Andy Haldane, the chief economist at the Bank of England, has been appointed to lead the watchdog tasked with monitoring the government’s progress on delivering its industrial strategy.
He will lead the Industrial Strategy Council, an independent body that will also advise the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the long-term success of the initiative, business secretary Greg Clark announced today.
Haldane will meet with the business secretary and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, annually to agree the council’s programme of work and lead three to four council meetings a year.
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The watchdog, which will be made up of as-yet unnamed academics and business experts, will meet for the first time in November.
Haldane, who oversees research and statistics at the Bank of England and sits on the Monetary Policy Committee, will chair the council in a personal capacity. His appointment does not represent an expansion of the bank’s remit, BEIS said.
Haldane “will give the council authority and independence, as well as the benefit of his thought leadership in this area”, Clark said.
“The industrial strategy council has an important role to play holding the government to account by monitoring its success delivering the Industrial Strategy and its impact on the economy,” he added.
Plans to set up the council were announced in the government’s industrial strategy white paper, which it published in November last year. It will publish regular public reports assessing progress on the implementation of the industrial strategy.