Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support the life sciences sector.

This summer the Government published the Life Sciences Sector Plan, setting out how we will strengthen one of the UK’s most important sectors. The 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. Backed by up to £2 billion of public investment alongside funding from UKRI and NIHR, the UK is already securing multibillion-pound private investment, expanding manufacturing, streamlining regulation and clinical trials, and building new research infrastructure. The recent UK-US trade deal on pharmaceuticals will also ensure that British-based pharmaceutical and medical technology firms have the lowest-tariff access to the US market in the world, a major competitive advantage. The deal will also allow more NHS patients to access cutting edge new innovations.