Industrial strategy

[ch 1: pages 17-18]

The government’s industrial strategy white paper Industrial strategy — Building a Britain fit for the future, was published in November 2017 and sets out four “grand challenges”:

• putting the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution;

• maximising the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth;

• being a world leader in shaping the future of mobility; and

• harnessing the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society.

TUC policy officer Tim Page said that while the white paper is big on grand ambitions, the level of investment is not sufficient, the document is short on detail in places, and it lacks a workers’ voice.

According to an analysis by the Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) (see page 79), there is no reference to Just Transition anywhere in the strategy. There are just two references to trade unions in relation to skills and a national retraining partnership, and there is no trade union representation on the Industrial Strategy Council, Industrial Strategy, or the Institute for Apprenticeships. There is just one trade union representative on the Automotive Council out of 32 members.