Business, Innovation and Skills written question – answered at on 10 October 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) profitability and (b) productivity of UK businesses.
The Government is helping businesses by taking action to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Our four ambitions for growth are:
to create the most competitive tax system in the G20; to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business; to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy; and to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
Work is under way across Government to achieve these ambitions, including delivering more than 235 measures outlined in the plan for growth and autumn statement 2011. Implementing these commitments is a priority across Government and delivery is on track, with around two-thirds of measures complete. Significant progress has been made on the remaining measures.
The Government has developed an industrial strategy, setting out a long-term, whole of Government approach to give business the confidence to invest. We are offering a spectrum of support for all sectors, with strategic partnerships in eleven sectors based on size and opportunity for future economic growth and employment, barriers to growth and scope for Government action. We are also acting across four cross-cutting themes: technologies, access to finance, skills and procurement.
We have published the following key sector strategies: Life Sciences in December 2012; Aerospace, Nuclear, and Oil and Gas in March 2013; Information Economy in June 2013; Construction, Professional and Business Services, Automotive, Agri-Tech, and International Education in July 2013; and Offshore Wind in August 2013.
The Government asked my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Heseltine to undertake an independent review of competitiveness to contribute to this work and on how the public sector could work with the private sector to deliver pro-growth policies. The report, “No Stone Unturned”, was published in October 2012. The Government published a full response to my right hon. and noble Friend’s report on
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