Government Departments: Communication with Industry and Commerce

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Monday 14th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord is wrong, as he is on so many of these matters. Of course, proper regulation is important, and we will shortly be considering the economic crime Bill, to clamp down on many of those practices. The noble Lord forgets that the City of London is one of the most successful financial centres in the world. It contributes billions of pounds to the British economy. He is always calling for more public expenditure; if he kills the City of London, he will have even less to spend.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con)]

My Lords, we all know that difficult decisions on tax and spend must be made, but 100 business and university leaders recently wrote to the Chancellor making it very clear that cuts in R&D would be a false economy, given the evidence-based role it plays in productivity and competitiveness. Will the Minister make it clear today that the Government will listen to those business leaders and that his department will fight hard to protect R&D spend?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for her question. I know that she takes the subject of R&D spend passionately and I agree with her, but we will have to wait for the decisions that the Chancellor will announce on Thursday.

Hydrogen Economy

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Monday 19th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I can certainly tell the noble Baroness that the strategy will be published in due course. We need to develop both blue and green hydrogen if we are to meet the ambitious targets that we have set out.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con)]

My Lords, in our current Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry, we have heard evidence that fuel cells are under-invested compared with battery technologies. Not only do fuel cells have the potential to play an important role in the hydrogen strategy for heating, power and heavy transport, we have a number of excellent UK fuel cell researchers and companies. Without the right level of investment at this relatively early stage, however, those technologies will not scale in time to play the necessary role in our energy mix. Will the Minister say whether this imbalance in investment is a strategic decision; and, if not, what steps he intends to redress it?

Private Sector: Environment and COP 26

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the work of the late Sir Roger Gifford, an exceptional leader in the City and on the green finance taskforce. A key output of the latter was the Green Finance Education Charter, a critical step for embedding vital skills for accurately assessing climate-related risks and opportunities in business, finance, and professional services. As set out in the Green Finance Strategy, the charter forms an important part of the Government’s path to COP 26. Can the Minister recommit to the programme of work today that is set out in that, and will he ensure that it delivers on its full potential ahead of COP 26?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am very happy to join my noble friend in recommitting to that. Sir Roger was an inspiring champion for using finance as a force for good in tackling climate change and improving the environment. All of us in government will remember his work.

Covid-19: Small Businesses

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord highlights an important issue. Of course we want to encourage as many people as possible to take advantage of our excellent local tourist industry—an important industry, including in Wales, to which the noble Lord referred. There have been a number of schemes to help small businesses: we have introduced business rate holidays, plus all the various grant schemes to try to keep those businesses afloat.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con) [V]]

My Lords, UK life sciences is not only one of our most innovative and productive sectors, it also benefits the whole country, with two-thirds of its jobs outside the south-east. Its thriving is crucial not only to our exit from Covid but to our economic recovery. However, life sciences SMEs say that they struggle to access data responsibly, that clinical research remains too slow, and that scale-up investment can be a challenge. In the upcoming CSR, will the Minister not only deliver on the £200 million life sciences investment programme but also invest in health data infrastructure and accelerating clinical research set-up?

EU Coronavirus Vaccine Programme

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

The Prime Minister has already said exactly that. Of course, we want to collaborate internationally; of course, the virus is affecting virtually every country in the world. We have to work across borders, and the vaccine should go to those who need it most.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I understand that the Commission’s vaccine programme has yet to complete a deal, while the Inclusive Vaccines Alliance, led by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, has closed an non-exclusive deal with AstraZeneca for 400 million doses at cost. The IVA states that its mission is to enable rapid action on vaccine procurement to create added value for European nations and beyond. On this evidence, the IVA may be a more effective vehicle than the official Commission programme. Have the Government had any discussions with the IVA on collaboration and, if not, will the Minister undertake to do so?

[Lord Callanan]

I can confirm to my noble friend that we have had discussions with many countries, including those who formed the Inclusive Vaccines Alliance. It is our understanding that the alliance members have now joined the EU procurement initiative, with commercial negotiations being taken forward under that framework. However, as I have said, we will continue to work with the EU and other international partners on development.

Covid-19: Business Interruption Loans

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

We are aware of the issue that the noble Baroness raises. Typical insurance policies offer cover against business interruption due to specific or notifiable diseases listed in the policy. An optional extension was available in many policies to cover pandemics, but unfortunately the majority of businesses did not choose to take up that option. We do not believe that it is right or feasible to require insurers to pay out retrospectively against a risk that was not covered in their original policy, but there are a number of other support packages available to those businesses at this difficult time.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con)]

I welcome the match funding which has been made available to our most innovative start-ups through the Future Fund, but can the Minister clarify how the scheme is going to operate? For example, will companies have a reasonable veto over to whom these loans could be sold on? Investors and executives will have an eye on their cap table, and will private investor capital lent alongside the Government funding qualify for EIS relief?

[Lord Callanan]

My noble friend asked two good questions. We are aware of her first point about vetoes, and are considering it closely as we work out the further details of the scheme. As regards her second point, private investor capital lent alongside the government capital will not qualify for EIS relief.