Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to secure resilient supply chains of key materials required for their net zero agenda.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Taking action to ensure that our clean energy supply chains are resilient is a key priority as we deliver on our Growth and Clean Energy Superpower Missions.
The Trade Strategy sets out international and domestic trade levers, frameworks and trading relationships to drive growth. The Trade Strategy will support the Clean Energy Superpower Mission by bolstering supply chain resilience and ensuring we have access to the materials we need.
Our Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan announced a new £1 billion Great British Energy supply chain fund, which will catalyse investment into domestic supply chains; supported by a comprehensive offer from the National Wealth Fund, British Business Bank, and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage domestic processing and manufacturing capacity for critical minerals and components essential to net zero technologies, including offshore wind.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A secure, diversified supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition. Within the Modern Industrial Strategy, the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan highlighted the UK’s existing strengths in critical mineral mining and processing required for clean energy.
The UK government remains committed to further supporting the growth of UK processing capability. The new Critical Minerals Strategy, which has now been published, sets out how we will enhance the UK’s domestic capabilities, optimising domestic production across the supply chain. The Strategy supports delivery of the Industrial Strategy, recognising critical minerals are foundational to growth driving sectors such as clean energy industries.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to local planning authority agendas with regard to house building upon companies directly linked to the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to building 1.5 million homes over this Parliament and delivering our modern Industrial Strategy.
Reforming the planning system is key to delivering on both of these commitments. The revised National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies should set out a clear economic vision and strategy which positively and proactively encourages sustainable economic growth, having regard to the national Industrial Strategy and any relevant Local Industrial Strategies. We will ensure that the planning system supports growth in our eight priority sectors, as reflected in the revised Framework. This prioritisation will be further embedded when we consult on a set of national policies for decision-making before the end of the year.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will also streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure – including infrastructure relevant to delivering the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
The Government engages regularly with relevant stakeholders to understand and monitor the impacts of our proposed reforms.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to secure the future of ports and wharfs as key infrastructure in delivering the supply chain for the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Industrial Strategy recognises the importance of ports to the UK economy by their inclusion as a foundational industry, essential to enabling growth in the strategy’s eight sectors through providing critical inputs and infrastructure.
The UK’s ports industry is largely privately owned and operated, with government’s role primarily to ensure that the policy and regulatory environment supports efficient operation and investment. The Government is streamlining planning and regulatory processes for ports, including by updating the National Policy Statement for Ports. The Government is also committed to investing in road and rail connections to ports to improve the efficient and cost-effective transportation of goods and passengers.
In addition, the Government is working closely with Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator on fundamental reforms to the grid connections process that will release up to 500GW of capacity from the connections queue. This may enable ports to electrify more quickly where capacity is released in port locations.
Finally, the Government is deploying capital at scale through the National Wealth Fund, with ports being one of the five sectors to which it has committed at least £5.8 billion.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of exporting aluminium scrap to Asia, compared to recycling it domestically; what implications that exporting has for the UK’s circular economy objectives; and what steps they are taking to protect the UK’s aluminium recycling industry from increasing exports of aluminium scrap to Asia.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Overseas facilities receiving UK waste must be operated in accordance with standards that are broadly equivalent to those established in UK legislation.
Defra is committed to building a circular economy that enhances industry competition and capitalises on the UK’s potential in aluminium processing, whilst realising our environmental objectives. We recognise that export markets can complement domestic reprocessing to ensure more of our waste is recycled, but we are keen to ensure there is a level playing field for UK reprocessors.
This includes working with the UK regulators to ensure the proper enforcement of our rules and regulations.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the reclassification of medicines with long histories of safe prescribing to be sold over the counter.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department and regulates medicine, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ensuring that medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy.
A Reclassification Alliance was established between industry, the MHRA, and the Department to explore opportunities for improving the reclassification of medicines in the UK. The MHRA has developed an updated reclassification procedure and in April 2024 published updated reclassification guidance. In November 2024, the MHRA also held a reclassification webinar for industry, which focused on the updated procedure and reclassification guidance. In addition, earlier this year, the Government published a list of conditions and categories identified for potential reclassification.
The Government is committed to ensuring that medicines are available to patients in the most convenient and accessible manner, provided that it is safe to do so. The reclassification of medicines from prescription-only to over-the-counter status is a vital part of this commitment. The reclassification agenda aligns with broader Government initiatives, including the NHS 10-Year Health Plan and the Health Sector Strategy, which aim to improve patient access and reduce pressure on general practice through enhanced pharmacy services.
The MHRA welcomes discussions with industry as to how we can assess more applications, especially of novel types, which will aid patient choice in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 7 May (HL6732), when they plan to issue an updated Critical Minerals Strategy.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Thanks to the extensive engagement and insights from our industry and expert stakeholders as well as cross-government collaboration, we have developed a powerful new vision and plan for securing critical minerals in the UK.
Following the outcome of the multi-year Spending Review and the publication of the Industrial Strategy, the Critical Minerals Strategy will be published later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable Innovate UK to recognise the reclassification of medicines as innovation in their grant assessments.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Innovate UK recognises the role of innovation in the reclassification, repurposing, and reformulation of medicines.
Whilst not all competitions will allow funding for post-market products, Innovate UK has supported projects involving repurposing for new indications, novel delivery models, formulation changes, and wraparound technologies to improve patient access. For example, Innovate UK is currently funding Signacor Therapeutics in Northern Ireland to repurpose an existing chemotherapy drug towards the treatment of heart disease.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential importance of a UK domestic critical minerals supply strategy to underpin economic growth and the UK industrial base.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition. Building on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s updated criticality assessment, government will work hand in hand with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year.
The Strategy will refine our approach to domestic production and will be explicitly targeted to UK strengths and delivering for businesses.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of critical minerals supply from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Whilst Government has not made an economic assessment of the benefits of critical minerals supply from any specific region to the rest of the UK, the new Critical Minerals Strategy will set out how increasing our domestic production of critical minerals in all areas of the UK will support our economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition.
As part of her industry engagement, Minister Sarah Jones MP, met with Ionic Technologies, a cutting-edge permanent magnet recycler based in Belfast, who are a real asset to critical minerals supply across the UK. The world-leading critical minerals innovation led out of Queen’s University Belfast also demonstrates how Northern Ireland can contribute to UK critical minerals supply.