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, said: “Today’s report is further evidence of the hard realities facing British industry – sky-high energy costs, an inability to access talent and untapped investments from a lack of access to finance.
“Government has one moonshot to give companies the certainty and stability they need with a robust industrial strategy.
“Manufacturers will not accept anything less than a strategy that fixes the skills gap, reduces energy bills and gives them the tools they need to invest. It can no longer be a case of jam tomorrow, it has to be jam today and a failure to deliver on the high expectations Government itself has set will be wholly unacceptable to industry.”
A Government spokesperson said: “This Government will make Britain the best country to do business, delivering economic growth to put more money in people’s pockets, the top priority in our plan for change.
“We know we can only achieve this by creating the best possible conditions for the private sector to thrive – which is why we’ve identified eight high-growth sectors and consulted extensively with hundreds of businesses to ensure the strategy meets the objectives they need.”
