DEADLINE: Monday 30th September

Introduction

The Local Industrial Strategies (LIS) aim to address the Places element of the five foundations of productivity set out in the Industrial Strategy (Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Places).[1]

The Strategies are led by Mayoral Combined Authorities (CAs) or Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) with the objective of coordinating local economic policy and national funding streams and establishing new ways of working between national and local government, the public and private sectors.

Manufacturing accounts for 23% of the UK economy (including induced spending)[2] and remains a major component of the economy beyond the core cities of the UK.[3] It therefore must play a central role in any place-based industrial policy aimed at addressing the productivity challenge which led to the creation of the Industrial Strategy.

The Industrial Strategy was initiated by the Building our Industrial Strategy green paper[4] and launched in the Building a Britain Fit For The Future white paper.[5] In parallel, the Government released the Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships report which set a new goal for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) of ‘…a single mission: to promote productivity by delivering Local Industrial Strategies’. [6] This report was followed by the Local Industrial Strategies Policy Prospectus which called for Local Industrial Strategies to be ‘long term, based on clear evidence and aligned to the national industrial strategy’. [7]

The Local Industrial Strategy has the potential to play a significant role in delivering on national economic priorities, such as those highlighted in the ‘Grand Challenges’, whilst also addressing major local issues such as:

• Availability of skills
• Maximising diverse local economic strengths
• Connecting different sectors across the country
• Increasing local connectivity
• Improving regional and local infrastructure
• ‘Creating a country that works for everyone’: responding to social and regional inequalities
• Responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution: the challenges of automation and digitisation
• Adapting to demographic changes and the ageing workforce

Effective and resilient Local Industrial Strategies will be crucial to responding to these challenges. All strategies will need to engage and support employers, work for local economies and adapt to a changing society.

Aim of the Inquiry

This inquiry will explore how LEPs and CAs can create Local Industrial Strategies that support manufacturing and respond to local needs whilst addressing national economic priorities. It will resist the compartmentalising of policies and investigate how to build successful and resilient Local Industrial Strategies that connect the local level to the national, reflect the challenges highlighted by the Industrial Strategy and draw out issues for action.

Instructions for Submission of Evidence

Please use the questions on the attached document (to the right of the screen) to frame your response to the call for evidence but do not feel restricted by them or compelled to answer every question. The Commission welcomes all types of evidence, from data, including analysis or internal studies your organisation has carried out, to personal or organisational views on these issues. Submissions of evidence will not be published or shared with third parties. All submissions will remain anonymous unless you give the commission the right to publish your name or organisation in the report. Please provide express permission in your evidence submission by completing the permission section. All copies of the submitted evidence and any contact details will be destroyed within a year of finishing the project.

The deadline for submission of evidence is Monday 30th September. Evidence can be submitted to ben.c.merritt [at] policyconnect.org.uk.

[1] [1] BEIS, 2017. Building a Britain fit for the future. BEIS. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/664563/industrial-strategy-white-paper-web-ready-version.pdf [Accessed 11 April 2019].

[2] MTA, 2018. The True Impact of UK Manufacturing. Oxford Economics

[3] Centre for Cities, 2018. Places with purpose: The future of Industrial Cities, Towns and Communities. Centre for Cities. Available at: https://www.keycities.co.uk/places-purpose-0 [Accessed 20 April 2019].

[4] BEIS, 2017. Building our Industrial Strategy. BEIS. Available at: https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/strategy/industrial-strategy/supporting_documents/buildingourindustrialstrategygreenpaper.pdf [Accessed 10 April 2019].

[5] BEIS, 2017. ibid.

[6] MHCLG, 2018. Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships. MHCLG. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728058/Strengthened_Local_Enterprise_Partnerships.pdf [Accessed 14 April 2019].

[7] BEIS, 2018. Local Industrial Strategies Policy Prospectus. BEIS. p.4. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/744544/local-industrial-strategies-policy-prospectus.pdf [Accessed 14 February 2019].