Public Services & Delivery
58mentions · last 12 months↓
View full analysis →The Industry and Regulators Committee in the House of Lords examines how regulatory frameworks affect business growth and innovation across the UK economy. This select committee takes oral evidence from government departments, regulators, industry representatives and policy experts. The committee operates within the Lords to provide sustained scrutiny of regulation as a policy tool and its implementation by public bodies. Throughout early 2026 the committee conducted a major inquiry into regulators and growth, hearing from Treasury officials on the Regulators & Growth Action Plan, Department for Business and Trade ministers on regulatory reform strategy, and the Regulatory Innovation Office under Lord Willetts on cross-cutting approaches. The committee also examined specific sectors, taking evidence from the Financial Conduct Authority and Information Commissioner's Office on their approaches to balancing regulation with growth, alongside external reviews from DEFRA on regulatory burden. A particular focus emerged on how regulators address AI and innovation, with the committee exploring how sectoral regulators can support emerging technologies while maintaining appropriate oversight, drawing on both industry panels and regulatory perspectives.
23 sessions published in the last 12 months
Click any cell in the heatmap to see the sessions held that day and the insights extracted from them.
301 insights
14 Jul 2026
The committee scrutinised the Strategic Defence Review’s call for a new Government–industry partnership in defence, with Lord Robertson of Port Ellen and General (Ret'd) Sir Richard Barrons arguing that current procurement culture, bureaucracy and risk aversion still block fast adoption of innovation. They said the Defence Investment Plan is directionally right but too slow, gives weak demand signals to private capital and SMEs, and does not yet deliver the acquisition overhaul needed for war in the digital age. The witnesses pressed for more use of UK Defence Innovation, taskforce models, offtake commitments, exportable by-design equipment, and a clearer role for the City, regions and allies in financing and scaling capability. They also warned that sovereign control, AI governance and command-and-control resilience need careful balancing with interoperability and international law.
07 Jul 2026
The committee scrutinised how government and the MoD can shift from adversarial procurement to a genuine partnership with the defence industry, with strong emphasis on speed, acceptable risk, supplier diversity, supply-chain visibility, cyber resilience, and innovation pathways for SMEs. Witnesses argued that the key constraint is not capital but confidence in the UK defence market, and they backed earlier engagement, outcome-based procurement, and faster, more flexible testing and evaluation. Simon Galt described practical reforms already under way through UK Defence Innovation, the T&E innovation gateway, and long-term partnering arrangements, while also calling for more regulatory flexibility and sandbox-style approvals. Both panels warned that cyber risk, supply-chain opacity and overly rigid specifications remain major barriers, and they highlighted Germany, Poland, Australia and parts of the US as useful comparators.
30 Jun 2026
The committee examined how the defence industry could support a faster, more resilient partnership with government, focusing on SMEs in the supply chain, contract design, capital access, and surge capacity. The witnesses argued that MoD and primes rely too heavily on complex, risk-heavy, long-form contracting that disadvantages smaller firms, and called for standardised, proportionate SME contracts, capped liability, clearer demand signals, and faster routes akin to urgent operational requirements. They also stressed that maintaining defence capacity requires funding to keep labour, equipment and stock “warm”, and that government should do more to back upstream investment and reduce barriers to debt or equity finance. The witnesses further argued that supply-chain realism, skills pipelines, and a willingness to accept and learn from failure are needed if the UK is to ramp up production quickly in a crisis.
23 Jun 2026
The committee scrutinised how the Government and MoD can build a new partnership with defence SMEs, especially in drones and uncrewed systems. Witnesses argued that the current system is too bureaucratic, data-poor and risk-averse, and that the MoD should shift from buying kit to building an always-on industrial base with clearer sovereign-spend definitions, better reporting, simpler procurement, and more meaningful use of SMEs. They also pressed for more realistic test ranges, stronger regional support, and procurement that rewards UK resilience rather than lowest price alone.
16 Jun 2026
The committee scrutinised how the Government and defence industry can move from a transactional buyer-supplier model to an iterative capability partnership, with Tekever arguing that autonomy and uncrewed systems require faster engagement, more trust and procurement for capability rather than fixed kit. Witnesses praised progress such as the Rapid Capabilities Office bringing StormShroud into service in six to nine months and the aggressive NYX Apache timeframe, but said MoD procurement remains bureaucratic and slow relative to technology cycles. A major theme was regulation: Tekever said UK CAA and Military Aviation Authority processes are safety-focused but often too slow, especially for SMEs lacking access to segregated airspace, and called for more joined-up civil-military regulation and greater access to test sites. The witnesses also described UK supply-chain scaling, noting Tekever’s £400 million UK investment, 1,000-plus jobs, and more than 200 UK suppliers, while warning that sustaining drone capacity in a crisis would require government-supported always-on industrial, training and airspace access.
09 Jun 2026
The committee examined how the Government’s new defence-industrial partnership with industry is being implemented in practice, with strong evidence from ADS and Make UK that the strategic defence review is sound but is being held back by delayed funding, weak procurement reform and a culture in MoD that still favours risk aversion and complexity. Witnesses welcomed some reforms — the Defence Industrial Joint Council, segmental procurement, Commercial X, Defence Office for Small Business Growth, UK Defence Innovation and the new single-source rules — but argued these have not yet scaled or been properly resourced. They pressed for a ‘just in case’ procurement model, clearer demand signals, more UK and SME sourcing, faster test-and-evaluation and cyber standards, better coordination on regional growth deals and supply-chain resilience, and stronger top-level political leadership from No. 10, Parliament and the Treasury.
07 Jul 2026
16 Jun 2026