Financing and Scaling UK Science and Technology – Inquiry Launched

20 March 2025

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is launching an inquiry into Financing and Scaling UK Science and Technology: Innovation, Investment, Industry.

Background

Science and technology are essential to the UK’s future prosperity and wellbeing. The UK has a world-class research base, universities, and a growing scene of spin-out and start-up companies. However, the Government acknowledges that the UK “can struggle to translate” its strengths in research, development, and innovation into UK-based companies, and economic growth. The backdrop for this inquiry is fifteen years of meagre growth, despite significant R&D investment, and a wider sense that the UK often fails to capitalise on its excellent science and technology base. This is particularly true when it comes to the establishment of large domestic technology companies, which often start up here but move overseas.

We want to understand why this is happening and how we can fix it, including whether there are international models for science, technology and innovation policy that the UK can learn from. We are interested in a broad range of issues that span the research, development and commercialisation process, from the earliest technology readiness levels, across the ‘Valley of Death’, and through to the large technology companies that the UK, broadly, lacks.

Government strategies, such as the Science and Technology Framework and the forthcoming Industrial Strategy, have attempted to provide solutions, and a range of policy initiatives have been proposed. The UK and its science and technology sector face new challenges from constraints on public expenditure, geopolitical challenges which may shift state R&D expenditure more to defence, and a mix of challenges and opportunities from AI. In this context, and under a new Government, we want to ask: does the UK have an appropriate science and technology strategy for this rapidly changing world, and is there appropriate coordination across government to implement it?

Our inquiry and its priorities

In this context, the Committee is launching an inquiry into Financing and Scaling UK Science and Technology: Innovation, Investment, Industry

We would like to explore strategic questions around the UK’s science and technology priorities; and the role of public sector investment, private sector investment, and governmental policy levers to help scale-up companies and translate basic research into applications that benefit the UK’s public services, society, and economy. We want to hear from science policy experts, entrepreneurs, businesses, researchers, investors, research performing organisations––any stakeholders in this area.

Questions

The Committee will explore:

The challenges of scaling UK science and technology; international comparisons, and how the Government makes decisions around S&T to maximise benefit to the UK
Strategic priorities for UK science and technology in a changing world; cross-government coordination on delivering this strategy
The structure of the UK research and innovation landscape and its ability to bridge the ‘Valley of Death’
Private sector investors and the UK’s capital markets
The role of public sector late-stage investors like the National Wealth Fund
The Government’s policy levers (such as procurement) to help companies scale-up

A full list of detailed questions and guidance for submissions can be found in the Call for Evidence (see link above).

Chair’s Quote

The Chair of the Lords Science and Technology Committee, Lord Mair CBE, said:
“The UK has a fantastic science and technology research base and produces world-class research and innovation, but often struggles to translate this excellence into world-leading companies that stay here and grow here. The science and technology sector is facing new challenges from geopolitical and technological shifts, as well as a challenge to demonstrate improvements in the economy and people’s lives as the UK tries to turn the corner on a long period of sluggish growth and declining living standards.

Our inquiry is aiming to investigate whether the UK has the right strategy to ensure that our brightest scientific ideas and technologies can scale and benefit the UK’s economy and public services. We want to explore international comparisons, and the policy levers that the Government has at its disposal to try to fix the longstanding challenge of scaling technologies and companies here. Whether you’re a researcher, entrepreneur, investor, scientist, policy expert, in academia, policy, or industry, we want to hear your insights on how the UK can better finance and scale science and technology to compete on the global stage.”

Timeline

The Committee invites written contributions to its inquiry by 11.59 pm on Friday 9 May 2025.

Further information

Image: Royal Academy of Engineering - pixabay