Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reconsider their funding of the Council for British Research in the Levant, given that Council’s decision to arrange a seminar by Dr Salman Abu Sitta at Edinburgh University on 8 November.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not directly fund or have a relationship with the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL). The Government only has a funding relationship with the independent British Academy, who in turn fund hundreds of researchers across the humanities and social sciences, as well as eight British International Research Institutes (BIRI), including the CBRL. These connect researchers and support world-leading research. They are independent organisations, overseen by Boards of Trustees. However, the Academy undertakes regular reporting, evaluation and monitoring of their funding through which issues can be raised or assurances sought on any aspect of delivery.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - 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 potential for gas from the Kurdistan region to diversify the supply of gas to the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great Britain has highly diverse sources of gas supply. These include pipelines from the UK and Norwegian continental shelves (UKCS & NCS), interconnection with the European continent, and three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, providing the UK with one of the largest LNG import infrastructures in Europe.
The UK’s diverse range of sources of gas supply is a strength to the Government’s approach to energy security. The integrated nature of the global gas market, and the fact that it is an internationally traded commodity, ensures that the UK continues to work closely with all its international partners.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of jobs in the (1) manufacturing, and (2) construction, sectors which are linked to the (1) production, and (2) use, of mobile concrete batching plants.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is not detailed enough to identify jobs linked to the production of specific products, nor can they capture jobs using or related to specific products.
In 2019 (the latest year for which we have full year estimates), manufacturing as a whole accounted for 2.7m jobs, while the Construction sector accounted for 2.3m. Approximately 14,000 of the jobs in manufacturing were in the manufacture of machinery for mining and construction.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of support for a ban on the public sale of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
There are already strong laws in place to control firework availability and use to reduce the risks to people and disturbance to animals, including age related restrictions, a curfew and a noise limit. There are also enforcement mechanisms in place to tackle situations when fireworks are sold illegally or misused.
There are no plans to ban the sale of fireworks and no estimate has been made of the public support for such a ban.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to protect animals from the effects of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is aware of concern over the impact of fireworks on animals. That is one of the reasons that there is already a maximum legal noise level set for fireworks.
It is important that users follow instructions and use fireworks responsibly, as, together with owners of animals taking certain precautions, this can help to reduce or avoid any detrimental effects on animals.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is currently working with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on a new campaign to raise awareness of these issues in advance of bonfire night.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle the anti-social use of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
There are strong laws in place to control firework availability and use, including age restrictions for those under 18.
Most people use fireworks responsibly. The police and local authorities have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks, where it arises.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the use of artificial intelligence on levels of employment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Artificial Intelligence is one of the global trends which will transform our future, changing jobs and businesses across the country, and we want people to be able to capitalise on these opportunities.
Addressing this, Artificial Intelligence and data is one of the first 4 Grand Challenges set out in our Industrial Strategy to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future, ensuring that we take advantage of major global changes, improving people’s lives and the country’s productivity.
Embedding AI across the UK will create thousands of good quality jobs and drive economic growth in all four nations. As part of the AI Sector Deal, announced in April, we've made a range of commitments to support the development of the skills required to generate good jobs and greater earning power for all.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will bring forward funding proposals to support the growth of regional airports as part of the industrial strategy.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government welcomes the ambition of airports across the UK to invest in their infrastructure to enable services to more destinations, and better facilities and choice for passengers. As part of the Aviation Strategy we will consider how they can best utilise their existing capacity to allow the growth of both domestic and international connectivity.
In addition, the Industrial Strategy Green Paper seeks views on how infrastructure needs across the country can be most effectively incorporated within national infrastructure policy.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding has been allocated to the Illegal Money Lending Units over the next three years.
Answered by Nick Boles
A decision on funding allocations for the Illegal Money Lending teams will be taken shortly.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans that his Department's further education area reviews will incorporate equality impact assessments.
Answered by Nick Boles
Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010. The reviews do not however, mandate action, and colleges are independent corporations, so it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision.
Each area review steering group will consider relevant data relating to current courses delivered within their area, assess the relevance of these courses to local learner and employer needs and determine how current and future demand can be best met through the recommendations of the area review.
Individual area reviews are expected to take about four months, the timescale being dependent on the number of colleges and complexity of the local issues involved in each area. The overall review process has been divided into five waves of area reviews and is scheduled to be completed by March 2017
We expect the costs of completing an area review to be met within existing budgets, with minimal additional costs to the colleges, local authorities or LEPs involved. The Departments and their agencies will undertake this work with no additional staffing. Additional costs will be minimal.
The costs arising from the recommendations of each review will be explored as part of the process. We expect the colleges, alongside local authorities and LEPs with devolved skills budgets, to consider how these costs can be met locally. Where there are costs that cannot be met, but which are essential to the successful implementation of the review, we have announced a facility for transitional funding to support this. We will provide more detail in due course.