Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 8 April (HL14532), what assessment they have made of the impact of cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) on contracts both in the UK and abroad entered into by universities as part of research projects funded via the Research Councils; and which authority will be legally responsible for any such contracts broken in the event that the reduction in ODA funding leads to research projects being terminated early or reduced in scope.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As outlined by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in his previous answer, we are presented with a challenging financial situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
BEIS delivers R&D ODA funding through a range of Executive Agencies, Research Councils, National Academies, Royal Societies and more. As a result, the Department has several distinct legal agreements with our ODA Delivery Partners; and each of these also has a range of legal relationships with their individual grant holders. We are working with each Delivery Partner to ensure that contractual terms, including relevant notice periods, are respected.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their decision to remove the cost of association with Horizon Europe from the provision for research and development in the UK budget; when they made the decision to treat Horizon money as additional funding; how much will be the total annual cost of association with Horizon Europe; and what plans they have to re-assess this decision in the future.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I am pleased we reached agreement to take part in Horizon Europe; it will bring huge benefits to the UK.
We are continuing to work through the details of the costs for Horizon. We will set out our plans for R&D spend in 2021/22 – including funding for Horizon Europe – in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendation set out in the report by the Climate Change Committee The Sixth Carbon Budget: The UK’s path to Net Zero, published in December 2020, to include emissions from international aviation and shipping in their Sixth Carbon Budget.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK plays a leading role in the development of measures driving emissions reduction in the international aviation and shipping sectors at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) while UK aviation and shipping emissions are covered by our domestic legislation. We are considering all of the CCC’s recommendations, including on International Aviation and Shipping, carefully ahead of setting the sixth carbon budget.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic on travel companies' ability to raise revenue as a result of staff being (1) engaged in processing refunds to customers unable to fulfil booked travel arrangements, and (2) ineligible for the furlough scheme; and what alternative financial support they plan to provide to such companies and the staff of such companies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the travel sector has been particularly hard hit by covid-19, and we regularly assess impacts on such tourism businesses and are continuing to engage across Government and with relevant stakeholders.
Travel companies continue to be able to access the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme which has been extended until the end of April. On top of this and our wider economic support package, the Government has provided business rates relief and one-off grants for eligible hospitality and leisure businesses – and we have cut VAT for tourism and hospitality activities from 20% to 5% until the end of March.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to channel funding for university research that was previously provided by EU funding; whether they intend to devolve all or part of this funding stream to the devolved administrations; and what plans they have to maintain the overall levels of funding for university research at the level previously provided by EU funds.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Negotiations with the EU to associate to Horizon Europe, are ongoing. We are open to participation if we can agree a fair and balanced deal for the UK. If the UK associates to Horizon Europe, universities will be able to apply for funding from Horizon Europe in line with the terms of any agreement and the final regulations establishing the Horizon Europe Programme. We set out in the R&D Roadmap that if the UK does not formally associate to Horizon Europe, the Government will implement ambitious alternatives as quickly as possible from January 2021 and will address the funding gap. Alternatives to Horizon Europe, if required, will cover discovery, or ‘curiosity-led’ research, global collaborative research, and innovation.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many jobs have been lost in the UK bus manufacturing industry since February 2020; and in what regions any such job losses have occurred.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since February 2020, UK bus manufacturers have announced 775 job losses in total. In May, Wrightbus announced 125 job losses at its Ballymena site in Northern Ireland. In July, Alexander Dennis Limited announced 650 job losses across its sites in Falkirk, Scarborough, and Guildford.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which organisation, body or individual is responsible for ensuring the safety of coal tips created by operations under the oversight of the National Coal Board.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are more than 5,000 colliery tips in the UK and most of these, including most of those created by operations under the oversight of the National Coal Board, are now in either local authority or private ownership. The owner is responsible for ensuring the safety of the tip.
The Coal Authority owns and manages 40 disused colliery tip sites across the UK; information about their location and inspection frequency can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the survey by Which?, published on 3 November, that found that over £1 billion is owed to consumers who have had to cancel holidays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they are taking to ensure that those customers receive the refunds to which they are entitled.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued guidance to explain to consumers and business the circumstances when refunds are due as a consequence of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government has always been clear that these refunds must be paid when asked for by the consumer.
The CMA has written to over 100 package holiday firms to remind them of their obligations to comply with consumer protection law, and has already secured refund commitments from TUI UK, Sykes Cottages, Vacation Rentals and Virgin Holidays. If the CMA finds evidence that companies are failing to comply with the law, the CMA will take appropriate enforcement action, which could include taking a firm to court if it does not address its concerns.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what environmental requirements they have imposed on FlyPop as a condition of the funding they awarded to that company; what are the requirements of that funding in relation to Civil Aviation Authority registration; and what due diligence processes were applied to that funding decision.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Future Fund provides Government loans to UK-based companies, ranging from £125,000 to £5 million. In terms of eligibility, firms qualify for the loans as long as they are able to attract at least equal match funding from private investors, and subject to both firms and investors meeting all the requirements of the scheme. The scheme was launched for firms who are at pre-profit or pre-revenue stage, and who may be ineligible for the various COVID loan schemes, as these firms rely on equity finance rather than debt. The Future Fund does not impose additional conditions on eligible businesses.
The British Business Bank, which manages the Future Fund, has established strong due diligence processes which are built into the portal to ensure firms and investors prove their eligibility. The portal also asks for documentation from investors, firms, and their solicitors, to carry out ‘Know Your Customer’ and anti-money laundering checks, as well as general fraud checks. These measures ensure that fraudulent activity is avoided, in addition to ensuring that the funds have been allocated correctly to the applicant.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in developing a UK position navigation and timing satellite and earth observation system; how much they have spent on developing this project to date; and how much funding they plan to invest in this in each of the next four years.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The 18-month UK Global Navigation Satellite System Programme successfully concluded its work to develop outline proposals for a conventional satellite navigation system in September. £92m was originally allocated for the UK GNSS Programme and work has concluded successfully under budget.
Work completed by the UK Space Agency so far has developed cutting edge British expertise in areas such as spacecraft and antenna design, satellite and ground control systems, systems engineering and simulation, which have wider applications across the space sector, in addition to supporting specialist UK jobs and industrial GNSS capability. The new Space Based PNT Programme will build on this work to consider newer, more innovative ideas of delivering global ‘sat nav’ and secure satellite services to meet public, government, and industry needs. SBPP will be funded from existing budgets, UKSA are feeding into the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is currently running across government.
Separately, the UK Space Agency has begun to consider plans for a national Earth Observation capability, whilst we continue to negotiate for participation in the EU’s Copernicus Earth Observation System.