Region crucial to industrial strategy drive
Business leader in devolution warning
YORKSHIRE CAN play a crucial part in the newly announced Industrial Strategy for the UK provided it breaks the deadlock on talks on devolution, one of the country’s top business leaders has claimed.
In its long-awaited Industrial Strategy, the Government spelled out plans to tackle the UK’s poor productivity, embrace technological change and boost wages around the UK.
However, Neil Carberry, the CBI’s managing director for people and infrastructure, said that much of the plan for how this would be delivered would involve devolved powers to the regions and that this should act as an imperative for Yorkshire’s political leaders to “get on with it”.
He added that the Government’s long-term plan for Britain’s economic growth must benefit all of the country, rather than just the UK on aggregate, and called for greater synergy between business and local government to implement it. Mr Carberry told The Yorkshire
Post: “It is clear that the Government has a very specific framework for devolution and that this will be a critical part of growth in the North. Yorkshire needs to be in a position to make progress on a deal and businesses have been very clear about the need to get on with it.”
The move comes after last week’s Budget contained many measures of benefit to regions which elected mayors earlier in the year.
Mr Carberry added: “There is a big opportunity here in using some of these powers and investment and that we are getting through devolution to bolster some of the sectors in which the North excels, things like nuclear, aerospace and clean power.”
The intervention, the latest in a succession from the business community, comes after Business Secretary Greg Clark yesterday agreed to meet with the 17 council leaders pushing for a One Yorkshire devolution settlement. Responding to a question from the Keighley MP John Grogan, Mr Clark said it was a “mark” of the new strategy that it acknowledges “the success of decisions that are made locally”.
He also addressed concerns about the disparity in regional transport investment, following the publication of new figures pointing to a widening of the North-South divide, saying the White Paper will look at how investment can “transform the prospects of an area” when spending decisions are made.
The new strategy was welcomed by business leaders and the strategy sets out to make the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030 by investing in sectors such as energy-efficient
homes and medical science. Mr Carberry used the example of the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Centre in Sheffield as a model of joined-up working and called for more in Yorkshire.
As part of the strategy, the Government said it will press ahead with a series of so-called sector deals covering life sciences, construction, artificial intelligence and automotive engineering.
“The North has a supply of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills that business finds really attractive,” Mr Carberry said.
“That, together with the quality-of-life aspect that people have when they come to work in the North, makes it attractive to have national centres of excellence. But you have to have your offer aligned. LEPs must work with devolved authorities. Universities need to tweak courses to what is needed locally. And the really good news from a CBI perspective is that is has an independent voice to make sure this industrial strategy is not just an aggregate success for the UK but for every region.”
To mark the launch of a White Paper on industrial strategy, life sciences company MSD said it will open a hub in the UK, creating 150 jobs in Hertfordshire.
Mr Clark said: “Building on regional strengths is a key part of our Industrial Strategy and Yorkshire and the Humber is recognised the world over for its worldleading advanced manufacturing and offshore wind industries.”
Juergen Maier, the CEO of Siemens UK, which has a large manufacturing base in Hull, welcomed the strategy document.