Manufacturing union leader calls for more IT investment

Britain's manufacturing sector suffers from low investment in IT, according to Roger Lyons, general secretary of the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSFU). In response, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is considering taskforces that will prioritise salvaging troubled companies over tackling investment.

In a report from the national press, Lyons called for the creation of a manufacturing taskforce to encourage investment into high-tech capabilities and to stamp out the culture of 'short-termism' common in companies from this sector.

Government policy, on the other hand, seems to be cure rather than prevention. A DTI spokeswoman said: "Peter Mandelson, DTI minister, is considering a taskforce to serve the manufacturing industry, but this will focus more on salvaging problem areas rather than investment."

Lyons also recommended tax incentives to encourage higher IT investment, but again the DTI response was not overwhelmingly positive. "Tax incentives are the remit of the Inland Revenue, not the DTI, which tends to use regional grant systems instead to encourage investment. An example of this is the Siemens factory in North East of England," said the spokeswoman.

Siemens announced a highly publicised fabrication plant closure last month. In this case, the grant system brought instability in the long term.

The MSFU was unavailable for further comment on the DTI's response to Lyons' recommendations.