A Parliamentary and Scientific Committee event

The September 2025 meeting of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee crystallised the United Kingdom’s dual position in quantum technology: a world-class science base and an urgent need to convert research leadership and startup companies into industrial strength.

Speakers from academia, industry and government presented clear evidence of early adoption—Royal Navy quantum clocks, BT and Toshiba work on quantum communications, HSBC applying quantum methods to risk modelling, and pilot uses in improving police response times, chemical analysis and fusion research—set against roughly £1.1 billion of public investment over the past decade and a burgeoning startup ecosystem.

At the same time, panellists flagged practical constraints—insufficient fabrication capacity, a precarious teacher/talent pipeline and the risk of overseas acquisition—underscoring the importance of targeted industrial strategy and retention mechanisms such as the National Security and Investment regime.

For the engineers of the City, the Committee’s conclusions point to clear priorities:

• Invest in up-scaling and domestic production,
• support STEM outreach and teacher supply,
• develop and embed ethical standards in deployment, and
• pursue selective international partnerships that safeguard strategic interests.

By concentrating effort on high-impact niches—compact clocks, specialised sensors and other areas where the UK can realistically achieve dominance—our community can help ensure invention is industrialised here, translating scientific excellence into resilient national capability and commercial opportunity.

Liveryman Eur Ing Samuel Marchant

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee is an All-Party Parliamentary Group funded by Membership – for details go to https://www.scienceinparliament.org.uk/

10 September 2025