Get public-private partnerships right for target-oriented growth

The UK's new government should engage the private sector with deals that achieve public objectives

- MARIANA MAZZUCATO

The UK's Labour government has given serious thought to the public investment needed to get the economy back on track after 14 years of austerity, neglect of social infrastructure and capital flight triggered by Brexit and economic uncertainty. The situation demands a new strategy to tackle big problems like child poverty, health inequities, a weak industrial base and struggling public infrastructure.

What should this look like? The UK department for business and trade's 'green paper' titled 'Invest 2035' is a promising start. In my own response during the public consultation period, I stressed that an industrial strategy should be oriented around key missions like achieving net-zero emissions, rather than specific sectors, as London appears to be doing; while it has set itself five 'missions,' they seem more like goals with some targets, rather than being central to the way government and industry work together.

For Labour to deliver on its agenda, it must get its public-private partnerships (PPPs) right. Past collaborations in the UK had the state overpaying and private sector under-delivering. After the Brexit referendum, for example, the government gave Nissan £61 million to make cars in the UK. But Nissan still abandoned a planned expansion at its Sunderland plant and the promised jobs never materialized.