Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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Government response to Lord Heseltine’s review of UK competitiveness
The Government responds to Lord Heseltine's review: 'No stone unturned in pursuit of growth'.
In response to Lord Heseltine’s review of UK competitiveness, Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
"Lord Heseltine's independent report reflects his vast experience of government and business. It raises a number of important and cross cutting issues that impact on the government's ability to interact effectively with business throughout the country. That is precisely why the Chancellor and I asked Lord Heseltine to conduct this root and branch review, and I thank him for it.
"A few weeks ago, I set out my own plans for a long term industrial strategy, based on government and industry working together in partnership in those areas where we can be world leaders. Lord Heseltine's findings show where government can improve its performance in delivering better interventions. We will now need time to consider its numerous recommendations and will respond in the coming months."
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said:
"I wanted Lord Heseltine to do what he does best: challenge received wisdom and give us ideas on how to bring Government and industry together. He has done exactly that. This is a report bursting with ideas and we will study it very carefully."
Notes to editors:
1. The Heseltine Review, No Stone Unturned in Pursuit for Growth, can be found here www.bis.gov.uk/heseltine-review. A full list of recommendations can be found in Annex B of the report.
2. The Government's economic policy objective is to achieve 'strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries'. It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011:
- 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
- To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
Work is underway across Government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the Government wants the economy to travel.
3. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press notices and speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.
