The importance of investment in physics R&D was promoted in a fringe IOP/The Industry Forum meeting at the Labour party conference. The Chair, Anjana Ahuja, highlighted that physics-based industries contribute 11% to UK GDP and 10% to employment. Covering all the bases, the panel included Peter Stephens of Arm, a true UK tech success story, Robert Lamb of the IOP and the research community, Professor of Physics Matthew Brookes from Nottingham University and Jo Slota-Newson from the VC sector. Chi Onwurah MP, newly elected Chair of the Digital, Innovation and Technology Select Committee gave her endorsement of the importance of physics.

‘Tackling our immigration issues’ was the topic of the recent Industry Forum expert roundtable led by Stephen Kinnock MP, Shadow Minister for Immigration. The meeting was sponsored by Lowick a leading reputation management and public affairs consultancy closely aligned with Labour. Kevin McKeever the founder and managing director of Lowick welcomed guests to their new offices close to Tate Modern. Stephen Kinnock identified the need for an immigration system that delivers for the economy and builds social cohesion. The approach of a Labour government would focus equally on compassion and control. The discussion, with people from business and academia, ranged across current bureaucratic failings in providing statistics and processing asylum seekers, the serious skills shortages arising from the end of free movement after Brexit, and the desirability to take the heat out of the current debate. It is clearly necessary to concentrate on improving home office efficiency and unifying border control resources to combat people smuggling. Reducing the backlog of asylum seekers and the cost of housing them would have the major benefit of restoring much of the foreign aid budget to help with reducing some of the problems that lead to asylum applications. In summary, systematically addressing the root problems looks like the most promising way to tackle UK immigration issues. It would be welcomed by UK business and academia.

The critical importance of managing the business of the House of Commons is not widely understood. Should Labour win the coming general election, this vital role would likely fall to the current Shadow Leader of the House, Lucy Powell. So, this week Lucy Powell, clearly relishing the prospect, led a wide-ranging Industry Forum roundtable on how she would approach this challenge. An incoming reformist government would clearly have a lot of work to do in rapidly turning policies into draft bills and then legislation. In addition, there are major challenges for big cross-departmental projects or missions which are currently not well managed by the Cabinet Office. It is important to restore standards in public life and restore controls on the executive exercised by, for example, the select committees. Large issues such as House of Lords reform will also need to be considered. Bearing in mind the current poor fiscal situation all changes will need to be accomplished without the luxury of generous budgets. The business audience at the roundtable could fully appreciate these constraints; the potential bonus for Lucy Powell and Labour is that they also indicated that clear and consistent plans and policies would be valuable to business and could be the key to unlocking private investment in the UK. This meeting was hosted by Workday a leading provider of cloud based financial and personnel management services.

Joining us for an Industry Forum roundtable hosted by Workday, in March, the Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham, argued that addressing Civil Service governance and accountability shortcomings should be a top priority for the new, post general election, UK Government. From his government commissioned ‘Independent Review of the Governance and Accountability of the Civil Service’, he quoted some key findings:

• The arrangements for governance and accountability of the Civil Service are unclear, opaque and incomplete.
• There has been a failure over decades to implement or sustain uncontroversial reforms and improvements.
• There should be a comprehensive and transparent scheme of delegation of the Prime Minister’s statutory power to manage the Civil Service and the appointment of a dedicated and full-time head of the Civil Service.

The significance of these points, coming from a consummate Westminster insider with experience at the top levels of government and business, was not lost on those attending. It became clear that for the UK to tackle its many challenges and become an agile, prosperous State with good public services, Lord Maude’s findings need to be addressed as a bi-partisan priority.

The climate crisis, the pandemic, the economic crisis, and new technologies are all transforming requirements for UK public and private transport. Furthermore, the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2 and underfunding of road maintenance have made road transport a central issue for UK business, and society as a whole. There is an urgent need to have clarity on planning for road transport including road funding and pricing, rollout of electric charging points and the control of pollution in urban areas. Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Transport (Roads) Minister will lead a roundtable on ‘Key issues for UK road transport’.

Climate change is having a profound impact on the water sector. It is raising costs and causing wider concerns for businesses and householders alike. Water supplies, flood planning and water pollution are all examples of matters that require long-term planning and investment. Ruth Jones MP, Shadow Minister for Environmental Protection will lead a roundtable to discuss such issues.