Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Recommendation 26
7th Report - Industrial Strategy
Published 6 Jun 2025
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Industrial Strategy All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Department for Business & Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology now conduct a review of the UK’s public research and innovation institutions to ensure they are in alignment with the industrial strategy and that there is clear institutional leadership of research and development for the eight priority sectors, for example by ensuring a lead Catapult in each sector. In particular, the Government should focus on ensuring that the UK has an effective system in place to help UK firms commercialise their innovations in the UK. We recommend the review looks at the lessons the UK can learn from institutions in other countries, such as Fraunhofer Centres in Germany. (Recommendation, Paragraph 113)
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, 7th Report - Industrial Strategy (HC 727), 6 June 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 September 2025 (deadline 6 August 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's ten tests as metrics to assess progress and responds to each recommendation, agreeing in several areas while stating that it has no current plans to change the Regulatory Innovation Office.
- On measuring progress, the government "agrees that there must be clear measures in place" and says the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council will oversee monitoring and evaluation and report annually.
- On putting the Industrial Strategy Council on a statutory footing, the government agrees this is an important step and commits to doing so "when parliamentary time allows", with provisions in the IS Bill.
- On the Regulatory Innovation Office, the government says: "There are not current plans to change the Department or scope of the RIO."
- On the Prime Minister chairing the Growth Mission Board, the government says the Board is chaired by the Chancellor and the Prime Minister "is not a member of the Board" but engages frequently by other means.