This House of Lords Library briefing has been produced in
preparation for the debate on 8 January 2018 on the Government's
Industrial Strategy and the case for boosting earning power and
productivity across the United Kingdom with investment in the
skills, businesses and infrastructure of the future.
The Government’s white paper, Industrial Strategy:
Building a Britain Fit for the Future, was published on
27 November 2017.
The white paper states that the industrial strategy will
“create an economy that boosts productivity and earning power
throughout the UK” by focusing on what it describes as the
“five foundations” of productivity. These foundations are:
ideas (research and innovation); people (skills, jobs and
earnings); infrastructure (particularly transport, housing and
digital technology); business environment (encouraging business
creation and small business productivity); and places
(prosperous communities, addressing disparities in regional
productivity and spreading the proceeds of
growth).
In addition to the five foundations, the industrial strategy
also identifies four “grand challenges” facing the UK. These
challenges are: the artificial intelligence and data
revolution; the global shift to clean growth; the future of
mobility (focused on transport networks, electric vehicles and
driverless cars); and an ageing society.
This Library briefing summarises the industrial strategy’s
proposals for public investment, the debate on the strategy
which took place in the House of Commons on 27 November 2017,
and reaction to the publication of the strategy from a range of
organisations, such as the Trades Union Congress, the
Confederation of British Industry, and EEF, the manufacturers’
association. The briefing also includes productivity growth and
earnings growth data from the Office for National Statistics,
and recent statements from the Office for Budget Responsibility
announcing downgrades to their productivity growth and earnings
growth forecasts.
PDF, 302.96 KB)