MPs to probe offshore wind sector deal

MPs will examine the government’s so-called ‘sector deal’ for the offshore wind industry as part of a wider probe into its industrial strategy.

The House of Commons BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) select committee announced on Friday that it has launched an inquiry into the strategy’s sector deals.

The inquiry, the first of a series that the committee has promised which will scrutinise the industrial strategy, will explore the impact that the sector deals will have on efforts to improve the UK’s weak productivity and boost investment.

Under the sector deals, the government has pledged to offer support for industries that will help deliver the wider objectives of the industrial strategy, such as promoting low carbon growth. The committee will look at how sector deals are agreed and the benefits they could generate locally and nationally.

The inquiry will initially focus on four industries that have either already signed sector deals or where one is in the pipeline. They are: off-shore wind, construction, retail, and hospitality.

The government announced in October’s clean growth strategy that it was discussing the signing of a sector deal for offshore wind.

Rachel Reeves, chair of the BEIS committee, said: “Sector deals are an integral part of the industrial strategy, so we will be looking at what they will mean for businesses, how they are secured, and what success will look like. Focusing on sectors that already have deals and lower productivity sectors that do not, we will be asking whether the government’s approach will be able to raise productivity across industry and across the country.”

The committee has set a deadline of January 26^th for submitting evidence to the inquiry.

As well as the offshore wind, the government is also developing a sector deal with the nuclear industry, proposals for which were published last week.