Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)

My Lords, this has been an excellent debate. I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response. I know this debate comes at the end of yet another busy week for her—handling the data Bill and the Employment Rights Bill, and she has just referred to being at London Tech Week too. She talked about a lot of activity coming from the Government, and I hope she can carve out enough time in her schedule over the next few months to make sure the activity leads to the outcomes and results that are much needed in this area. Speaking as a former Minister, I know what it is like to think that it is all happening because we have said it is happening, but it needs a lot of concentrated supervision. I thank all noble Lords who have contributed. It has been fascinating and heartening to hear noble Lords cover topics that I did not and that are so important to this debate. My noble friend Lord Hamilton raised energy right at the start, but we have also heard about skills, the importance of data and government procurement. Government procurement is particularly important to emphasise, because not only does procurement—rather than grants—more often help the success of these companies but it is an important aspect to the deployment and adoption of the new technology. It is an area where even more focus is needed from the Government, to make sure that companies can get the access to contracts that they deserve. I congratulate my noble friends Lord Massey and Lord Evans on their maiden speeches. Both have played significant roles in the Conservative Party and have demonstrated today their strong credentials as contributors to this House. My noble friend Lord Evans was modest in his mention of the work he does to support Women2Win. He plays a big part in helping women who are novice politicians in their preparation for the daunting task of facing selection meetings. My noble friend Lord Massey gave an impressive set of recommendations to unlock more investment capital, and his analysis of the barriers that deter risk-taking was very powerful. He referenced the FCA and financial regulation as problems in this area. Although he is not in his place, it is worth me giving a plug to the report published today by the Financial Services Regulation Committee, which my noble friend Lord Forsyth chairs; it is very much about regulation in the financial sector and what it needs to do. My noble friend Lord Willetts, the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, and the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, referred to the trio of Select Committee reports on the challenge of scale-ups. My noble friend Lady Fall referred to a report this week from the Tony Blair Institute on the topic of scale-ups. All of this shows that the challenge of scaling up in AI and creative tech—and, indeed, the tech sector more broadly—is not going away. We have enough understanding now of the obstacles and how to deal with them. As my noble friend Lord Willetts said, if we focus on the companies that have the potential to scale rapidly, the challenge should be manageable. Even if we have grappled with it now for more than 10 years, there is just too much at stake for us not to succeed. To finish, I know it is a bit of a cliché but it is true that it has been a privilege to chair the Communications and Digital Select Committee. I thank noble Lords for their very kind words about me today. I also thank again the colleagues I have worked with, and particularly the committee staff, both the current team and their predecessors—they really are superb. I wish my esteemed successor, the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, great success; I am sure that the committee will thrive under her chairmanship. Finally, I thank all the people I have met from the tech, media, creative and telecom sectors over the last three years. I am full of admiration for them and all they do to advance their businesses and contribute to the economy and our society, and I wish them continued success.