Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the efforts by local authorities and local economic partnerships to develop local industrial strategies; and what plans they have, if any, to replace the local industrial strategies with an alternative place-based model.

The Government has worked with all places, through the Cities and Local Growth Unit (MHCLG/BEIS) to develop Local Industrial Strategies  across England. However, we know that in the four years since the Industrial Strategy was produced, the UK's economic and business environment has changed.

Creating and supporting jobs remains the Government's central economic focus, and helping to drive growth in existing, emerging and new industries is also a priority. This is why we have transitioned the Industrial Strategy into our Plan for Growth and its related strategies. As part of this, we are encouraging places to consider key sectors, assets and clusters they want to support to foster their long-term growth ambitions, building on the brilliant work done by places on Local Industrial Strategies.

Later this year we will go further by publishing a Levelling Up White Paper setting out how bold new policy interventions will improve livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.