Response to Vince Cable's announcement of the Government's industrial strategy

The Government's industrial strategy, announced today by Vince Cable, is a welcome new direction. But it needs to go much further in its scale and ambition. Today's speech announced just £2.3 million in new investment in innovation, a mere 0.01% of the £24 billion innovation shortfall identified by Nesta in its 2012 Innovation Index. Business will invest in innovation and growth when government backs up its words with actions.

Nesta's Plan I sets out 12 recommendations that would:

• Increase government investment in innovation, science and technology by £2.8 billion per year at no additional cost to the taxpayer
• Give the UK Europe's most advanced high-tech infrastructure and workforce
• Remove the barriers to entrepreneurship that are holding back Britain's most innovative businesses

The report picks up many of the most important themes in today's speech, and explains how they can be taken to scale, providing concrete proposals on how to get finance flowing to growing businesses, how to use procurement budgets to stimulate innovation, and how to create a workforce with the skills needed for a competitive economy.

We call on the Government to embrace these recommendations as they flesh out their industrial policy in the coming months in order to drive long-term, sustainable growth.

About Nesta: www.nesta.org.uk 

Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery.

Nesta Operating Company is a registered charity in England and Wales with a company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833. Registered office: 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE