One aspect of this has been a suggestion that the responsibilities currently exercised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) could be moved into other government departments. The business community has traditionally seen the DTI as its voice in government and has been opposed to suggestions that it should be abolished.
With this in mind, this report looks at the way in which the core governmental functions for supporting business are exercised within the structure of Whitehall , and outlines ways in which EEF believes these could be managed more effectively.
Business does not want special favours. However government has a key role to play in creating the environment for business success. In an increasingly integrated global economy, raising UK productivity, in particular, has become critical to driving economic growth and sustained increases in standards of living.
The government’s approach to improving the UK’s long-term productivity performance has two broad strands: entrenching macro-economic stability; and implementing microeconomic measures to remove barriers to an effectively functioning market.
Using feedback from EEF members, our own experience as a government stakeholder and research conducted elsewhere, EEF has identified a number of issues with the effectiveness of government in providing strategic support for business.
Download the report to learn more.