Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, published on 30 October 2024, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of human-specific technologies such as organ-on-a-chip.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government funds research through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and many programmes, including those on organoids, cell behaviour or AI, may eventually lead to the development of human-specific technologies that can replace the need for the use of animals. The Government also funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research through the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs). Since its launch in 2004, the NC3Rs has committed over £100 million through its research and innovation to provide new 3Rs approaches for scientists in academia and industry to use
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, published on 30 October 2024, whether any of the core research funding will be used for projects that involve experimenting on animals.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Alternative methods cannot currently replicate the complexity of an intact biological system, so the use of animals remains essential both in basic and translational medical research and in preclinical testing. Currently 32% of Medical Research Council-funded research programmes involve some use of animals licensed under the ASPA (Animals Scientific Procedures Act). The manifesto committed the Government to partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing. This is a long-term goal, and it will likely take many years of scientific and technical advancement and validation to reach this point.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a digital champion in each local authority area.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes Digital Champions play a key role in advancing the digital connectivity agenda - and help local communities to realise the benefits advanced connectivity can bring. We strongly encourage local and combined authorities to appoint them as dedicated officers where possible.
We have set out more details on the role that Digital Champions can play within the Digital Connectivity Portal. The Portal is an extensive online resource providing best practice guidance helping local authorities to facilitate digital infrastructure deployment. It can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-strategy-and-leadership#digital-champion
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) 4G and (b) 5G coverage in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including Bedfordshire, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025 through the Shared Rural Network programme.
We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment and competition. As part of this work, the Government intends to reform the planning system to make it easier to build and deploy digital infrastructure.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) scam and (b) nuisance calls.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department works closely with Ofcom, who are responsible for tackling silent and abandoned calls, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who lead on enforcement of unsolicited direct marketing calls and ensuring companies adhere to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The new Data (Use and Access) Bill will empower the ICO to take action against companies sending nuisance communications.
To address scam calls, the Department works closely with Ofcom, and the Home Office (who are responsible for fraud policy). From January, new Ofcom rules will require telecoms operators to block calls from abroad presenting with a UK number.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to set a target date for the long-term replacement of animal experiments in medical research with human-specific technologies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The manifesto commits us to partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing, and we are currently engaging with the sector as to how to take this commitment forward. Any policy changes as a result of this work will be assessed appropriately.
It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will not be setting arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information her Department has on the number of miles of (a) copper wire and (b) fibre in the internet network in (i) Central Bedfordshire and (ii) the East of England; and how many miles of existing copper wire are planned to be replaced by fibre by the end of 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department does not hold this information. Openreach’s annual review for 2023-24 provides some information for the largest wholesale broadband and network provider, though this does not reflect the market as a whole and does not provide regional breakdowns. This report estimates that delivering broadband across the UK involves more than 250 million kilometres of fibre optic cable and copper wire. This is available via: https://www.openreach.com/about/our-company/annual-review-and-reports
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with providers on implementing revised Call Line Identification Guidance to extend blocking to international calls which display a UK number as a Presentation Number.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government works closely with Ofcom who are responsible for the Call Line Identification (CLI) Guidance. Telecoms providers must comply with Ofcom’s General Conditions, part of which outlines operator’s obligations related to CLI.
In July 2024, Ofcom announced plans to update the CLI guidance, which sets out the actions operators must take to be comply with the General Condition, to extend requirements on blocking of international calls displaying a UK landline number as a Presentation Number. The updated guidance will come into effect from January 2025. Ofcom also published a Call for Input in July to explore the spoofing of UK mobile numbers from international numbers.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps with UK Research and Innovation to increase the proportion of biomedical research funding available for research projects that use non-animal new approach methodologies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In accordance with UK legislation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) only fund animal research where there is no suitable non-animal alternative available. Around 70% of research funded by their Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Medical Research Council does not involve animals. UKRI supports the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives, largely through their investment in NC3Rs. UKRI are committed to conducting a strategic review of NC3Rs in 2024/25 to determine the appropriate level of future investment. The UKRI policy on Research and Innovation Involving Animals further commits UKRI to encouraging applications with potential to advance the 3Rs.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with university vice-chancellors on reducing the use of animals in experiments.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.
We recognise that any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led and in lock step with partners, and are engaging in discussions on how to take this commitment forward, which may include with university vice chancellors. We have already held roundtables with stakeholders from businesses, regulators and across Government.