Economy: The Growth Plan 2022

Lord Patel Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, on her powerful maiden speech and I look forward to hearing more from her. I also wish the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Birmingham well in his retirement from this House. I join others in saying that we will miss his contributions.

It is widely recognised that innovations drive the economy. America’s ability and genius for innovation is estimated to contribute to 50% of its annual rise in GDP. The United Kingdom is a world leader in science and research, with some of the world’s top universities. Our strength in science and ability to innovate was evidenced during the pandemic. Our biotech industry alone contributes nearly £50 billion a year to UK GDP and employs over 50,000 people. In life sciences today the UK leads in gene and cell therapies, genomic science and cancer research, including areas of immunotherapy and messenger RNA-related technology, to mention some.

The ABPI estimates that investment in life sciences in the United Kingdom would increase GDP by another £68 billion over the next 25 years. Apart from our strengths in life sciences, other areas of science that the UK excels at and has the potential to deliver innovations in are the next generation of batteries and fuel cells, artificial intelligence, data science, digital technology, microchip design, and in many areas of environmental science, to list just a few.

The last two Prime Ministers strongly supported science, research and innovation. The previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson wanted the UK to be a science and technology superpower and a world centre for innovation by 2030. Academia and industry welcomed the vision articulated in the government report UK Innovation Strategy: Leading the Future By Creating It, published by BEIS in July 2021. This and the creation of ARIA—the Advanced Research and Invention Agency—demonstrated the Government’s commitment to science. By the way, it was a big coup for the Government to get somebody of the status of Ilan Gur from California to be chief executive officer of ARIA. I wish him well. To deliver on the vision articulated in the innovation strategy report and grow the economy will now need a laser-like focus on implementation, across government departments.

The Government’s commitment to increase R&D funding to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 and an ambition to increase it to 3% of GDP by 2030 have been widely welcomed by academia and industry. It is important that this commitment is honoured. I hope the Minister can confirm that that will be so.

What is my concern? We finally have a Minister of State for Science. I wish the Minister, Nusrat Ghani, well, and know that the science and technology community will be willing to give her all the assistance she needs to make her job a success. However, the fact that she will not attend Cabinet meetings means that the position does not have the status it needs and deserves; in addition, a Cabinet sub-committee, the National Science and Technology Council, chaired by the previous Prime Minister, will no longer continue, gives the impression that the current Prime Minister does not value science nor its potential contribution to economic growth. I hope that the Minister can provide reassurance. Can he also say who will be responsible for driving the Government’s innovation strategy across all government departments?