Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated for research into the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma brain tumours in children in each of the last 10 years; and to which organisations were those funds allocated.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows eight research studies around Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors since 2013 which have been supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR):
Study Title | Opening Date | Closure Date | Funders | Status |
Phase I trial of afatinib in paediatric patients with neuroectodermal tumours and rhabdomyosarcoma | 13/07/2015 | 05/05/2020 | Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd | Closed to Recruitment, Follow Up Complete |
A Phase I/II, Multicenter, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study of the Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Cobimetinib in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Previously Treated Solid Tumors | 25/08/2016 | 31/12/2018 | F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
Biological Medicine for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Eradication (Biomede) | 14/04/2017 | 29/09/2019 | Cancer Research UK | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
Phase Ib /II Clinical Trial of Nivolumab Monotherapy and Nivolumab in Combination with Ipilimumab in Pediatric Subjects with High Grade Primary CNS Malignancies | 14/08/2017 | 22/02/2019 | Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
A PHASE 2 CLINICAL STUDY OF POMALIDOMIDE (CC-4047) MONOTHERAPY FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS WITH RECURRENT OR PROGRESSIVE PRIMARY BRAIN TUMORS | 17/10/2017 | 27/09/2018 | CELGENE CORPORATION | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
A Phase 1/2, Single-arm Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Antitumor Activity of Avapritinib in Pediatric Patients with Solid Tumors Dependent on KIT or PDGFRA Signaling | 15/02/2023 | 31/01/2025 | Blueprint Medicines Corporation | Suspended |
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*** Please note that the 2 commercial studies, due to the commercial sensitivity, cannot be shared more widely or made public.
NIHR provides infrastructure support to studies taking place in the National Health Service. For example, staff, research nurses, local networks and NHS trusts will work across many studies, to varying degrees. As a result, NIHR cannot provide precise information on expenditure.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network supports the delivery of high-quality research across the NHS, community and social care and public health organisations. It does this by meeting the costs of additional staff, facilities, equipment and support services.
In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. The £40 million funding remains available.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to develop a bespoke research strategy for childhood cancers with the worst survival rates, including Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma; and what steps they are taking to encourage drug development to treat those cancers.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds and supports health, public health and social care research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective, and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including childhood cancers.
The Department does not directly commission research; rather, we invite funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area, is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications. It is also worth noting that all applications that were fundable in open competition have been funded.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Avanti about that company's plans to reduce services between London, Birmingham, Manchester and North Wales from December; whether they were aware of those reductions when they awarded the company a new nine year contract for the franchise; and if they were, whether they required Avanti to make those service reductions as part of the contract.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Planned timetable reductions, between 10 December 2023 and 1 January 2024, were agreed in accordance with the requirements set out in Avanti’s contract. These temporary changes are necessary to ensure that Avanti can provide a more reliable service for its passengers and to minimise unplanned, short-notice cancellations. It is expected that service levels will be fully restored in the new year.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current UK capacity to produce sustainable aviation fuel; what will be the capacity required to meet their Jet Zero Strategy targets; and whether they are on track to achieve the Jet Zero Strategy targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Jet Zero Strategy sets a clear goal of net zero aviation emissions by 2050 but recognises that there are multiple pathways to achieving that goal. In the “Jet Zero illustrative scenarios and sensitivities” document published alongside the Jet Zero Strategy four different scenarios assume different levels of sustainable aviation fuel uptake by 2050.
To track progress against targets, the Government has set a CO2 emissions reduction trajectory based on the “high ambition” scenario that sees UK aviation emissions peak in 2019. Provisional estimates for 2022 UK international aviation greenhouse gas emissions show that they are 29% below 2019 levels. Progress will be monitored against the emissions reduction trajectory on an annual basis from 2025 and the overall strategic approach reviewed every five years.
The Government is introducing an ambitious set of policies to support the growth of the UK Sustainble Aviation Fuel sector and meet Jet Zero targets. Emissions savings are being secured through a mandate, which will be introduced from 2025 and will require at least 10% of UK aviation fuel to be derived from sustainable sources by 2030. In the 2023 consultation, the trajectories for sustainable aviation fuel uptake from 2025 to 2040 demonstrated how these trajectories align with the 2050 scenarios and ambition set out in the Jet Zero Strategy.
The Government is also kick starting a domestic sustainable aviation fuel industry through £165 million funding from the Advanced Fuels Fund to support first of a kind plants to reach commercial scale. The UK does not currently have any large scale dedicated production facilities, but this funding will help to deliver the commitment to have at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025. The Government has also recently committed to design and implement a revenue certainty mechanism to further support the development of a UK industry. The government has published a delivery plan, outlining how such a scheme can be delivered by 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 19 September (HL Deb col 1332), why there are NATS staff shortages at Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol airports; and whether those shortages are similar to those at Gatwick cited by the Minister in her answer.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK aviation operates in the private sector, and Air Traffic Control tower services are a commercial matter for the individual airports. In this case, it will be for Manchester and Bristol airports to engage with NATS to ensure appropriate resourcing.
In regard to Edinburgh, NATS is not the provider responsible for the operation of the Air Traffic Control tower at the airport.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to develop a National Transport Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department has articulated its long-term strategic approach to the UK’s transport network through a range of publications, covering both specific modes of transport and cross-cutting policy issues such as freight.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of take-up of electric vans; what assessment they have made of the impact on the targets contained in their paper Consultation on a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and CO2 emissions regulation for new cars and vans in the UK, published on 30 March; and whether they have any plans to exclude electric vehicles weighing 3.5–4 tonnes from the requirement to be fitted with a tachograph.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continuously monitors the uptake of electric vans through national statistics and engagement with industry. As of March 2023, there were almost 50,000 battery electric vans registered in the UK. This number continues to grow and so far this year, 5% of all new van registrations have been battery electric.
The Government will be publishing its response to the consultation shortly, which will set out the final policy design of the ZEV mandate.
The Department continues to assess the regulatory framework to support the transition to ZEVs, including rules on driving hours and tachographs, without compromising on road and public safety.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statistics from Eurocontrol that on 28 August over 2,000 flights were cancelled; whether they have assessed why those figures differ from the figure supplied by NATS that 1,500 were cancelled; and what is their explanation for the difference between the NATS figure that 575 flights were delayed and the higher figures supplied by airlines.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
NATS Preliminary Report into the Technical Failure of 28 August, stated that, while at that time it was not clear exactly how many flights had been cancelled the number was likely to exceed 1,500 with around a further 575 being delayed.
The independent review, announced by the Civil Aviation Authority on 6 September 2023 will include an assessment of the findings of NATS’ preliminary report. It is important that we now await the outcome of the review, which will include looking at the information on consumer impact including the number of cancellations and delays and the lessons are learned from the events of 28 August.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to meet their ambition for aviation energy efficiency to increase by 2 per cent per year; and what assessment they have made of the reasons why the current level of improvements to aviation energy efficiency is below the ambition at 1.4 per cent per year.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In July 2022, the Government published the Jet Zero Strategy, setting out our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
The Strategy set out an emissions reduction trajectory and committed to the ‘high ambition’ scenario, which included an average annual fuel efficiency improvement of 2% per annum between 2025 and 2050. Whilst the average annual improvement figure is 2%, we expect the pace of progress to vary by year depending on technological development and adoption.
The Government is supporting the development of new low and zero-carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute with £685m of funding over three years. The Government published a Call for Evidence for airport operations in England to be zero emission by 2040 in February 2023, and is supporting airspace modernisation by providing £9.2m of funding between 2020-2023.
In July 2023 we published the Jet Zero Strategy One Year On document which sets out the progress and achievements since July 2022 and the key challenges ahead in meeting Jet Zero. We have committed to reviewing progress against our emissions reduction trajectory annually from 2025 and to with a full review of the Strategy every 5 years.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the Apprenticeship Levy; what assessment they have made of any imbalance between (1) the amount paid by logistics and transport businesses since its introduction, and (2) the amount they have been entitled to withdraw; and whether they have plans to replace it with a more flexible training levy.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved, meaning the devolved administrations receive funding through the Barnett formula on English apprenticeship spending. A comparison between UK-wide Levy receipts and apprenticeship spend in England is not available and we are therefore unable to provide an assessment of the difference between the amount paid and available levy funds for the logistics and transport sectors.
The Apprenticeship Levy is a key part of the Government’s reforms to the apprenticeship system, which enables employers of all sizes to make a long-term, sustainable and high-quality investment in training. There are no plans to reform the Apprenticeship Levy or replace it with a more flexible training Levy at this time. We are committed to protecting the quality of apprenticeship training and simplifying our system and processes so that employers and providers can focus on delivering high-quality apprenticeships.