The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy – local authority policy announcements

The Industrial Strategy was published by Government on 23 June. The LGA has produced this briefing to highlight the key policy initiatives and upcoming announcements for local authorities.

Introduction

The Industrial Strategy was published by Government on 23 June. The LGA has produced this briefing to highlight the key policy initiatives and upcoming announcements for local authorities. We have previously responded in November to the Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy green paper consultation, and issued a statement in response to the full strategy.

Summary

The modern Industrial Strategy is a critical part of how the Government intend to deliver their growth mission: which aims to create good jobs and higher incomes across the country by increasing productive business investment through targeted industrial policies.  

The Strategy will address what the Government view as the leading causes of the UK’s low growth and makes a deliberate choice to focus on sectors that they believe have the greatest potential to raise national levels of investment and productivity, spread prosperity to all parts of the country, make us all more secure, and seize the opportunities of net zero. The Government believe that this will create a strong economy, delivering better jobs that offer security, fair pay and opportunities to progress. 

The Industrial Strategy identifies eight key growth sectors: 

  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Clean Energy Industries
  • Creative Industries
  • Defence
  • Digital and Technologies
  • Financial Services
  • Life Sciences
  • Professional and Business Services 

In the view of the Government, the Industrial Strategy is unashamedly place-based. It argues that recognising stronger regional growth is critical for the competitiveness of the Industrial Strategy’s eight sectors and the resilience of the national economy. The Government have set out their intention to focus efforts on the city regions and clusters that they view with the highest potential to support the growth-driving sectors. 

Key announcements for local government

  • Local authorities across England have a critical role to play in supporting their area’s strengths in the Industrial Strategy’s 8 Key Growth Sectors (referred to by the Government as the IS-8). The Government will work with councils to deliver the interventions set out in the Industrial Strategy, from maximising the potential of Industrial Strategy Zones to identifying, developing, and securing the right finance for investible projects in city centres and strategic industrial sites.
  • The Government will make a new £500 million Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund available to Mayors in the North and Midlands with an integrated settlement, allowing them to provide financial investments for growth projects.
  • The Government will enhance the Industrial Strategy Zones with streamlined planning processes, better-targeted investment promotion, support for accessing concessionary finance, and coordinated support on skills. This is set out further in the Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan.
  • The Government will launch the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, which will provide up to £500 million to grow high-potential innovation clusters across the UK. The fund will aim to generate £1 billion of co-investment and £700 million of additional value to local economies, including through new jobs, products, and services.
  • The Government will introduce the National Data Library, backed by over £100 million of government funding.
  • The Government will back the network of Investment Zones with £160 million in funding over 10 years to stimulate growth in key Clean Energy clusters, including in North East Scotland, North East England, South Yorkshire and the East Midlands and West Midlands.
  • Support creative clusters through: A new Creative Places Growth Fund devolving £150 million over three years to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities, alongside support for the Tees Valley Creative Investment Zone, which will receive over £160 million in funding over 10 years. 

Upcoming announcements for local government

  • Launching a Call for Evidence on the expansion of permitted development rights to support specific building works and speed up the construction of national infrastructure, including fixed and mobile networks and electricity networks.  

  • The Government will set out plans to take forward its further ambitions on Northern Powerhouse Rail in the coming weeks. 

  • The upcoming Clean Energy Workforce Strategy will ensure that jobs are not only abundant, but also of high quality, focusing on fair pay, favourable terms, and good working conditions. 

  • Reforms to Higher Education system in England will be set out in the forthcoming Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper.  

  • The Government will launch a Call for Evidence on changes to planning laws that could enable faster rollouts of fixed and mobile coverage.  

  • The Government will establish Defence Technical Excellence Colleges; full details will be set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy.  

  • Further detail will be set out with the publication of our Financial Services Sector Plan on 15 July. 

  • Set out an updated approach to economic regulation by the end of 2025, as outlined in the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.  

  • The Government continue to review the impact and proportionality of the subsidy control regime, and the CMA will publish its independent report on the effectiveness of the regime in 2026. 

  • In summer 2025, the Government will publish a pipeline of infrastructure projects that the Government is prioritising. 

  • The Government will fund the Cambridge Growth Company to invest in infrastructure to unlock housing and commercial development, enter into partnerships with the private sector, and work with local partners on infrastructure delivery, with more details to be set out shortly. 

  • The Government will consult on requiring contracting authorities to publish and report against at least one key performance indicator in major contracts to create new local jobs, opportunities and skills, including for infrastructure projects.  The Government further propose changes for public bodies to set at least one award criteria in major procurements that relates to social value criteria. 

  • The Government will publish new supplementary guidance to the Green Book on economic resilience to ensure that contributions to resilience made by the private sector are fully and consistently appraised in business cases for grants and other government interventions. 

  • The Government will publish a consultation on streamlining non-financial reporting requirements under the Companies Act 2006. The Government have also welcomed the Independent Expert Panel’s report on introducing a UK corporate redomiciliation regime and will consult on how to design and implement such a regime. 

  • The Government will shortly launch a public consultation on how they can open up the contracts to give more weight to firms that can show they will boost British jobs 

Ease, speed and long-term stability for business

Reducing electricity costs, accelerating grid connections and promoting industrial decarbonisation 

  • Reduce grid connection waiting times for strategically important projects:
    • A new ‘Connections Accelerator Service’ will provide support connecting to the grid for demanding projects, including prioritising those that create high-quality jobs and bring the greatest economic value. The Government will work closely with representatives from the energy sector, local authorities, Welsh and Scottish Governments, trade unions, and industry to design this service, which the Government expect to begin operating at the end of 2025.
    • New powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament, to amend regulatory processes and accelerate connections for strategically important projects. This will include a power to ‘designate’ government strategic documents, including this Industrial Strategy, to inform allocation of connections, enabling the Government to reserve future capacity on the grid, dramatically reducing waiting times for businesses with major investments in GB. 

Strengthening our economic and national security 

  • Mobilising investment into UK ports, including through innovative use of financing. Ports are one of the five sectors to which the National Wealth Fund has committed at least £5.8 billion of its capital. This will be complemented by direct support for specific ports, with £55 million already awarded to the Port of Cromarty Firth, and up to £80 million made available through the Spending Review to support investment in the Future Port Talbot project, subject to due diligence. 

Expanding access to finance 

  • The Government will strengthen coordination across the landscape through the new UK Strategic Public Investment Forum. The Government will:
    • Expand the mandate of the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to ensure that its £27.8 billion is deployed more strategically to drive growth, including by supporting the IS-8. The Government has given the NWF a new strategic steer to prioritise investments in Clean Energy Industry sub-sectors, Digital and Technologies, Advanced Manufacturing, and transport, and to consider the role it can play in Defence, Life Sciences, and Creative Industries. 
  • Great British Energy (GBE) and the National Wealth Fund will provide a strong end-to-end development and finance offer, playing distinct and complementary roles of developer and bank. The Government has already identified an initial £300 million for investment into domestic offshore wind supply chains through GBE, supporting the domestic manufacture of critical and innovative components. GBE and Great British Energy – Nuclear will invest more than £8.3 billion over this Parliament in homegrown clean power. 
  • Increase the British Business Bank’s capacity and capability so that it can invest across the lifecycle of firms with high potential. At the Spending Review, the government announced the Bank’s total financial capacity would rise to £25.6 billion, enabling a two-thirds increase in support for innovative UK businesses. As a result, the British Business Bank will:
    • Commit an additional £4 billion of capital to support investment and growth in the IS-8. This investment will seek to crowd in £12 billion of private capital.
    • Gain the flexibility to use a range of financing tools to address sectoral challenges, with improved monitoring and reporting functions to track its investments across the growth-driving sectors.
    • Commit an extra £2.6 billion of funding, which will include greater funding for regional debt and equity programmes, enabling increased investment into city regions and clusters and support for under-represented entrepreneurs and investors.
    • Benefit from greater freedoms to invest strategically for the long term, a new long-term business planning process, and greater flexibility to reinvest returns. 
  • Deliver further reforms to ensure that capital markets and domestic investors support growth. This will include:
    • Taking forward recommendations from the Pension Investment Review’s final report, via the Pension Schemes Bill, and creating ‘megafunds’ that will in turn enable more productive investment.
    • Further detail will be set out with the publication of our Financial Services Sector Plan on 15 July and will be supported by ongoing work by the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee on how the financial sector can support real economy activity. 

Driving and supporting innovation 

  • Drive innovation in frontier industries, underpinned by record public investment of £20.4 billion in 2025/26 rising to £22.6 billion in 2029/30, targeted at the IS-8, leveraging private investment in cutting-edge research, technologies, and commercial applications. The Government will:
    • Foster innovation-led growth across the UK through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, which will provide up to £500 million to grow high-potential innovation clusters across the UK. The fund will aim to generate £1 billion of co-investment and £700 million of additional value to local economies, including through new jobs, products, and services. 
  • UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will increase support for the IS-8 by pivoting its programmes and budgets towards research and innovation priorities set out in the Industrial Strategy and Sector Plans – working closely with its sponsor department, DSIT, as well as other government departments and industry. It will also be given new objectives to set out its role in delivering government priorities, including enabling innovation, commercialisation, and scale-up across the UK. Innovate UK, as the UK’s innovation agency, will play a central role in accelerating the commercialisation of new technology, and the Government will ensure that the Catapult Network, which Innovate UK funds, is also focused on Industrial Strategy priorities. 
  • Continue to support universities through Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF). Worth £280 million in 2024-2025, this will continue to support universities in England to work with business, charities and the wider community for economic and social benefit including by de-risking early-stage innovation, providing business development support and boosting entrepreneurship training. 

Capitalising on the value of data 

  • Develop and implement a data valuation framework by April 2026 to guide the Government’s approach to realising the value of data. To implement this the Government will:
    • Expand the range of standardised licenses used to make public sector data available. This will enable innovation and maximise the UK’s economic, social, and direct financial return from public data.
    • Bring forward legislation when parliamentary time allows, to simplify how the public sector makes data available in a trusted way for businesses to innovate and grow, while considering the implications for national security and safeguarding citizens and businesses. 
  • Introduce the National Data Library, backed by over £100 million of government funding. The National Data Library will complement recently announced initiatives, including the creation of new Health Data Research Service via a £600 million partnership with the Wellcome Trust, establishing a single, secure access point to NHS datasets. 

Enhance skills and accelerate access to talent 

The Government will align skills systems with the IS-8 through the following:  

  • Provision for 16 –19-year-olds:
    • Ensure sufficient courses to support an additional 65,000 16 –19-year-olds in England by 2028-29, into priority IS-8 occupations, and deliver funding uplifts via High Value Course Premia to priority courses e.g. engineering and digital as cross cutting skills shortages across multiple sectors.
    • Funding to address FE challenges recruiting / retaining high-quality teachers, especially courses for skills shortage priority sectors e.g. £400 million in 2025-26 for 16-19 provision, £160 million in colleges and other providers.
    • Investing in estates: £200 million Capital Investment via Skills Mission Fund, including expanding Technical Excellence Colleges beyond construction, building on £375 million post-16 capital investment, and £1.7 billion capital funding (2026-27 to 2029-30) to help college estates. 
  • Growth and Skills Levy flexibility:
    • Continue to roll out shorter and foundation apprenticeships in IS-8 sectors from August 2025.
    • Introduce Growth and Skills Levy funded short courses in areas such as digital, artificial intelligence and engineering to support Creative Industries and Advanced Manufacturing from April 2026. Skills England will determine when and how courses will be prioritised. 
  • Higher education:
    • The Strategic Priorities Grant will focus on future skills needs. Reforms to Higher Education system in England will be set out in the forthcoming Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. 
  • Life-long learning:
    • From January 2027 launch the Lifelong Learning Entitlement to enable individuals to learn, upskill and retrain across their working lives with first modular courses for approval will support progression into the IS-8.
    • Mayoral Strategic Authorities will use a significant proportion of devolved Adult Skills Fund to targets local skills needs in line with Local Growth Plans and Local Skills Improvement Plans to support to adult learners to meet skills needs in the IS-8, including through Skills Bootcamps, Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, and Free Courses for Jobs.  
  • Support jobseekers into priority sectors through improved information and guidance
    • Support people to take up roles in priority occupations through 634 Jobcentres and wider employment support system. DWP will broaden the range of employers it supports through the new Jobs and Careers Service, and test new approaches through the West Yorkshire Pathfinder.
    • Building on the Get Britain Working White Paper to create an inclusive labour market for example, by supporting young people into growth sectors through the new Youth Guarantee, and by testing how Inactivity Trailblazers can help economically inactive into work or training. 
  • Work with employers to drive investment in training:
    • Deepen employer partnerships via Technical Excellence Colleges, expand industry placements and facilitating workforce exchanges with the FE system.
    • Skills England will engage industry and others to develop skills passports to document and transfer industry-recognised skills and competencies, improve visibility for employers and providers, and improve progression.
    • The Government will consult on requiring contracting authorities to publish and report against at least one key performance indicator in major contracts to create new local jobs, opportunities and skills, including for infrastructure projects.  The Government further propose changes for public bodies to set at least one award criteria in major procurements that relates to social value criteria.
    • Agreeing Workforce Strategies for sectors facing shortages linked to skills, training, and conditions in the UK, with tangible actions. These will be coordinated and published by relevant government departments working in partnership with industry alongside trade unions, local leaders, devolved governments and wider stakeholders. The first of these will be published by the Office for Clean Energy Jobs in 2025.
    • The Chair of Skills England, in partnership with the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, will explore how employers, individuals and local and central government work together to address the UK’s skills needs to support jobs of the future in the growth-driving sectors.
    • Investment:
      • The Government will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment in skills per year by 2028-29 alongside further support from measures outlined in the Immigration White Paper. 
  • The Government will bring forward three further packages targeted at skills needed in multiple IS sectors.
    • The Government will invest £187 million to bring digital skills and AI learning into classrooms across all communities. This includes supporting over 4,000 graduates, researchers, and innovators in areas like AI, cyber security and computer science through the TechGrad, TechExpert and TechLocal programmes, alongside supporting 1 million school children through the TechYouth programme.
    • The Government have separately launched a new industry partnership with major tech players, including NVIDIA, Google and Microsoft, to train 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030 and will explore how to implement the AI skills recommendations of the Tech Adoption Review, which include creating a UK-wide network of AI adoption hubs.
    • The Government will provide investment of over £100 million over three years to support engineering skills in England, working with Skills England to determine how this can increase the pipeline of skills through further and higher education and apprenticeships. With capital funding provided via the Skills Mission Fund, this will include launching Technical Excellence Colleges to address shortages in engineering, which is critical to the skills needed in priority sectors including Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries and Digital and Technologies. Skills England will ensure that training and qualifications remain aligned with shifting workforce needs, including looking at funding bands to ensure they reflect delivery (working with key partners like Make UK). The Government will work with the sector to ensure the maximum impact of this package, including opportunities for industry co-investment or other contributions.
    • The Government will establish Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, provide funding for courses for defence related skills, and invest in cutting edge university facilities to increase places for defence skills provision. Delivering this package will be a joint endeavour between government and industry; full details will be set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy. 

Reducing regulatory burden 

  • Make regulatory system more consistent and easier to navigate. To do this the Government will:
  • Streamline duties for UK regulators, with a stronger focus on growth and investment to increase dynamism and enterprise, and to increase and improve scrutiny of the effectiveness of regulations. This will be informed by the recent independent Corry Review into Defra regulators to assess whether Defra’s regulatory landscape is fit for purpose in driving both economic growth and nature recovery.
  • Set out an updated approach to economic regulation by the end of 2025, as outlined in the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.
  • Strengthen central government oversight of the regulatory reform agenda through the creation of a new unit in the Treasury which will challenge unnecessary regulation and support progress against the Government’s commitment to reducing the administrative costs of regulation by 25 per cent by the end of this Parliament. 
  • Make targeted regulatory changes to support the IS-8, including:
    • Reducing planning red-tape for heat pump installation, including on size and boundary requirements. 
  • Adjusting which subsidies require CMA scrutiny. In the summer 2025 the Government will increase the threshold at which subsidies must be referred to the CMA for review, from £10 million to £25 million. This will help the CMA to focus on the largest subsidies with the greatest potential impact, as well as easing the administrative process and timeframes required for delivering comparatively smaller subsidies. For some sensitive sectors the threshold will remain at £5 million. The Government continue to review the impact and proportionality of the subsidy control regime, and the CMA will publish its independent report on the effectiveness of the regime in 2026. 
  • Simplify corporate reporting requirements and explore how to make it easier for foreign companies to move to the UK. The Government have committed to take forward a wider range of measures to streamline and modernise company law and will publish a consultation on streamlining non-financial reporting requirements under the Companies Act 2006. The Government have also welcomed the Independent Expert Panel’s report on introducing a UK corporate redomiciliation regime and will consult on how to design and implement such a regime. 

Removing planning barriers and accelerating infrastructure 

  • Fast-track more projects through the planning process, by:
    • Increasing certainty for gigafactories, laboratories, and data centres – crucial commercial opportunities in the IS-8 – by allowing them to ‘opt in’ to be designated as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
    • Reducing the average pre-application period for major infrastructure projects from two years to 12 months by scrapping overly burdensome consultation requirements. This has the potential to save projects £1 billion over the course of this Parliament, benefiting the IS-8 by accelerating delivery of major transport and energy infrastructure.
    • Launching a Call for Evidence on the expansion of permitted development rights to support specific building works and speed up the construction of national infrastructure, including fixed and mobile networks and electricity networks.
    • Streamlining processes for judicial reviews so that claimants have just one attempt to challenge a development consent decision for claims deemed totally without merit, rather than three.
    • Establishing AI Growth Zones as dedicated hubs to fast-track AI infrastructure development, support planning approvals, and unlock access to energy. 
  • Make timely planning decisions, with a 13-week target for decisions made by Ministers on called-in applications.  
  • Improve the responsiveness of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs). The Government are providing funding for 300 new planning officers and offering new flexibilities for planning application fees to be set locally so they cover the costs of the service. The Government are also accelerating digitalisation to encourage the development and adoption of the next generation of planning services. The Government have worked with LPAs to co-create user-friendly planning application software to speed up planning decisions. This includes PlanX services, which have reduced both application inaccuracies and the number of planning-related calls by up to 60 per cent. 
  • Implement a Nature Restoration Fund which will mean that in many cases developers can make a single payment to identify and meet their environmental obligations related to protected sites and species, reducing existing burdens for the IS-8 (as well as other sectors) while delivering gains for nature. This scheme is subject to the passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament. 
  • The Government have set out an approach in full in the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, complementing the Industrial Strategy, and in summer 2025 they will publish a pipeline of infrastructure projects that the Government is prioritising. Under the National Infrastructure Spatial Tool programme the Government are also working to understand local infrastructure needs, based on housing, industrial growth, and land use scenarios, to strengthen evidence for place-based infrastructure investment decisions.  
  • Remove barriers to digital infrastructure deployment, including by implementing the outstanding provisions in the Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022. The Government will also bring forward a more flexible permitting system for street works across England if ongoing trials are successful, make it easier to deploy broadband in flats, and launch a Call for Evidence on changes to planning laws that could enable faster rollouts of fixed and mobile coverage. 
  • Help business travellers be more productive with improved Wi-Fi access. By spending £41 million to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, the Government will significantly improve both the availability and internet connection speeds for Wi-Fi connected passengers, in turn enabling a better-integrated transport network. 
  • Improve connectivity by investing in new transport infrastructure across England and Wales during this Spending Review period, with:
    • Delivering major rail projects such as East-West Rail, the Transpennine Route Upgrade, HS2, and taking forward work on Northern Powerhouse Rail, as well as renewal and maintenance of the existing network.
    • £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country.
    • £15.6 billion up to 2031/23 for some of England’s largest city regions to improve transport connectivity via the Transport for City Regions settlements, and £2.3 billion funding for the Local Transport Grant to improve transport connectivity in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas.
    • £900 million per year to maintain and improve bus services. Illustrative industry analysis suggests that public investment in bus infrastructure and services can generate returns of up to £4.55 for every £1 invested.
    • £400 million to support the roll-out of charging infrastructure across the country, including to facilitate the deployment of zero emission vans and HGVs. 

Delivering a tax system that supports growth 

  • The Government will look across all available levers to deliver change at the Budget in Autumn 2025 and across the Parliament, including via continued consideration of the tax environment to ensure it supports the ambitions of the Industrial Strategy. 

Wider support for sectors 

  • The Government will also continue to work with non-IS-8 sectors directly. Sector sponsorship teams in government will provide hands-on advice and develop policies to help them thrive. This will ensure that all businesses have more opportunities to trade, access finance, and innovate. 

Supporting the UK’s city regions and clusters

Bringing forward more investable sites 

  • Launch a new Strategic Sites Accelerator with over £600 million to enable the Government to deploy a range of interventions to bring sites to market faster, such as land remediation, anticipatory grid capacity, transport improvements, and fast-tracked planning approval. The first wave of sites will be announced within a year, with funding to start from 2026/27. It will be a UK-wide programme, and the Government will work with devolved governments, local leaders, and Mayors to implement it in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 
  • Enhance the offer for Industrial Strategy Zones. Freeports across the UK have attracted £6.4 billion of investment to date. The Government are committed to Freeports as well as Investment Zones but recognise that they must do more to make them a success. As set out in the Action Plan published alongside the Industrial Strategy and developed with the devolved governments, they will enhance the Industrial Strategy Zones with streamlined planning processes, better-targeted investment promotion, support for accessing concessionary finance, and coordinated support on skills. 
  • Establish new AI Growth Zones across the UK to attract investment in AI infrastructure in strategic locations, with support for planning approvals, access to energy, and partnerships with the private sector. The Government will confirm locations in due course, and is committed to delivering AI Growth Zones in strategic locations across the UK. 

Supporting city regions and clusters to attract private investment 

  • Build national, regional, and local capability to attract and land investment. The Government have designed a series of investment partnerships, giving city regions and clusters the expertise and catalytic financing to secure private investment and to deliver Mayors’ Local Growth Plans:
    • The British Business Bank will introduce a new Cluster Champions programme in 10 places. ‘Champions’ with deep expertise and local knowledge will coordinate investment-readiness programmes, strengthen financial networks, and connect high-potential firms in the IS-8 to investors in 10 city regions: Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, North East, West of England, Glasgow City Region, Cardiff City Region, and Belfast City Region. This will be underpinned by a £100 million expansion of the BBB’s Nations and Regions Investment Funds (NRIF), to provide additional targeted capital to back firms in these clusters. The BBB will also expand NRIF with £350 million to cover the South East and East of England for the first time, as well as investing in an Investor Pathway Capital programme to grow a more diverse pool of skilled fund managers to raise larger funds and invest in the IS-8.
    • The National Wealth Fund, which already offers financing as well as commercial advice to local and city region authorities across the UK, is trialling Strategic Partnerships with Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Glasgow to provide enhanced, hands-on support to help these city regions develop and secure long-term investment opportunities.
    • The Office for Investment will establish a new national investment partnership framework to help Mayoral Strategic Authorities and other places build their investment capacity and capability. It will also launch a new Strategic Investment Opportunities team, which will work with local leaders, devolved governments, and their investment agencies to help identify, shape and deliver strategic investment opportunities where there is scope for significant private capital and investor interest, with a particular focus on areas prioritised in the Infrastructure Strategy and Industrial Strategy.
    • Reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales (LGPS) will strengthen its existing focus on opportunities which support local and regional growth, such as Industrial Strategy Zones. Administering authorities, of the 86 funds and make up the LGPS, which have around £400 billion in assets under management, will be required to consider local growth priorities in their investment strategies and to work with Mayors in England.
    • Great British Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen, will work with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, local authorities, community energy groups, and devolved governments. This includes providing funding and support – from planning to strategic advice – to help increase the roll-out of renewable energy projects.
    • UK Export Finance will expand its network of Export Finance Managers in city regions and clusters with strengths in the IS-8. These will support business development and provide free and impartial advice to businesses on their export finance needs.
    • The new National Housing Bank will work with Mayors and local leaders to develop financial support to deliver local housing and regeneration priorities, complementing wider land and grant funding. 
  • Build a stronger skills pipeline for local employers. Skills England will support employer representative bodies and Mayors to develop Local Skills Improvement Plans that will support Local Growth Plans by identifying local skills needs and the steps required to address them. The Government are also creating Technical Excellence Colleges to specialise in training skilled workforces for local businesses. They will provide £200 million through the Skills Mission Fund for further education providers in England to invest in new facilities, equipment, technical qualifications, and collaboration with other training providers and employers. The network of 634 Jobcentres across Great Britain and the new Jobs and Careers Service in England – with its pathfinder pilot in West Yorkshire – will also play an important role in developing a pipeline of workers for local employers in the IS-8. 
  • Grow high-potential innovation ecosystems through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, which will provide up to £500 million across the UK. This fund is designed to generate £1 billion of co-investment and add £700 million to local economies. Building on UK-wide public R&D investment, and Innovate UK’s joint action plans with devolved governments and Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs), this earmarks at least £30 million which will support the delivery of Local Growth Plans in each of England’s seven established MSAs: Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, the North East, and Greater London. The scheme will also include a competition for clusters in all other parts of the UK to bid for support to grow their innovation ecosystems. 
  • Establish a new local growth fund, including a 10-year capital settlement from 2026-27 for specific mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catch-up and agglomeration potential.  
  • Review the recommendations put forward by the New Towns Taskforce in its report due in the coming months, which will consider the location of growth-driving sectors across England. 
  • Relocate Civil Service roles and 50 per cent of UK-based senior civil servants to towns and cities across the UK to work with frontline workers and local leaders. As part of this, £244 million will be invested to complete the development of new government hubs. This includes the Darlington Economic Campus in Brunswick Street, the Manchester First Street Hub, and the York Central Hub. This investment will also help redevelop these areas and provide a boost to their regional economies. 

Supporting Mayors and local authorities in England 

  • Make a new £500 million Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund available to Mayors in the North and Midlands with an integrated settlement, allowing them to provide financial investments for growth projects. Working with local authorities, Mayors will be able to use this funding to break down access-to-finance barriers and create new opportunities for businesses to grow by providing patient capital for projects such as major city-centre developments and strategic industrial sites. 
  • Invest in high streets, recognising that a thriving everyday economy is the bedrock of local economies. Through new High Street and Growth Incubators, the Government will target funding at a selection of Established MSAs, via integrated settlements, to support high streets, trigger further private property investment, and support businesses to adapt and grow. 
  • Local authorities across England have a critical role to play in supporting their areas’ strengths in the IS-8. The Government will work with them to deliver the interventions set out in the Industrial Strategy, from maximising the potential of Industrial Strategy Zones to identifying, developing, and securing the right finance for investible projects in city centres and strategic industrial sites. 

Strengthening connections between and within city regions and clusters 

  • Boosting connectivity within and between city regions by:
    • Improving rail connectivity across the North of England. This starts by completing delivery of the TransPennine Route Upgrade, which will transform rail connectivity between Manchester and York. Government has provided £3.5 billion through this settlement from 2026/27 to 2029/30 to drive this forward at pace. The Government recognise that this is not the final answer, and they will be providing funding to progress this government’s long-term strategic rail ambitions in the North. The Government will set out plans to take forward its further ambitions on Northern Powerhouse Rail in the coming weeks.
    • Transforming intra-city connectivity through over £10 billion in Transport for City Regions funding across six of the North’s MSAs, supporting schemes such as West Yorkshire Mass Transit, Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, and the extension of the existing Metro network in the North East – serving one of the largest Advanced Manufacturing zones in the UK.
    • Improving and maintaining the North’s road networks via the £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 that has been allocated to National Highways and local authorities to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country. This includes creating a new Structures Fund that will repair major structures like bridges, flyovers and collapsed roads. 
  • Boosting Northern city regions and clusters strengths in the IS-8. The Government will support these through:
    • At least £150 million from the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund across Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, North East, and West Yorkshire, along with new British Business Bank Cluster Champions for each.
    • A share of £150 million from the new Creative Place Growth Fund to support Creative Industries in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the North East, and West Yorkshire. They will also support the One Creative North partnership of northern Mayors and creative leaders to collaborate on access to finance, skills, and innovation.
    • New Professional and Business Services Hubs in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, and West Yorkshire, and piloting Made Smarter for Professional and Business Services across the North of England.
    • Exploring a pilot initiative in partnership with the North East Combined Authority for an Electric Vehicles manufacturing cluster, creating a blueprint for unlocking other clusters of excellence in other key growth areas across the UK. 
  • Developing investible opportunities across the North. The National Wealth Fund will deliver Strategic Partnerships with Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire to provide enhanced, hands-on support to help regions develop and secure long-term investment opportunities. The Office for Investment will – building on its previous work with Liverpool City Region and the North East – partner with the North’s Mayoral Strategic Authorities to help identify, shape and deliver strategic projects to ensure they are best placed to leverage private capital.  
  • The Government will deepen support for the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor and its strengths in Digital and Technologies, Life Sciences, Defence, Advanced Manufacturing, and Clean Energy Industries, anchored by two of the best universities in the world. Accounting for 7 per cent of GDP and contributing £40 billion to the economy a year, they will unlock its potential by:
    • Taking forward major housing and infrastructure projects to make it easier to live, work, and travel across the Corridor. This will include:
      • East-West Rail, a major new cross-country rail line cutting journey times significantly between Oxford and Cambridge. This will enable delivery of up to 100,000 new homes, create thousands of new jobs by expanding the commuting populations of economic centres across the corridor, and add £6.7 billion a year to regional GVA by 2050. The first phase will launch later this year and enable direct rail travel between Oxford and Milton Keynes for the first time in nearly 60 years.
      • A new East Coast Mainline station at Tempsford, integrating the Corridor into one of the UK’s busiest rail routes between London to Edinburgh.
      • Ensuring that water companies build new reservoirs in areas around Cambridge (the Fens) and Oxford (Abingdon) so that industrial and residential developments are not held back due to pressures on water availability.
    • Strengthening the region’s science and technology credentials through the UK’s first AI Growth Zone in Culham, Oxfordshire, confirmed as the first site for the programme to facilitate AI infrastructure and unlock investment in AI-enabled data centres.
    • Exploring how to strengthen collaboration between the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor and other parts of the UK with complementary strengths.
    • Addressing the shortage of high-quality research facilities caused by consistently high demand for R&D space. The Government will fund the Cambridge Growth Company to invest in infrastructure to unlock housing and commercial development, enter into partnerships with the private sector, and work with local partners on infrastructure delivery, with more details to be set out shortly. The Oxford Growth Commission will also develop a long-term investment strategy.  
  • The Government will also promote connectivity across cities, regions, and nations, including by:
    • Delivering HS2 and maximising its growth benefits. They will work with businesses and local leaders so that development unlocks large-scale commercial sites along the route, including a new Life Sciences hub at Euston and a transformational project at Birmingham Curzon Street.
    • Improving rail connectivity between city regions and clusters in Wales and England.
      • Wrexham and Merseyside, through an upgrade to the Padeswood sidings and the permanent closure of several level crossings on the North Wales Main Line. This will link two centres of excellence in Advanced Manufacturing, anchored by Airbus’s Broughton factory, R&D facilities such as AMRC Cymru, and two Industrial Strategy Zones – and in turn connect North Wales and the corridor across Northern English city regions.
      • South Wales and Bristol, through new stations between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel. This will create further opportunities for the IS-8 clusters along the corridor, complementing wider government support, including for the Celtic Freeport and Cardiff and Newport Investment Zone and a new Centre for Doctoral Training led by Swansea University focused on semiconductors. 

Supporting our frontier industries

Advanced manufacturing 

  • Accelerate the uptake of robotics and ‘lean processes’ through an expansion of the Made Smarter Adoption programme for SMEs and initial funding of £40 million for a new network for Robotics Adoption Hubs across the UK. 
  • Support clusters by:
    • Collaborating with Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local authorities to support electric vehicle manufacturing, including exploring pilot initiatives in the North East and West Midlands to create a blueprint for developing clusters of excellence across the UK.
    • Backing the network of Industrial Strategy Zones (Investment Zones and Freeports) with over £160 million in funding over 10 years to stimulate growth, including Glasgow, Greater Manchester, the North East, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, and Wrexham & Flintshire. 

Clean energy industries 

  • Provide a clear mission to drive investment certainty, with long-term deployment plans for key technologies and updates to regulations to support growth. 
  • Deliver targeted and catalytic funding to support jobs, innovation and growth including through:
    • A new £1 billion Clean Energy Supply Chain Fund under Great British Energy, including £300 million to invest in offshore wind supply chains.
    • £14.2 billion of funding for Sizewell C in this Spending Review period and over £2.5 billion for Small Modular Reactors.
    • £2.5 billion of investment in fusion over the next five years.
    • £9.4 billion in capital budgets to support the development of CCUS projects up to 2029.
    • The Government have confirmed £13.2 billion of funding for the Warm Homes Plan, and they are launching a further round of the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition, providing grants to manufacturers to invest in new capacity. 
  • The Government are reforming the planning system via the Planning & Infrastructure Bill and National Policy Statements. They will ensure delivery of key infrastructure, particularly grids, ports, rail and road.  
  • Ensure we have the skilled workforce we need, creating good quality jobs and placing them at the heart of the clean energy future. The upcoming Clean Energy Workforce Strategy will ensure that jobs are not only abundant, but also of high quality, focusing on fair pay, favourable terms, and good working conditions.  
  • Back the network of Investment Zones with £160 million in funding over 10 years to stimulate growth in key Clean Energy clusters, including in North East Scotland, North East England, South Yorkshire and the East Midlands and West Midlands. 

Creative industries 

  • Significantly increase UK Research and Innovation’s support for creative businesses, including £100 million over the Spending Review for the next wave of creative clusters and a £25 million Creative Futures programme, creating five new CoSTAR R&D labs across the UK. 
  • Launch a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service and co-funding the expansion of the National Film and Television School, with £11 million from private investors including Walt Disney Company, the Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Foundation and Sky. Following through the Curriculum and Assessment Review the Government will deliver a curriculum in England that readies young people for life and work, including in creative subjects and skills. 
  • Provide targeted support for frontier industries, with £75 million for film and TV, £30 million for video games, and up to £30 million for music over the next three years, to develop and showcase new content, back British talent, and boost exports and inward investment. 
  • Support creative clusters through: A new Creative Places Growth Fund devolving £150 million over three years to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities, alongside support for the Tees Valley Creative Investment Zone, which will receive over £160 million in funding over 10 years. 

Defence 

  • Working with industry to deliver a defence skills package, including new Defence Technical Colleges and funding for courses for defence-related skills. 

Digital and technologies 

  • The Government plans to increase R&D funding to £22.6 billion by 2029/30. 

  • Reforming regulation and standards, including through the new Regulatory Innovation Office. 

  • Investing in R&D and scale-up infrastructure for frontier technologies, including six priority frontier technologies: Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACTs), AI, cyber security, quantum technologies, engineering biology, and semiconductors.  
  • Expanding the Government’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) by at least 20x by 2030, accelerating AI innovation through significantly increased compute capacity and support for start-ups.   
  • Establish a new Sovereign AI Unit, within government, with up to £500 million to maximise the UK’s stake in frontier AI. The Unit will work with the British Business Bank to make investments alongside a wider offer on data, compute and talent to build UK AI capabilities in partnership with the private sector. 

Financial services 

  • Enabled the creation of new pension ‘megafunds’ with the scale to invest in assets with higher growth potential. The Government has now published the final report of the pensions investment review and introduced the Pension Schemes Bill to create these megafunds.  

Life sciences 

  • Backing manufacturing with up to £520 million through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which will bring globally mobile manufacturing investments to the UK. This will help build and maintain the UK’s critical sovereign capability across the sector, creating high-value jobs nationwide, and strengthening domestic health resilience and supply chain security. The Government have also developed a new, bespoke approach to supporting investments over £250 million. 
  • Partnering with industry to increase growth and innovation. The Government will secure at least one major strategic partnership annually with leading Life Sciences companies. A dedicated support service will also be established to help 10–20 high-potential UK companies scale, attract investment, and remain headquartered in the UK. 

Professional and business services 

  • Create opportunities across the UK by launching PBS Hubs in Liverpool, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Edinburgh-Glasgow Central Belt, working closely with Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Scottish Government. Each Hub will reflect local needs and priorities, from accelerating the development of emerging technology sectors to connecting firms to potential investors. 

Creating an enduring partnership with business

Recognising and maximising the value of private investment 

  • Ensure that the full benefits of public and private investments, especially for delivering the objectives of the Industrial Strategy, are considered when government considers the case for government action or support. For instance, the Government will publish new supplementary guidance to the Green Book on economic resilience to ensure that contributions to resilience made by the private sector are fully and consistently appraised in business cases for grants and other government interventions. 

Reforming public procurement 

  • Go further to ensure that procurement strategically supports the Industrial Strategy priorities. The Government will shortly launch a public consultation on how they can open up the contracts to give more weight to firms that can show they will boost British jobs, including by requiring contracting authorities to:
    • Set at least one award criteria in major procurements which relates to the quality of the supplier’s contribution to jobs, opportunities or skills.
    • Set at least one social value Key Performance Indicator (KPI) relating to jobs, opportunities or skills in major contracts and report regularly on delivery.
    • Set three-year targets for procurement spend with SMEs and social enterprises and publish progress annually.
    • Exclude suppliers from bidding for major contracts if they do not pay their subcontractors promptly. 

Ensuring that businesses and investors receive timely support and decisions 

  • The Office for Investment (OfI) will work for the co-creation of investment opportunities alongside the UK’s Public Financial Institutions, national and regional leaders, and private sector partners to share risk. 
  • Give businesses in the IS-8 clearer entry-points into government. This includes:
    • Where there is appetite from industry, and aligned to the wider programme of public sector reform, the Government will explore establishing dedicated Sector Offices to support the IS-8 and co-deliver Sector Plans.   
  • The Government are also considering how to streamline government processes further, for instance by giving departments greater autonomy in administering grants and reviewing business support funding programmes for IS sectors. 

Improving support for small and medium sized businesses 

  • Make essential information more accessible for businesses at all stages of the growth cycle, with a simplified and improved digital interface. To achieve this the Government will:
    • Introduce a new Business Growth Service in summer 2025. This will include a new website to provide a single online platform through which businesses can find everything they need in one place to help them start up, scale up, sustain growth, export, invest, and access recruitment support from DWP.
    • Improve access to advice and support for SMEs in England through 41 Growth Hubs, delivered in partnership with local authorities and the private sector. 

Establishing strong pro-growth institutions and governance 

  • Create a permanent independent Industrial Strategy Council. This will be enshrined in law when parliamentary time allows, providing insight and advice to the Government across the IS-8 (and city regions and clusters, as well as priority international markets). It will:
    • Publish an annual report on its work, as well as ad hoc advice commissioned by the Government.
    • In time, be able to take advantage of new legal powers to access data and evidence from across government to support its ongoing work.
    • Have its headquarters in Manchester from 2026, with a second presence in London. From these locations the ISC will build strong connections to important institutions and partners across the UK, including devolved governments and Mayors. 
  • Create robust governance mechanisms to ensure that there is a consistent focus within government on supporting the IS-8, and that the Industrial Strategy is a living document which supports agile decision-making in a changing landscape. This will include a new architecture with partners, including:
    • Oversight and implementation forums with devolved governments and Mayoral Strategic Authorities to support delivery of the strategy at a local level across the UK 

Monitoring the impact and effectiveness of our policies 

  • Support robust and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the Industrial Strategy, which will be overseen by the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council. The Council will work closely with government departments and public bodies (such as regulators) that are responsible for developing the M&E programmes for individual Sector Plans and policies. The ISAC will take a data-led approach to assess progress on the overall Industrial Strategy:
    • Operational data on the delivery and impact of policies, to monitor progress in delivering individual Industrial Strategy policies.
    • Economic indicators at the economy-wide, sector, and place level. The Government have chosen six core metrics, reflecting a range of desirable objectives for the IS-8 and the economy as a whole: business investment, Gross Value Added, productivity growth, trade exports, labour market outcomes such as employment and wages, and the number of new, large, ‘homegrown’ businesses. 
  • The ISAC will set out its findings publicly, including in its annual report, in which it will also provide views on how the Industrial Strategy could evolve in response to policy delivery progress and relevant developments in the UK economy.  
  • Further details on M&E, including the ‘impact pathway’ linking individual policies to real-world outcomes and the overarching goals of the Industrial Strategy, are set out in the Technical Annex accompanying the document.