Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
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.
Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
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.
Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
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.
Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
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.
Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to support the ScaleUp Institute.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Scale-up businesses are a critical part of the UK’s economy, driving innovation and economic growth. The work of the ScaleUp Institute and its partners in continuing to nurture the health of our scale-up ecosystems is as important as ever.
This Government will work closely with the Scaleup Institute and the private sector more broadly to create the right conditions for businesses to scale-up.
Ministers will support the work of the ScaleUp Institute though various mechanisms such as attendance at key events and engaging representatives from their organisation and membership as part of Government policy making.
Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 lateral flow test kits they purchased since January 2020; what was the total cost of those tests; how many tests were distributed; and what estimate they have made of how many were used.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department purchased approximately 2.6 billion lateral flow device (LFD) tests between September 2020 and March 2022. It is not possible to provide data for April 2022 and beyond at this time as it is not yet validated for release. We are unable to provide the information requested on the total costs of LFD tests as this information is commercially sensitive.
A table showing the number of LFD tests distributed up until May 2022 is attached. Whilst we collect data on tests recorded, this data does not necessarily equate to used tests as not everybody records the results of tests that they have used.