The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) is currently preparing the Local Industrial Strategy for the county. The aim of the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) is to create an economy that boosts productivity and earning power, a long term plan that provides a policy framework against which major private and public sector investment decisions are made.
NNGO says local people and sound planning principles, not an unaccountable quango and developers’ aspirations, should have a say on a strategy that will dictate future economic strategy for the county.
Peter Jay, Chairman of ROAR (Rural Oxfordshire Action Rally), says:
“There is no process for public consultation and it appears the strategy will only receive final endorsement from the Oxfordshire Growth Board after it has already been approved by Government. This is despite ‘Ideas’ and ‘People’ being the first of ‘five foundations of productivity’ on which the Industrial Strategy is based.”
NNGO wrote to Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Oxfordshire MPs and OxLEP asking that Oxfordshire’s Local Industrial Strategy is subject to full public consultation.