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Solace blog

3rd March 2017

What are your views on Government’s new Industrial Strategy?

As you will know, Government published their Industrial Strategy Green Paper on 23 January this year, setting out their plans for a stronger economy and fairer society, where wealth and opportunity are spread across every community.

Key to the approach Government has set out are 10 pillars constituting drivers, and enablers, of growth, including skills, infrastructure, supporting businesses to start and grow, as well as science and innovation (more details can be found within the document here).

Local Government plays a key role in creating the conditions in which economies can grow and, in the context of the green paper, how these 10 pillars come together at a local level to drive economic growth in places.

The Industrial Strategy is a green paper, and therefore a consultation, and Government has been very clear that they want to hear our views and ideas on how best we can deliver the strategy, and the 10 pillars, within our local areas.

As such, on Wednesday of this week, I convened a roundtable discussion with a number of Solace members and civil servants responsible for the strategy. We had a very interesting and wide-ranging discussion around the high-level aims of Government’s approach and how this can be best delivered in places, and the role of local government, national government and partners in making this happen.

The discussion will inform the Solace response to the Industrial Strategy consultation, which we will share more widely in due course. In the meantime, we would welcome your thoughts on the strategy, which will also be important in allowing us to frame a response from the sector. Please can you share your views with Martina Cicakova, Solace’s Policy Officer at martina.cicakova@solace.org.uk.

Martin Swales, Chief Executive, South Tyneside Council and Solace Spokesperson for Economic Prosperity and Housing