Media comment: Harnessing productivity through skills – from puzzle to plan

27 October 2021

We welcome the Chancellor’s focus on building a high-skill economy, his renewed commitment for upskilling the U.K.’s workforce and delivering the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. We especially welcome his pledges to increase spending and skills by £3.8bn and spend £20bn a year on R&D over this Parliament, which will help boost innovation, stimulate long-term growth and contribute to building a lasting recovery for the country.

The Chancellor must now create a long-term plan to sustain these ambitions and set the environment to support lasting behaviour changes around investment and skills. This will be the critical success factor to ensure that we address some of our country’s underlying structural issues and vulnerabilities and truly build back better.

Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA
Chief Executive — Management Accounting
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants