The government's plan to put life sciences up in lights this Sunday ahead of the International investment Summit was somewhat overtaken by the news of the reorganisation of Keir Starmer's Number 10 team which dominated headlines. Nevertheless, it's been a busy week of announcements affecting our sector.
The BIA’s policy and public affairs team attended the conferences of the three major UK parties this year. This is a key point in the political calendar and allows us to highlight the sector through fringe events, meet policymakers, and get a sense of the political environment.
The shape of the political landscape that our sector will navigate this year became clear at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last week. The new Labour government will unveil its industrial strategy, hold a Global Investment Summit, and meet with the Life Science Council before the key moment of the Budget on 30 October.
The BIA has responded to the consultation on the Budget Impact Test (BIT) threshold. We welcome the proposal to increase the BIT threshold as this will help to ensure timely patient access to innovative medicines.
The BIA has responded to the HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's consultation on the Pension Investment Review.
The political party conference season is in full swing, and the BIA is out in force in Liverpool for the Labour Party conference this week. I'm heartened to see the focus in ministerial speeches and the fringe on topics close to our hearts. Read on for updates on the Lib Dem conference, West Streeting speech and Invest in Women Taskforce.
Our submission urges caution and careful consideration of the impacts on life sciences as the government determines how to move forward with the taxation of capital gains.
We call for stability and the retention of already established commitments and programmes including R&D tax relief, pensions reform, and various other funding mechanisms such as the UKRI and Innovate UK budgets.
With a little over eight weeks to go to London Life Sciences Week (LLSW), we are launching a new website - lifesciencesweek.london - and lifting the lid on all that is happening to make the UK the place to be for life sciences this November. Continue reading for updates on NHS, £12 million Innovate UK funding, and more!
This week I’ve been engaging with City and Government figures seeking to develop practical measures enabling UK life science to deliver our full growth potential. The key autumn dates remain the Government’s International Investment Summit on 14 October and the Budget on 30 October but the debate about what should be in this is already well underway.
It’s a back-to-school feel with a bang for me this week as the landscape of the Association’s work til Christmas comes into sharp focus. Read on for our proposals for a sector-by-sector approach to analyse the effectiveness of R&D tax reliefs, turning health into economic growth, pandemics and more!
The Chancellor’s Budget on 30 October is an opportunity to end short-termism, cut waste, and attract long-term investment to the UK economy with a sector-targeted R&D tax relief policy. However, changes should not be rushed and must be based on the best economic evidence.
Following on from our roundtable in April of this year, Amrita Saha (left) and Anabel Marin (right) from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) have written a blog discuss the lessons to be learnt from the UK's Covid-19 Vaccine Response.
This special summer newscast brings you up to date with the new UK government's engagement with life sciences, snapshots latest financing figures and showcases new BIA capacity through our new online presence.
I will watch the General Election this Thursday with great interest, like the rest of the country, and update you on the new ministers and members of Parliament next week. You can access the policy backgrounds of the main parties and view our webinar on what the campaign has taught us about what our sector should expect from the new parliament and government.
With fewer than twenty days to go and the manifestoes of the main parties now published, the BIA policy team pick apart what each party is pledging for the life science sector.
