L

Lord Kamall (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 11 September 2025

Debate

Merck Research Site

Contribution

My Lords, the Minister will be aware, because I have raised this issue with him personally, that when I was the Life Sciences Minister, I wanted to work with other parts of government which were involved in life sciences. When I asked my private office to do a survey of government, it found someone in the Treasury, someone in No. 10 and someone in DIT. We insisted that all people in government working on life sciences should meet together so that we could have a co-ordinated approach. I understand that those meetings did not continue. I have raised this issue with the Minister. Have those meetings recommenced? When did all the relevant people in government on life sciences last met? My second question is about VPAG or VPAS. Given that many of the people who negotiate for the pharmaceutical companies have worked for the NHS, they will understand the challenges on both sides of the table. Could the Minister ask the industry for some blue-sky thinking, especially from those who have worked in the NHS and understand the pressures but are now working in private industry?

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