Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Willetts and Paul Burstow(10 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)
10. What estimate his Department has made of the contribution of life sciences to the UK economy.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The life sciences industry contributes more than £13 billion a year to the UK economy. Since the launch of our life sciences strategy, industry has been investing £1 billion a year in Britain.
Paul Burstow
Sutton is home to the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden. Together, they have a formidable global reputation in the fight against cancer. As part of its Opportunity Sutton programme, my council has a shared plan with those two organisations to develop a life science cluster. Will the Minister meet me and representatives of those organisations to discuss how the Department can facilitate the co-ordination of policy across Government to secure that vision and the 4,000 extra jobs that will come with it?
Mr Willetts
I would be happy to meet my right hon. Friend. That is exactly the kind of initiative that the Mayor of London envisaged when he launched his MedCity initiative earlier this week. We look forward to a golden triangle that links Oxford, Cambridge and Sutton.