Following the publication of the Government’s green paper 'Building our Industrial Strategy' in January 2017, the UK engineering profession has commissioned a survey to gather opinion and ideas from engineers about what a successful Industrial Strategy should look like.
Objectives of the consultation
In the green paper, the Government set out its vision for a modern industrial strategy and identified 10 pillars that it believes are key to enabling stronger productivity and driving growth across the whole country:
- science, research and innovation;
- skills;
- infrastructure;
- business growth and investment;
- procurement;
- trade and investment;
- affordable energy;
- sectoral policies;
- driving growth across the whole country;
- and creating the right institutions to bring together sectors and places.
The green paper aims to start a genuinely open and collaborative conversation about things the Government needs to get right to drive long term growth in productivity.
The 38 national engineering institutions representing the engineering profession have joined forces, under the leadership of the Royal Academy of Engineering, to respond collectively to the consultation. The response will be published by the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Engineering the Future (EtF) policy group.
This consultation closed on 13 March 2017.
Supporting papers
To download the Government’s green paper, please follow the link below.
CIBSE response
CIBSE did not submit its own institutional response to this consultation but made a significant contribution to the response from the Royal Academy of Engineering on Pillar 7, “Delivering affordable energy and clean growth”. The response was published by the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Engineering the Future (EtF) policy group. To read the RAEng submission please follow the link below.
Results of the consultation and next steps
The Government published the Industrial Strategy White Paper on 27 November 2017. The Strategy sets out a long term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It focuses on five foundations of productivity, the essential attributes of every successful economy, the importance of which was reinforced in the detailed feedback to the Green Paper. These five foundations align to the Governmet's vision for a transformed economy are:
- ideas: the world’s most innovative economy
- people: good jobs and greater earning power for all
- infrastructure: a major upgrade to the UK’s infrastructure
- business environment: the best place to start and grow a business
- places: prosperous communities across the UK
The Government also identified Grand Challenges in response to global forces that will shape the rapidly changing future, and which the UK must embrace to ensure we harness all the opportunities they present. The Grand Challenges commit to:
- put the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution;
- maximise the advantages for UK industry of the global shift to clean growth;
- become a world leader in shaping the future of mobility; and
- harness the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society.
The strategy also refers to a number of policies that will be added to over time to support the foundations and drive the UK’s transformation.
The Government promises to use this strategy to work with industry, academia and civil society over the years ahead to build on the UK’s strengths, make more of our untapped potential and create a more productive economy that works for everyone across the UK.
To read the Industrial Strategy White Paper, please follow the link below.