Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support innovation in novel diagnostic technologies through the Life Sciences Sector Plan, published on 16 July 2025.

The Life Sciences Sector Plan focuses on enabling world-class R&D, making the UK an outstanding place to start, scale and invest in life sciences, and driving healthcare innovation and reform.

To ensure the NHS is equipped to adopt innovation at pace and scale, we must futureproof our regulatory landscape, streamline procurement and accelerate adoption and spread.

Targeted policies will drive this agenda forward, including the Regional Health Innovation Zones, which will be empowered to experiment, test and generate evidence on implementing innovation. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) will accelerate the transition from ideation to commercialisation for novel diagnostic products and provide wraparound support to connect innovators to testbeds, regulators, and procurement processes. We will also further expand our significant investments in UK health data and genomics capabilities.