What the sources show.
We regularly read one of our sources from end to end. Most pieces update automatically, and each sets out its method at the end.
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Index · Start-ups and government · recalculated weekly
The Seam Start-up Access Index
How much of UK government’s attention goes to start-ups and scale-ups: one number every quarter since 2021, from ministers’ meetings and public contracts. 100 is the 2021 to 2025 average.
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No. 13 · Budget · 28 October 2026
The Budget, read for start-ups
A new Founders’ Relief charges 10% on up to £10m of gains, but the draft conditions are strict: a founding stake of 25%, five years of ownership, at least £10m of turnover and 15 staff, and fast growth or heavy R&D. Everyone else’s relief halves. Share option limits double for companies past EMI, and the British Business Bank gets more to invest. Most of it starts on 6 April 2027.
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No. 12 · Sectors: Climate and energy · data to October 2026
Climate and energy: less on wind farms, more on heating
27,368 records since July 2024 affect energy and utilities, the fourth busiest of 39 sectors. The biggest themes are heating, insulation and efficiency, net zero and climate and wind, solar and renewables. Growing fastest: public buildings, power and charging and heating, insulation and efficiency. It takes 5 times the typical sector’s share of “who checks it”.
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No. 11 · Sectors: Fintech and financial services · data to October 2026
Fintech and financial services: technology and payments are rising
15,527 records since July 2024 affect financial services, the 13th busiest of 39 sectors. The biggest themes are banks and building societies, the Budget, Treasury and public money and fintech, technology and AI. Growing fastest: fintech, technology and AI and payments and open banking. It takes 3 times the typical sector’s share of “who it meets”.
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No. 10 · AI policy · package of 24 October 2026
The £621m AI package, read for start-ups
Two thirds of the government’s new AI money goes on security. Six lines are real openings for a small firm, including a £25m cyber challenge fund and a wider Sovereign AI Fund. The money is confirmed at the Budget; expect the rules on who can apply in the weeks after.
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No. 9 · Technology in Parliament · debates to October 2026
From BT to AI: technology in Parliament since 1979
356,419 debates since 1979, each read and tagged. Science, technology and digital took 1.7% of policy debates in the 1979–83 Parliament and 5.8% in the current one. The words change, from computers to broadband to AI, but data, surveillance, ID cards and children’s screens keep coming back.
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No. 8 · Defence procurement · data to 4 November 2026
Defence procurement: more money, the same front door
2,129 Ministry of Defence contract awards since 2021. New-technology work made up 8.5% of them in 2025–26, against 10.0% in 2021–22. Four in ten MOD contracts go to a firm it has used in the past three years, against three in ten elsewhere. Start-ups took 5.6% of MOD wins, against 6.9% across the rest of government.
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No. 7 · Ministers’ meetings · meetings to July 2026
Who gets in the room: ministers, big corporates, start-ups and scale-ups
We read 45,914 meetings ministers recorded with outside organisations since January 2021, naming 127,873 organisations. 17% were big corporates and 2.1% start-ups or scale-ups. HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays had 1,076 meetings between them, against 2,637 for all 1,361 start-ups and scale-ups. Big corporates’ share has hardly moved under four prime ministers. When a start-up does get in, it is usually one of a crowd.
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No. 6 · Consultations · data to 1 November 2026
Did they listen? What happens after a UK government consultation
We read 529 government responses to public consultations. 38% said the plan would go ahead with changes, 18% as proposed and 2% not at all. 24% were answered within the 12 weeks government aims for, and 15% of those that closed over a year ago have no response at all.
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No. 5 · Sectors: Local government · data to October 2026
Local government: the most checked-up-on sector
24,104 records since July 2024 affect local government, the third busiest of 39 sectors. The biggest themes are audit, accounts and governance, data, IT and information rights and housing and homelessness. Growing fastest: buildings, repairs and energy and data, IT and information rights. It takes 13 times the typical sector’s share of “who checks it”.
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No. 4 · Sectors: Education and skills · data to October 2026
Education and skills: universities in Parliament, SEND in the contracts
37,453 records since July 2024 affect education and skills, the second busiest of 39 sectors. The biggest themes are universities, SEND and special schools and further education and colleges. Growing fastest: school transport and student finance. It takes 6 times the typical sector’s share of “what it buys”.
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No. 3 · Sectors: Health and social care · data to October 2026
Health and social care: one of the two busiest sectors in government
42,402 records since July 2024 affect health and social care, the busiest of 39 sectors. The biggest themes are adult social care, NHS structure and reform and GPs, pharmacy and dentistry. Growing fastest: NHS digital, data and AI and hospitals and equipment. It takes 5 times the typical sector’s share of “what it buys”.
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No. 2 · Government priorities · data to October 2026
What government talks about, and who is doing the talking
24,960 announcements, policy papers and consultations since the July 2024 election, weighted by who published them. Growth, defence and transport get the most senior attention, while the cost of living and devolution are rising fastest. No 10 publishes 5% of the documents and carries 15% of the weight. Under Andy Burnham, No 10 has turned to housing and transport.
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No. 1 · Procurement · data to 4 November 2026
What government is trying to buy, and who wins it
116,454 contract awards since 2021. AI, cyber security, net zero and NHS waiting lists are drawing in buyers fastest. Buying has grown most in software and repair and maintenance. In most markets the winner is a firm working for four public bodies or fewer, and start-ups win about 8% of contracts.
Guides by topic
Short guides to the rules start-ups ask about most, rebuilt every day from public records: the CMA’s digital markets regime, AI rules, the Online Safety Act, data protection, the Employment Rights Act, selling to government, grid connections, defence spending and product safety. Each one links to its sources.