MPs have urged the government to embed its industrial strategy across Whitehall and stressed that it needed to complement the emissions reduction plan.
The parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee’s inquiry into the industrial strategy concluded that there was little evidence of the strategic framework or coordination across government necessary to achieve the government’s aspiration of ‘an economy that works for all’.
In a report published today, the committee pointed to the failure of the housing white paper, published in February just after the industrial strategy was unveiled, to spell out how the government and the construction industry could collaborate to tackle the UK’s housing shortage.
The government should focus on cross-cutting policies to maximise opportunities for businesses on issues, including decarbonising energy intensive industries and automating and electrifying transport infrastructure, the MPs said.
The industrial strategy contains a commitment to meeting future carbon budgets, which the committee welcomed. However, MPs said they were ‘deeply worried’ about the significant gaps between the UK’s carbon reduction targets and current policy delivery.
The committee highlighted a report last year by the independent Committee on Climate Change which found that emissions cuts since 2012 had come almost entirely from the power sector.
Source: Committee on Climate Change
The BEIS committee said that this suggests the industrial strategy needs to include meaningful policies to support decarbonisation of industries and buildings.
Although support for clean energy technologies is proposed in the industrial strategy green paper, including the creation of an institute to work on battery and grid technology, the committee stressed the importance of the government spelling out how it would embed clean growth across the economy.
‘For our own part, we continue to see the balance of security of supply, decarbonisation and affordability as equal priorities,’ the BEIS committee report states.
The UK needed to be a world leader in the low-carbon transition, the committee said, adding: ‘The government needs to ensure that the emissions reduction plan and industrial strategy are coherent and consistent, with commitments in the industrial strategy to actively support delivery of current and future carbon budgets.’
The Aldersgate Group said that continued growth of low carbon markets such as offshore wind, electric vehicles, ICT and energy efficiency can both drive productivity and the government’s aim of an economy that works for everyone.
Nick Molho, the organisation's executive director, said: 'Supporting the continued growth of the UK’s low carbon economy provides the horizontal cut-through that the committee demands. The government’s industrial strategy must complement its emissions reduction plan to maximise growth in UK low carbon supply chains and provide the policy consistency that business needs.'
The committee also criticised the government’s proposals on skills, saying they were ‘deeply disappointing’, with the green paper failing to outline detailed proposals to encourage uptake of qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
It also found fault with the strategy for not clarifying how the government proposes to close the gap on infrastructure spending, education and research and development between the north and south of England.
