Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when Scottish local authorities will be able to apply for Shared Prosperity Funding for specific projects.
Answered by Luke Hall
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK. A portion of the UKSPF will target places most in need across the UK, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities.
Places receiving funding will be asked to agree specific outcomes to target within a UK-wide framework. They will then develop investment proposals to be approved by the Government among a representative stakeholder group. A second portion of the Fund will be targeted differently to people most in need through bespoke employment and skills programmes that are tailored to local need.
To help local areas prepare over 2021/22 for the introduction of the UKSPF, we will provide additional UK funding to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches.
Further detail on the additional funding will be published soon and we will publish a UK-wide investment framework in Spring 2021 setting our further information on the UKSPF.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2021 to Question 138478, whether he has made representations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency on reports that educational material published by that UN agency during the covid-19 pandemic includes content promoting violence against Israel.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Home Secretary
The UK Government has zero-tolerance to incitement of violence, and we have raised this issue with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We contacted the UNRWA directly regarding this issue and understand that as soon as the mistake was identified, the UNRWA took swift action to correct the issue and conducted a thorough review to address any education materials in breach of its policies. We continue to monitor the situation to ensure self-learning materials remain in line with UN values.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2021 to Question 138479, what assessment he has made of the long-term effect of extremist educational material reportedly taught by UK-funded teachers in the West Bank and Gaza on the prospects for a two-state solution.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Home Secretary
An independent review of the content in Palestinian textbooks led by our European partners is currently underway. The study is due to be completed in early 2021. We continue to press our European partners to complete the review as soon as possible. We will study its findings carefully.
We have a regular dialogue with the PA in which we raise concerns about allegations of inappropriate content in textbooks. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the quality of the education received by Palestinian children in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Home Secretary
FCDO uses a variety of tools to monitor UNRWA's performance and ensure it continues to deliver quality services including via programme monitoring and annual assessments. UNRWA has a robust review system of each host country's textbooks to ensure education in its schools reflects the values and principles of the UN. We accompany our support to UNRWA with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent UK support for education in the West Bank and Gaza being undermined by extremist educational material.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Home Secretary
The UK does not fund textbooks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). UK Aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) contributes to the salaries of carefully vetted teachers/education workers.
An independent review of the content in Palestinian textbooks led by our European partners is currently underway. The study is due to be completed in early 2021. We continue to press our European partners to complete the review as soon as possible.
We have a regular dialogue with the PA in which we raise concerns about allegations of inappropriate content in textbooks. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a decision has been taken on the expansion of the Youth Mobility Scheme to European nationals.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK currently operates nine Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, San Marino, Japan, Monaco, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
As each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK Nationals, the Home Office will not add nations to the scheme unilaterally in the absence of such an agreement.
Looking to the future, we have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU, or with individual countries within it if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to work with (a) the oil and gas sector and (b) other parts of the private sector to support the technical and vocational skills training required to achieve the Prime Minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The oil and gas sector has a key role to play as we move to a net zero economy and this Government has committed to supporting this energy transition with a transformational North Sea Transition Deal. The focus of this deal will be on ensuring the sector can support the energy transition and anchoring the supply chain across the UK. This also includes a focus on skills, supporting high-quality jobs in new energy technologies that will help to decarbonise our economy.
Private sector engagement through employers is also key to our work in helping shape future policies and programmes. The new Green Jobs Taskforce, which was launched on 12 November 2020, has been set up to help the UK build back greener and deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This is a joint initiative between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Education.
Working with employers and relevant stakeholders such as BP and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the Taskforce will develop an action plan to support 2 million good-quality, green jobs and the skills needed by 2030, supporting the UK to transition to a net zero economy and deliver a green recovery.
One key aim of the Taskforce is to identify the support needed for workers transitioning from high carbon industries such as oil and gas and how to best mobilise their skills for a Green Industrial Revolution.
Taskforce members will represent views of businesses, employees and the skills sector. Involvement in this work will not be limited only to Taskforce members, and there will be opportunities for a wider set of stakeholders, including the private sector, to contribute.
Details of the Taskforce including a full list members can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-launches-taskforce-to-support-drive-for-2-million-green-jobs-by-2030.
We are also working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education who are convening a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel to guide the Institute in identifying existing apprenticeships that support the green economy and encouraging trailblazers to align those apprenticeships to net zero and wider sustainability objectives. The Panel will also advise where there is a need for new apprenticeships to be created by employer groups. The Institute will be working to ensure that apprenticeships play their part in helping workers reskill and support a move to green sector jobs.
The ECITB grant also supports a wide range of training in the oil and gas sector, from craft, apprenticeships, and technical training to project management. The ECITB’s recently announced COVID-19 support package is directly focused on the oil and gas sector, including the ‘Train to Retain’ initiative, which will support the retention and development of graduates and apprentices, ensuring that vital engineering skills are secured in the industry.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to tackle offensive, harmful and illegal content online.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK is the safest place in the world to be online. In April 2019 we published the Online Harms White Paper which set out our intention to establish in law a new ‘duty of care’ on companies towards their users. The ‘duty of care’ will ensure that companies have robust systems and processes in place to tackle illegal content and protect users.
We will publish a full government response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation which will provide further detail on our proposals. This will be followed by legislation, which will be ready early next year.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) onshore wind, (b) offshore wind and (c) solar sites in Scotland which plan to bid in the contracts for difference auction round 4.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government considers a range of matters when setting the parameters for Contracts for Difference allocation rounds, including the anticipated pipeline of eligible projects. We will publish allocation round parameters in advance of the next auction in late 2021, when assessments of the potential volume of participants can be informed by the most current information on project pipelines.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What progress the Government has made on the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will operate across the Union to make sure each of the four nations prosper. Decisions the design of the fund will need to be taken after a cross-Government Spending Review. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with interested parties whilst developing the fund.