The Science and Technology Committee today welcomed the
Government’s industrial strategy Green Paper, but said that it
could give more room for discussing its links with Brexit. That
means that the industrial strategy is not yet being fully
configured to shape our Exit negotiations, but it will also have
to be progressively updated to reflect the results of those
negotiations as they proceed.
MP, Chair of the Science
and Technology Committee, said:
“We agreed our committee report on the same day that
the Prime Minister triggered Article 50. Brexit will present
opportunities and risks for our economy and for the science and
innovation that supports it. A regulatory regime that is
well-crafted and tuned to our post-Brexit international research
and trading relationships—both with Europe and globally—will be
essential. The Government has an opportunity to do more to
strengthen the links between the industrial strategy and Brexit
as the Exit negotiations now get under way. That will be vitally
important for keeping the Government’s industrial strategy
relevant and hooked-up to the opportunities presented by the
evolving Brexit negotiations.”
The Committee also repeat their call for the Government to
give a firm commitment to EU researchers working and studying in
the UK that they will continue to have a secure position here
post-Brexit. The Government told the Committee previously that it
could not give such a unilateral commitment but that a reciprocal
deal on this was a high priority, and the Prime Minister repeated
that position in her Article 50 statement on 29 March.
The Committee welcomes the Government’s Autumn Statement
pledge of an additional £2 billion a year of science and research
funding which, the Committee says, will be a valuable
contribution to maintaining the country's world-leading science
status and help maintain the UK as an attractive location for
research.
MP, Chair of the Science
and Technology Committee, said:
“The Government has significantly increased science
funding, which will put us in a better position post-Brexit to
attract skilled researchers and collaborative science projects. I
want the Government to see that as an initial investment towards
meeting a target—for the UK to be spending 3% of GDP on
R&D—that our Committee has repeatedly pushed
for.”
“While it is too soon to know whether Brexit will end
up bringing less or more inward science investment to the UK in
the long-term, the Government should be ready to make good any
net shortfall in the short-term with further funding for
science.”
The Committee also calls for the Government to complement
its raft of initiatives to increase STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths) skills, including the new further
education T' level, by scaling-up existing local STEM-promoting
initiatives. Further education reforms aimed at raising STEM
skills should also reflect not just what employers need but also
evidence on what initiatives are most effective in increasing and
sustaining young people's interest in science and what really
influences their study subject choices.
