Book Description
This report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee concludes that while the Government has proposed a number of interventions which have the potential to help promote economic growth, it does not add up to a comprehensive growth strategy. The report highlights the fact that in the absence of clear performance measurements the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' strategy runs the risk that economic success could mask failures in policy while economic hardship could overshadow excellent strategies or interventions. The report argues that different sectors of the economy have different requirements when it comes to government support and that the Department will have to develop a strong awareness of the needs of individual sectors and have the flexibility to react to them if we are to build capability across all sectors of the economy. While the Government's growth strategy appears to move in this direction, evidence from three sectors has shown that much work needs to be done. The banks' role in providing finance to business is crucial to the success of the economy. The report believes that the agreement struck between Government and the banks (Project Merlin) is a step in the right direction but the agreement must be shown to deliver real benefits to industry. If the economic recovery is to be sustained then both Government and banks need to move quickly from rhetoric to meaningful of support to the private sector.
