Local Industrial Strategy - Call for Evidence

Overview
To develop a Local Industrial Strategy for Gloucestershire, GFirst LEP, Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership is issuing a public ‘Call for Evidence’.

What is the purpose of the Call for Evidence?

Gloucestershire’s Local Industrial Strategy will set the direction for the future of Gloucestershire’s economy. It will help to inform local choices, prioritise local action and, where appropriate, help to inform decisions at a national level.

It will guide local investment alongside funding which is granted to Local Enterprise Partnerships by central government and other national schemes.

To prepare our Local Industrial Strategy, we first need to develop a robust and up-to-date evidence base to identify the strengths and challenges within our local economy.

We will then use the information contained within the evidence base to formulate a series of future strategic priorities for inclusion within the Local Industrial Strategy.

The purpose of this Call for Evidence is to enable stakeholders to submit information they think should be included within the evidence base and should be taken into consideration during the preparation of the Local Industrial Strategy’s emerging priorities.

Who should respond to the Call for Evidence?

Our Call for Evidence is open to submissions from any stakeholder in the public, private or voluntary sectors with an interest in the Local Industrial Strategy.

We would particularly welcome submissions from Gloucestershire businesses with specialist industry knowledge.

We would also welcome responses from stakeholders located outside of the GFirst LEP area where they are able to provide information that is relevant to the Gloucestershire economy.

How is the Call for Evidence structured?

The Call for Evidence consists of ten questions based around the five Foundations of Productivity and four Grand Challenges included within the national Industrial Strategy.

Questions for consideration

To help you with selecting the most appropriate evidence, you may wish to consider how the information will help to answer the following questions:

 

1. What are the main barriers to future economic growth and productivity in Gloucestershire?

 

2. What skills issues are impacting negatively on economic growth and productivity in Gloucestershire?

 

3. What infrastructure improvements are needed to support future economic growth and productivity in Gloucestershire?

 

4. What support is needed to help businesses to grow, innovate, become more productive and access new markets?

 

5. What specific economic challenges are faced by the urban and rural areas of Gloucestershire?

 

6. Which industrial sectors will drive future economic growth and productivity in Gloucestershire?

 

7. What can be done to ensure that all Gloucestershire residents benefit from future economic growth?

 

8. What can Gloucestershire contribute to the four Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges (Artificial Intelligence & Data, Ageing Society, Clean Growth, and the Future of Mobility)?

 

9. What opportunities are there for collaboration within the M4 corridor region and/or M5 corridor region and wider UK to improve economic growth and productivity?

 

10. What other economic challenges, opportunities or sources of information do you think should be taken into consideration when preparing the Local Industrial Strategy’s emerging priorities?

 

(You are welcome to provide evidence relating to as many or as few of the questions as you feel you are able to.)

A copy of the national Industrial Strategy can be downloaded here;

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/664563/industrial-strategy-white-paper-web-ready-version.pdf

What information should I submit?

The information we are seeking may consist of, but is not limited to, the following types:

• Data sets
• Research papers
• Surveys
• Reviews
• Strategies

Our evidence base will need to be robust and will be subject to external scrutiny. We are therefore looking for you to submit information that is accurate, up-to-date and verifiable.

We are particularly looking for information that is not already in the public domain.

Please include a covering email that includes your contact details, the source of the data, which of the 10 questions you are answering and finally a very short statement on why you are submitting this information.

What is the deadline for responding to the Call for Evidence?

Our Call for Evidence will remain open to submissions until 31^st May 2019.

How to submit evidence

Evidence, along with attachments, should be submitted via email to jute.blackmon@gfirstlep.com

Data protection

The information you provide will be kept in accordance with terms of current Data Protection legislation and will only be used to inform our Local Industrial Strategy.

The submission of evidence does not mean that the publication will be automatically used or quoted in the text of the Industrial Strategy.

We require contact details as we may need to contact you for further information relating to your submission.

Your details will not be passed on to any other individual, organisation or group. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for further information on how we manage data.

For further information please contact 

Senior Research Manager Jute Blackmon on 01242 715474 or email jute.blackmon@gfirstlep.com