LEP chair joins Industrial Stragtegy Council for inaugural meeting

Christine Gaskell, chair of the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, has joined other senior people from business, academia and civil society at the first meeting of the Industrial Strategy Council.

The council is an independent body set up to assess the Government’s progress on the commitments made in its modern industrial strategy.

The new council is being led by the chief economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, who was announced as its chair last month.

The council, which met at 10 Downing Street, used the first meeting to develop its work programme for the long-term evaluation of the success of the Government’s modern industrial strategy.

Its remit will include reviewing the impact of the industrial strategy to date and its contribution to UK economic growth, as well as recommending a series of success measures for the implementation of the industrial strategy.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “The Industrial Strategy Council has a vital role to play in holding the Government to account on our progress in delivering on the ambition set out in our Industrial Strategy.

“I have asked the council to be challenging about the way we evaluate our progress in delivering increased productivity and earnings power across our economy.

“I’m delighted that such a wealth of leading figures from the business, investor and academic community, from all corners of Britain, have come forward to offer their invaluable experience and insight.”

Andy Haldane said: “As the chair of the Industrial Strategy Council, I look forward to working with these leading business men and women, investors, economists, and academics to provide impartial and unbiased evaluations of the Government’s progress in delivering on the industrial strategy.

“They will bring valuable collective insight into the challenge that the Government has set for us.

“At our inaugural meeting we developed our workplan that will deliver strong evaluation metrics and a programme of activity that will challenge and support this critical economic policy as it is implemented.”

The council will meet three or four times a year and it will agree its annual work programme and priorities with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and HM Treasury.

The chair will meet annually with the Business Secretary and the Chancellor to discuss its work programme and progress.

The industrial strategy is backing businesses to create high-paid, highly-skilled jobs in every part of the UK.

It is a long-term plan for jobs and growth across the country.

It is creating an economy that works for everyone: highly innovative, highly skilled, and high quality, supported by low tax and smart regulation.

Christine Gaskell said: “It is important that as work on local industrial strategies progress across the country that there is robust evaluation and that they are aligned as best as possible to the Government’s goals.

“This is a partnership of key people from across the UK from all walks of life and together we are determined to ensure that our regional and national economies grow and are sustained into the future for the benefit of all.”

The council also includes Prof Juergen Maier, chair of the North West Business Leadership Team, and chief executive of Siemens UK, and Prof Nancy Rothwell, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester and professor of physiology, as well as a director of AstraZeneca, co-chair of the Council for Science and Technology and past President of the Royal Society of Biology.