Annex A: Summary of Government policy
papers relating to innovation
Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy
1. The Government creative industry strategy
makes 26 recommendations through which it is aiming to sustain
and stimulate growth within the UK's creative industry sector.
The Government has focused its attention on creating the "right
environment" for growth, which would contribute to the creation
of a HVA economy. The commitments range from taking measures to
identify talent at school age, to turning the talent into jobs
in the sector, to supporting creative hubs within the United Kingdom,
to supporting innovation and research in the sector, to making
Britain the creative hub for the whole world. The strategy takes
note of the importance of innovation to the creative industries
in particular and proposes to give Government support through
the establishment of a Knowledge Transfer Network for the creative
industries by NESTA and the £10 million from the TSB for
collaborative research projects in the sector.
Innovation Nation
2. The Innovation White Paper states that the
United Kingdom must "excel at all types of innovation to
raise productivity, meet the challenges of globalisation, and
live within our environmental and demographic limits" and
the report identifies the government role as "championing
innovation across the board" and recognises the role of "hidden
innovation" in the service sector and creative industries.
The report sets out its proposals around a number of key themes:
- Demand innovation. Moving on
from supply-side policy initiatives, the proposals require government
departments to set out how they intend to drive innovation through
procurement.
- Supporting business innovation. Innovation vouchers
will be given to 500 businesses a year, with the aim of increasing
this to 1,000 a year by 2011. The Technology Strategy Board (TSB)
will aim to double the number of knowledge transfer partnerships
and introduce five new innovation platforms.[150]
- Strong and innovative research base. NESTA will
work on an Innovation Index to measure the United Kingdom's performance
and be involved in setting up an Innovation Research Centre. Investment
in UK science "will grow"; The Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills (DIUS) [now within BIS] will aim to broaden
exchange between humanities and science subjects and commission
research into university intellectual property.
- International innovation. DIUS will produce an
"international strategy" in 2008 drawing together skills,
education and research policies. The TSB will develop a plan to
market UK businesses bidding for grants under the EU's Framework
Programme 7 and advise the government on opportunities arising
from EU regulations.[151]
- Innovative people. Most of the key proposals
in this area amount to implementing the Leitch Review on skills
- including reforming sector skills councils, increasing take
up of STEM subjects in education, increasing the role of Train
to Gain and apprenticeships and establishing National Skills Academies.
- Innovation in public services. The National Audit
Office will be conducting a study into the role of risk in public
sector innovation. A number of initiatives to bring together public
sector innovators and work on new methods of innovation will be
launched by NESTA and the Design Council. DIUS (now within BIS)
and the Cabinet Office will work together on proposals to give
front-line staff greater ability to innovate.
- Innovative places. The majority of proposals
in this area amount to increased alignment of funding between
RDAs and TSB, expanding Higher Education (including consultation
on 20 new higher education centres) and greater cooperation between
venture capital, universities, business and regional government.
Enterprise: Unlocking the United Kingdom's Talent
3. The Enterprise White Paper identifies five
"enablers" of enterprise which it seeks to influence:
- Culture. The Government's stated
aim is to inspire more people (particularly younger people and
women) to become entrepreneurs and reduce the fear of failure
associated with going into business.
- Knowledge and skills. The Government plans to
spend an extra £30 million on extending enterprise education
into primary and tertiary education and launch a National Enterprise
Academy. It also plans a number of Women's Business Centres, business
mentoring schemes and investment in a Leadership and Management
Programme.
- Access to finance. In this area the Government
proposes a strengthening of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee, £12.5
million investment in a capital fund for women-led businesses,
funding through Enterprise Capital Funds and removal of procurement
contract clauses preventing factoring and invoice discounting
being used as forms of finance.
- Regulatory framework. The Government will "introduce
a new approach to regulating small firms" aiming to achieve
a net 25% reduction in the administrative burden by 2010.
- Business innovation. The key proposals are to
investigate the use of Innovation Vouchers to encourage business/university
cooperation and expanding the supply2gov website.
4. The White Paper also sets out a number of
proposals, including £1 million in funding for the Prince's
Trust and a £10 million Risk Capital Fund for start-up and
early stage social enterprises.
Manufacturing: New
Challenges, New Opportunities
5. The manufacturing strategy, published in September
2008, recognises the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy
but states that "our future lies in a mixed and balanced
economy with manufacturing and services reinforcing each other".[152]
It identifies the current trends in manufacturing and the consequent
challenges and opportunities for the future for this sector, for
example the need to create a low-carbon economy and the knock
on effects for manufacturing processes and products throughout
the world. The strategy identifies five major challenges for manufacturing:
increased prevalence and complexity of global value chains; the
accelerated pace of technological exploitation; the increased
importance of investment into design, branding and research and
development (R&D); the increased recognition of the need for
investment in people and skills; and the move to a low-carbon
economy.
Building Britain's Future: New Industry, New Jobs
6. The report entitled "New Industry, New
Jobs",[153] published
in April 2009, brands itself as a "strategic vision for Britain's
recovery" and outlines, in the view of the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the need for: internationally
coordinated action; preparation for an inevitable upturn in the
economy; the greater dependency on higher value goods and services
to drive exports and growth; support for successful businesses
by improving skills, strengthening R&D, encouraging innovation
and capitalising on it; the Government's business support to build
on measures that have already been shown to work well; and retaining
a skilled and flexible workforce.
7. The report argues that the foundations for
UK competitiveness need reforming according to the following priorities
which chime with the need to promote a HVA economy in the United
Kingdom:
- Innovation: turning innovation into goods and
services in a context of lower investment into R&D than competitors;
- Skills should be demand-led but also anticipating
the skills needs of the future particularly through an improved
higher education framework;
- Infrastructure improved through government funded
projects and guarantee schemes; and
- Openness and effectiveness of the European single
market to ensure exports that are important to the growth of the
economy.
8. The report also acknowledges the need for
a change in the system for the regulation of the financial markets
and accepts that smarter, more strategic procurement by government
is needed to stimulate further innovation, particularly in small
firms.
9. The report proposes a mix of overarching policies
and more specific measures to help particular sectors as the solution
to the current crisis. It also acknowledges the need for the United
Kingdom to move to a higher value-added economy for the future
wellbeing of the economy, with greater support for university-business
links and research and development in sectors such as life-sciences,
digital and advanced manufacturing.
150 Innovation platforms are areas of technology which
the TSB has identified as a priority ad undertakes research and
promotion work on. Back
151
An umbrella programme beginning together the EU's research-based
initiatives. Back
152
Manufacturing: new challenges, new opportunities. Foreword of
Summary. September 2008. Back
153
New industry, new jobs. April 2009. Back
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