The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has published a report called ‘Bleeding to death: the science and technology growth emergency’, warning the government that Britain’s failure to maintain and expand its science and technology enterprises has now reached a crisis point and is causing the UK economy to bleed.
The committee warns that without urgent and fundamental reforms, the government risks acting too late to address the UK’s long-standing failure to scale up and preserve the economic benefits of scientific and technological research and development.
Lord Mair, chairman of the House of Lords science and technology committee, said: “Ever since the global financial crisis, productivity growth in the UK has been slow and real wages have remained roughly flat.
“The failure to retain more of the economic benefits of scientific and technological research and development efforts is a fatal flaw in any growth strategy.”
He added: “The challenges facing the UK economy are serious, but with decisive and swift action from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, this committee believes we can overcome the challenges.”
“There is huge potential to seize this moment of technological and geopolitical opportunity and drive the growth the UK desperately needs.”
Key conclusions and recommendations of the report
Clearer leadership from the Prime Minister and Prime Minister
This will be achieved through a new high-level National Science and Technology Growth Council, which will drive reforms to support the growth of science and technology and the scaling up of UK businesses.
Reforming visa policies that are counterproductive for global human resources
The committee says a government that is serious about growth and wealth creation cannot continue to impose expensive visa barriers for the scientists and entrepreneurs it wants to attract to the UK.
If talented scientists or entrepreneurs want to move to the UK, they say Britain should roll out the red carpet, not red tape. Nor can we allow the life sciences industry to collapse for short-term financial reasons.
Pension funds need to invest more
The committee highlighted that a significant decline in domestic pension fund investment in the UK over the past few decades has been a major factor in the economic downturn, leaving promising science and technology companies hungry for capital to scale up and forced to look overseas for investment.
Make condominium house renovation even faster
The Lords Committee strongly supports Mansion House reform and is calling for it to be brought forward even more quickly. This suggests the government is considering mandatory measures or non-mandatory measures, such as reversing tax breaks, to encourage pension funds to invest in UK science and technology companies.
As with many local government pension funds, consolidation of defined contribution pension funds should be pursued vigorously.
Additionally, investments in UK-based technology companies should be closely tracked to ensure that reforms are benefiting the sector.
public procurement reform
The committee recommends reforms to public procurement, including a target to require departments to spend on innovative UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises, emulating the US SBIR initiative.
Ministers need to ensure that officials can take risks on new technologies and contract with companies that can help them grow and establish a presence in the UK.
Expansion of public investment institutions
The commission argues there is a strong case for merging public investment institutions such as Innovate UK, the British Business Bank (BBB) and the National Wealth Fund (NWF) into a single entity and increasing their size to compete with overseas sovereign wealth funds.
These institutions need to be significantly scaled up and reformed to establish a consistent and effective system for providing the domestic scale capital and technical due diligence that is currently lacking.
Easier movement between industry, academia and government
The commission says changes to career structures, pay and incentives are needed to ease mobility between academia, business and government, thereby giving each sector ready access to the skills and networks of other sectors.
Seize opportunities for scientific and technological research and development
Overall, the report encourages governments and policymakers to further seize the huge opportunities for technological and economic growth that are currently slipping through the cracks.
Science, research and innovation must now be firmly at the center of the government’s recovery agenda.
It will not only lead the UK in discovery, it will ensure the prosperity of all regions and make innovation a national mission.
Source link
