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We are making our response public to share some early insights into our thinking and the work of the Commission.

The Government’s commitment to develop an industrial strategy, signalled by the Green Paper, is very much to be welcomed. So too is the candour with which the Green Paper recognises the scale of the challenges of capitalizing on the strengths of the UK economy and addressing its weaknesses.

We would urge the Government, however, to establish a firmer sense of purpose for a new industrial strategy. As we set out in our response an industrial strategy needs to be motivated by a compelling vision for the direction of the nation. It needs ambition in its goals and consistency in its implementation. The Green Paper and the consultation process is an important first step towards creating such a strategy.

Our response shares some of our early thinking about the strategic goals that an industrial strategy should be explicitly aligned to support. Bringing these together to provide a vision for a new, long-term and ambitious industrial strategy is the task we have set ourselves.

It also outlines the key lines of inquiry and overarching issues we are investigating. It highlights the main problems we seek to explore and the questions that do not receive enough attention in the Green Paper.

Over the coming months, we will continue our analysis of the UK economy, assess the future challenges and opportunities for an industrial strategy and seek to learn lessons from the UK and abroad.

To help us do this we are engaging with policymakers, businesses and organisations from a range of sectors and industries, and we are drawing on evidence submitted to us. Thank you to everyone who has already made a submission.

Our call for evidence is open for submissions until 2 May so if you haven’t yet submitted please take a look. We want to hear your views, new ideas and thinking. We are also happy for your Green Paper consultation submissions to be submitted to us.

Download: The Industrial Strategy Commission response to HM Government’s Green Paper on industrial strategy (PDF, 517KB)