Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
3rd Report - Flying Blind: Innovation, Growth and the Regions
Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
HC 538
Published 13 March 2026
Recommendations
19
Acknowledged
The Government should consider making funding to build the capacity of technology transfer offices contingent...
Recommendation
The Government should consider making funding to build the capacity of technology transfer offices contingent on their ability to deliver significant volume of throughput and provide evidence of success in building capacity and developing skills in their local economies. (Recommendation,Paragraph …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the overall intent of the recommendation and highlights initiatives to improve access to finance for deep tech companies and strengthen specialist investor capability through the British Business Bank and venture capital fellowships, but does not commit to making funding for technology transfer offices contingent on their performance metrics.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
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23
Acknowledged
The Government should expand the Proof of Concept Fund and ensure it meets the needs...
Recommendation
The Government should expand the Proof of Concept Fund and ensure it meets the needs of existing or emerging clusters of innovation. It should also increase the size of available awards to £1 million. (Recommendation, Paragraph 78)
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees with the objective but does not commit to expanding the Proof of Concept Fund or increasing award sizes. Instead, it highlights the work of the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) in addressing regulatory barriers and refers to wider departmental and cross-government activities, including the Industrial Strategy and DSIT's work on regional innovation ecosystems, as partially addressing the recommendation.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
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Conclusions (4)
7
Conclusion
Acknowledged
While the most cutting-edge science may be best carried out in established centres of excellence, as Lord Vallance put it, there are centres of excellence across the country, in Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Newcastle – amongst others. Traditional innovation hubs like London, Oxford and Cambridge are …
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees with the principle of tracking regional R&D impact, stating it is strengthening transparency by publishing regional data and an Innovation Clusters Map with future annual updates, and will continue to refine data over time.
38
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The establishment of the Regulatory Innovation Office is a welcome recognition of the need to tackle regulatory barriers to innovation, particularly at the cutting edge. We believe that it can play a significant role in ensuring that innovation benefits the whole of the UK, beyond the and we will be …
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, confirming the Regulatory Innovation Office's focused role in identifying and addressing regulatory barriers for priority technologies and its annual reporting of progress and impact, while noting broader issues are handled by wider government activity.
40
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Local leaders, including but not only mayoral authorities, are pivotal to regional innovation ecosystems and regional growth. Their proximity to stakeholders, understanding of their areas, and ability to convene cross- sector partnerships position them uniquely to drive growth. Devolved national, regional and local authorities could play a greater role in …
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees with the observation, highlighting ongoing initiatives like the English Devolution White Paper and Investment Zones to support local leaders in unlocking regional innovation potential. It references DSIT and UKRI reforms to build partnerships and increase regional R&D funding, but does not commit to new initiatives for local authorities matching UKRI funding.
41
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund’s ambition to give regions more control over innovation policy is welcome, but it falls short on scale, with just £500 million over five years, or around 0.5% of the science budget. (Conclusion, Paragraph 130) 49
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund as a starting point and the UK's largest cluster-focused regional programme, stating it will monitor outcomes and build upon it if successful, but does not commit to increasing its scale.