Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to support the UKRI Metascience Unit.

Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of the Government’s response to the Nurse Landscape Review, the Department of Science Innovation and Technology and UK Research and Innovation Metascience Unit was established in late 2023 with an initial £10m commitment from Financial Year 2024-25 to support a range of activity from research grants to in-house experiments on UKRI’s processes. The Metascience Unit recently launched their first funding call, with up to £2m co-funding from US-based foundation Open Philanthropy, bringing the total call size to £5m.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue with plans to publish the Space Workforce Action Plan; and if so, when.

Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is determined to develop the skilled workforce that the UK needs across the whole economy, including in space. That is why it is creating Skills England and will bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education to break down barriers to opportunity, support the development of a skilled workforce, and drive economic growth through our industrial strategy. Decisions about sector specific workforce action plans will be taken in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue the Modular Acceleration Programme.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The modular acceleration programme is a two-year programme designed to accelerate the supply and support the delivery of individual modules of Higher Technical Qualifications ahead of the launch of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement. During academic years 2023/24 and 2024/25, 25 providers will deliver up to 108 modules to learners.

Delivery of the first modules began in April 2024, with the bulk of modules being delivered from September 2024. Activities to raise demand and support recruitment to modules will continue as the programme enters its second academic year.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Departments had not agreed their spending settlements ahead of the Autumn Budget Statement by 16 October.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

All departments agreed their Spending Review settlements ahead of Autumn Budget. As you would expect, some technical details took longer to be worked through but the overall numbers were agreed within the expected timeframes. Details of the Settlements were announced by the Chancellor as part of her Budget speech yesterday, and are now available to be viewed online.

Found: Letter dated 31/10/2024 from Baroness Jones of Whitchurch to Viscount Camrose regarding questions raised