Many of you will have seen that last month the Prime Minister created the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Britain is one of the top international performers in this sector and I think it is right that we have a Government Department that focuses on this. Science and technology is absolutely critical to the UK’s future prosperity and security, and to the health and wellbeing of our citizens and our environment.
Recently, the Department published the UK science and technology framework, which sets out our goals and vision for science and technology until 2030. The delivery of this new framework will begin immediately with an initial raft of projects worth around £500 million, of which £370 million is new money. This will help to ensure that the UK has the skills and infrastructure to take a global lead in game-changing technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence.
Having sat on the Science and Technology Committee for the past three years, I very much welcome the creation of the Department.
I was glad to learn from the new Department's new Secretary of State, Michelle Donelan MP, that plenty of lessons have been learned from the pandemic and, in particular, from the success of the vaccines taskforce under Kate Bingham in cutting through red tape to deliver innovation quickly and successfully.