Science and Innovation Strategy

Baroness Hayman Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I echo the congratulations to my noble friend Lord Patel on securing this debate and on what he had to say in introducing it. That has saved those of us with a short time in which to speak, who have had to cut a great deal from our own speeches.

I should declare my interests as set out in the register, particularly as chair of an academic health science centre, Cambridge University Health Partners.

I welcome Sir John Bell’s work on the life sciences industrial strategy and the ambition for this country that it represents. It reflects the inclusive process, with the whole sector—industry, academia, the health service, the medical charities, pharma companies and biotech—contributing to its recommendations. I also welcome its recognition of the NHS as a key differentiator for the UK in this field going forward, and the importance of integrating the NHS in two ways: as a basis for innovation and discovery, and as a beneficiary of that innovation and discovery.

We now need to focus attention on how to deliver on the recommendations, including the sector deal. These are long-term aspirations. They will take long-term commitment, and it is important that we understand where the accountability for the delivery of these policies will be. Many suggestions have been made about accountability mechanisms, and perhaps the Minister can refer to them in his wind-up speech.

In my time this evening, I want to discuss some of the infrastructures needed to deliver this strategy. One set of infrastructures concerns the position post-Brexit in relation to Europe. This is predominantly about people. Anyone who visits one of the leading scientific labs in this country will see people working there from all over the European Union. We need those people not only when they work here, but as collaborators when they are back in their home countries. It is crucial that their uncertainties be resolved if we are to ensure ongoing success in this area.

There is the question of the large amounts of money coming into research in this country through European funding. The European Medicines Agency, which was located in this country, has been a huge benefit, but it will no longer be located here. We have to understand how that will be smoothly and effectively replaced. There is the question of how the forthcoming clinical trials directive will be implemented here. Of course, there is the general data protection regulation, which we are looking at in the context of the Data Protection Act. So, there is a whole range of infrastructures.

I turn to Cambridge, which is an exemplar. It is a globally recognised life sciences cluster, one of the largest and most important in the UK, as the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, has said. The core of the cluster includes Cambridge University; three nationally leading NHS foundation trusts; outstanding medical research charities, including Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and the MRC—which recently added a 19th Nobel Prize winner to the cluster’s tally since 2000—and leading life sciences industry partners, including the pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. There are also 431 life sciences companies working in the cluster. Beyond the Cambridge Biomedical Campus there are some 23 science and technology parks, including the famous Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton. This is a fantastic resource that will grow, but for it to do so, some very basic infrastructure issues need to be addressed.

This comes back to the problems we encounter in many other areas of life, such as housing and transport. We are not going to get the scientists, technicians and health service employees if there is nowhere in Cambridge they can afford to live. They are not going to be able to travel in from the rest of the eastern region if there are no transport links. Therefore, things like the new railway station, Cambridge South, at the biomedical campus are tremendously important. If we get those right, we can show how investment in an already globally recognised cluster can support and enhance the rest of the eastern region. In particular, we should look at developing technology institutes with a focus on STEM subjects. If we get that right, we can not only nurture the jewels in the crown but create wealth regionally and for the nation as a whole.