Driving a green industrial strategy for Scotland
A new independent report has mapped out the scale of opportunities in Scotland to deliver a ‘step change’ in sustainable economic growth.
The report, ‘Roadmap for a Scottish Green industrial Strategy’ identifies a ‘window of opportunity’ to fully deliver on the potential of the Scottish economy but recommends two essential steps to kick start this process.
The report recommends a specific focus on higher education and alternative energy which should be seen as the “first treads on a strategic staircase for growth in value-added and productivity.’
The other major analysis suggests that this ‘step change’ in growth can be driven by the formation of a ‘powerful new partnership’ between key economic sectors and the Scottish Government.
The document was commissioned by Ian Blackford MP and was led by Sir Martin Donnelly, former Permanent Secretary at BEIS and DIT and former President of Boeing Europe, and Dominic Houlder, Adjunct Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Sir Martin Donnelly is also the former Permanent Secretary, Department for International Trade, now the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and a past colleague of Sir Andrew Likierman at HM Treasury.
The independent report’s core recommendation advocates the formation of a central delivery mechanism, a new ‘Scottish Industrial Strategy Council’, at the very heart of the Scottish Government – formed, led and accountable to the First Minister.
Ian Blackford MP commented, “This independent report confirms the sheer scale of opportunity that is now opening up in Scotland to build a greener, wealthier and fairer future. That clear confirmation of Scotland’s economic potential is all the more important in the current context of the UK’s deep difficulties with recent high inflation and high interest rates and its longer-term problems of low growth and low productivity.”
“This report points the path to a different, more sustainable and stronger economic future, building on the huge assets that already exist in the Scottish academic sector as well as fully utilising the unfolding but immediate potential in green energy and industry.”
“I am extremely grateful to Sir Martin Donnelly and Professor Dominic Houlder for their work and to all of those who engaged with them. From all of their meetings with various sectors, there is a very confident consensus that Scotland’s next decade will be defined by economic opportunity.”
“Since coming to office, the new First Minister has clearly identified that opportunity and he has moved swiftly to reset relationships with the business community. That new partnership with business is very much mirrored in the recommendations of this report.”
Adjunct Professor Houlder said, “To deliver higher-value growth and increase productivity, Scotland needs to focus on fundamental economic building blocks where it has a competitive advantage. Developing and leveraging those competitive advantages – actual and potential – can enhance the broader economy and society.
“Scotland’s research universities and alternative energy sector stand out as two such fundamental building blocks, both of which are actually or potentially world-class. Those solid foundations are the perfect place upon which to build a Scottish economic success story.”
Sir Martin Donnelly said, “There now exists a clear window of opportunity to bring together expertise from wider Scottish society in support of a step change in Scotland’s sustainable growth. This will require new structures for delivery, the political will to make and keep to decisions on priorities, and continued support from the academic and business communities across Scotland.
“A new, powerful partnership between the Scottish Government and these key sectors and stakeholders can unlock this huge underlying economic potential that will deliver growth in the Scottish economy and deliver prosperity to the Scottish people.”
A copy of the report can be downloaded here
