Regulatory Approval for New Products and Services

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for those comments. She is absolutely right: we can never move too fast as long as we can do it in a safe and appropriate way. My noble friend Lord O’Shaughnessy’s report was enormously helpful in driving change, particularly for clinical trials. We want to ensure we are the number one place for trials in Europe, if not the world, because it benefits the patients, the NHS and our economy. I will just touch on some of the reviews that have recently been undertaken; it is worth highlighting them and engaging with noble Lords on them. There were reports on digital technologies—that was published last year—on green industries, on life sciences, on the creative industries, on advanced manufacturing and, fundamentally, there was a cross-cutting report on how we can have pro-innovation policies.

I also refer back to my fundamental role, which is to bring smarter regulation into the Government. I ask Peers on all sides of the House to please come to me with their ideas. Let this not be Oral Questions but oral suggestions on how we can reduce regulatory burdens on business and boost our economy.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, in that spirit, I refer to my interest in the register. The Minister said quite clearly that the Government are committed to regulating for growth and innovation. Will he also ensure that regulators have at the forefront of what they are doing ensuring that those they regulate are delivering services, facilities or products that are properly resilient and prepared for the various threats that as a nation we face?

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I completely agree with the noble Lord’s point and I absolutely take it to heart. The point is to see regulation as a service, where we have to take the appropriate action to ensure that the investors, the companies, the consumer and the broader environment of the body politic can work in harmony. It is that balance that we seek to achieve by promoting the growth agenda. Importantly, that is not at the expense of the protection of the consumer or of our overall habitats and environments. It is essential that people realise that we are looking for positive economic growth through better regulation, rather than derogating from our responsibility to ensure that regulation is truly to ensure that the consumer market functions properly.