(Minister of State for
Universities, Science, Research and Innovation): Our
modern Industrial Strategy is a long-term plan to boost
productivity and earning power for people throughout the country
We set out to work in partnership with places to develop Local
Industrial Strategies. These strategies are central to our aim of
creating prosperous communities across the country. They are
being developed locally and agreed with government, establishing
a strong collaborative approach. They are long-term, based on
clear evidence and aligned to the modern Industrial Strategy.
On 16 May we launched the first of these strategies – the West
Midlands Local Industrial Strategy. We followed this with the
Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy on 13 June. Now,
alongside local partners, we are launching the next Local
Industrial Strategies for the Oxford-Cambridge
Arc(Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough,
Oxfordshire and the South East Midlands) and the West
of England.
The Oxford-Cambridge Arc Local Industrial
Strategies mark a major contribution to the
government's wider work on the Arc with their focus on driving
productivity by outlining shared priorities across the region as
a whole.
The four strategies set out how partners across the Arc will work
to: harness the collective strength of the Arc’s research base,
driving greater collaboration in science and research; provide
the skills needed for the future economy; maximise the benefits
of new transport, energy and digital infrastructure; improve
business support and finance for high growth companies and
encourage foreign direct investment; and take a Natural Capital
planning approach to development, contributing to the Clean
Growth grand challenge mission.
-
Buckinghamshire aims to grow the county’s
creative, space, advanced manufacturing and digital health
sectors, building on the world-leading assets it already has
such as the Westcott Space Cluster and Pinewood Studios;
-
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough aims to build
an industrial ecosystem that is globally known for tackling the
biggest challenges facing society, with interventions tailored
to the needs of each of its sub-economies: Greater Cambridge,
Greater Peterborough and The Fens;
-
Oxfordshire plans to build on the county’s
world leading science and tech clusters to be a pioneer for
transformative technologies and sectors, with its overarching
ambition for the county to be a top three global innovation
ecosystem by 2040;
- The South East Midlands’ overarching
ambition is to position the area as the ‘Connected Core’ of the
Arc, a place with the right R&D assets, business environment
and networks to foster, test and commercialise new innovations.
The West of England Local Industrial
Strategy focuses on four key priorities:
-
Strengthening innovation and driving
productivity by: Connecting researchers, businesses
and residents through a Global Centre of Innovation Excellence,
and testing new products and services through a new West of
England Network of Living Labs;
-
Supporting all residents to contribute to and benefit
from economic success by: targeting support to
communities facing challenges, tailoring employment and skills
support and linking everyone to jobs, training and services
through better physical and digital infrastructure, that is
accessible, sustainable and low carbon;
-
Providing businesses with the space, networks and skills
they need to boost productivity, grow and
thrive by: encouraging uptake of modern technology,
management and leadership practices; including more regional
providers in businesses’ supply chains and widening access to
public procurement for small businesses; and supporting low
carbon business models;
-
Investing in infrastructure that reduces energy demand,
lowers carbon emissions and is resilient to the impacts of
climate change, supporting businesses to adopt new clean
technology and energy efficiency measures.
