Executives at some of the UK’s biggest companies are urging the government to support a plan to boost prosperity and reduce inequality as the country recovers from the pandemic.
Executives like Tesco, AstraZeneca, Vodafone and Shell have put forward proposals for greater government-business cooperation that they hope will improve living standards and ensure the government meets its goal of net zero emissions. .
The Covid Recovery Commission calls for a refocus on social measures of progress and the creation of at least one new globally competitive industrial hub in all parts of the UK by 2030.
Its report warns that the coronavirus has exacerbated existing inequalities, with unemployment, death rates and mental health cases rising fastest in the poorest communities.
The commission – which formed last July – wants to work with local civic leaders and the government to implement the so-called leveling program through a “national prosperity” plan.
Its report offers a National Prosperity Dashboard that would establish specific metrics to track progress towards achieving leveling goals. Progress would be measured against social indicators such as employment and benefit dependency rates, health and education outcomes.
Commission Chairman John Allan, who is also chairman of Tesco and home builder Barratt Developments, said: “A national prosperity scorecard will be essential in assessing the success or failure of local plans to improve communities.
“Looking beyond purely economic measures, it could also serve as a vital warning light for local communities.”
The committee also recommends an overhaul of the much-criticized apprenticeship tax and the introduction of a “training aid” program to halve the skills gap expected by 2030.
This would include a new lifelong learning account offering people aged 25 and over up to £ 10,000 to upgrade their skills and retrain throughout their working lives.
to achieve environmental objectives, the group wants the government to decarbonize housing and is committed to renovating all social housing to make it as energy efficient as possible.
Mr Allan said: ‘To ensure economic recovery, successful local and national prosperity plans will need to incorporate everything that is great about Britain: our premier universities, world-class innovation, our business community, our democracy, our institutions and our governance.
“This will ensure that these engines of growth and prosperity are turbocharged over the next decade and that business, government and civil society work together to create jobs and boost investment.”
Other proposals put forward in the report include ensuring all UK workers have free access to mental health assistance by 2025, as well as launching a public social enterprise to develop a large UK supply chain.
Tom Keith-Roach, UK president of drug giant and vaccine developer Covid-19 AstraZeneca, said: “It is clear that we must now align and unleash all our forces behind a new national imperative to build a stronger economy, fairer and more resilient while accelerating our net zero crossing. “
John Holland-Kaye, Managing Director of Heathrow Airport, said: “A stable political environment and a national long-term prosperity plan will help ensure the certainty of investment across the UK, attract investment outside the UK and to provide a basis for determining priority. markets for trade agreements. “
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-28 06:12:28
