Digital Technology: Greater London

(asked on 1st June 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to (a) foster digital innovation and (b) maintain London as a key global capital market and fintech centre.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 13th June 2022

Digital innovation is a major priority for the Government and the UK has a world leading tech sector valued at over $1 trillion. To foster cutting-edge innovation, at the 2021 Autumn Budget and Spending Review the Chancellor announced an increase in public research and development investment to £20bn by 2024/25, including £1.1bn for core Innovate UK programmes targeting business innovation. At Spring Statement 2022, the Chancellor went further in support of digital innovation by announcing reforms to R&D tax credits which will expand qualifying costs to include data and cloud computing.

The UK is well known internationally as a hub for high quality capital markets backed by strong and effective regulation. Last year, the Chancellor launched the Wholesale Markets Review (WMR) with the aim to deliver a rulebook that is fair, outcomes-based and supports competitiveness, whilst ensuring the UK maintains the highest regulatory standards.

In addition, a sweeping set of reforms to sharpen the UK’s competitive advantage in financial services is underway. As set out in the Queen's Speech, the upcoming Financial Services and Markets Bill will implement the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework (FRF) Review as well as a series of important initiatives underpinning the Government’s ambitious vision for the financial services sector.

Finally, innovation and technology are central to the Government’s vision for the future of the UK’s financial services sector. The Government and regulators are taking forward the recommendations of the recent Kalifa Review of how government, regulators and industry can maximise the future growth of the fintech sector across the UK. In particular, on 29 October 2021, the Government announced £5 million of seed funding for a new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) as part of the Spending Review.

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