Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to roll out meningitis vaccines more widely to the population following the news of the recent outbreak in Kent.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the United Kingdom Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.
On 17 March, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent meningococcal B vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt. Hon. Friend as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his department is aware of companies, not including RCV Engines, which have exported drone engines to military customers in Israel without requiring an export license.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requirement for an export licence is set out in the Export Control Order 2008, Schedule 2 of which covers Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and parts thereof (under ML10). Export licence applications for all controlled goods, including UAV components specially designed or modified for military use, are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Where licence applications include items that are not covered by the 2008 Order, exporters can be informed that no licence is required. Beyond such cases, by definition, the Department does not hold information on the export of items that fall outside of export controls. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his department is aware of UK manufacturers exporting drone engines to military clients abroad without requiring an arms export license.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requirement for an export licence is set out in the Export Control Order 2008, Schedule 2 of which covers Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and parts thereof (under ML10). Export licence applications for all controlled goods, including UAV components specially designed or modified for military use, are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Where licence applications include items that are not covered by the 2008 Order, exporters can be informed that no licence is required. Beyond such cases, by definition, the Department does not hold information on the export of items that fall outside of export controls. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his department will make a statement on the company RCV Engines exporting drone engines to Israel without requiring an export license.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requirement for an export licence is set out in the Export Control Order 2008, Schedule 2 of which covers Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and parts thereof (under ML10). Export licence applications for all controlled goods, including UAV components specially designed or modified for military use, are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Where licence applications include items that are not covered by the 2008 Order, exporters can be informed that no licence is required. Beyond such cases, by definition, the Department does not hold information on the export of items that fall outside of export controls. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether free and independent recourse is available to customers when water companies classify customer disputes as legal enforcement matters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Customers who have unresolved disputes are advised to contact The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) who has the statutory function to help customers resolve complaints against their water company or retailer, as well as providing free advice and support.
Government has also committed to introduce a new Water Ombudsman. The ombudsman will provide an independent service to investigate and resolve complaints for customers. The ombudsman will be free to use and make impartial and binding decisions based on what is fair and will work with the regulator and CCW to drive improvements in the sector.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans receive adequate support after leaving the armed forces.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Labour Government was elected on a promise to renew the nations commitment with those who served – and we are acting.
We've made record investment for our remarkable veterans alongside a landmark new Veterans Strategy celebrating them as a vital national asset. £50 million for VALOUR, £12 million for the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme, together with Ops COURAGE, RESTORE, FORTITUDE, ASCEND and NOVA.
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Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reforms to planning permission are matched by improvements to the processes for acquiring land and rights over land, so that grid connection projects are not delayed by unresolved land rights issues.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ has worked closely with stakeholders to understand the extent to which current land access, rights and consents processes delay and add costs to rollout of electricity network infrastructure required for delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s transition to Net zero.
This has included looking at where there might be opportunities to learn from approaches to other utilities.
Government’s assessment was set out in a consultation in Summer 2025 on proposed reforms to these processes. We expect to publish the response in the coming quarter.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what consideration has been given to aligning the statutory powers available to electricity network operators for land access with those available to water and telecoms utilities, to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of network upgrades.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ has worked closely with stakeholders to understand the extent to which current land access, rights and consents processes delay and add costs to rollout of electricity network infrastructure required for delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s transition to Net zero.
This has included looking at where there might be opportunities to learn from approaches to other utilities.
Government’s assessment was set out in a consultation in Summer 2025 on proposed reforms to these processes. We expect to publish the response in the coming quarter.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the additional costs and delays to customers resulting from the current statutory processes for acquiring land and rights for electricity network upgrades.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ has worked closely with stakeholders to understand the extent to which current land access, rights and consents processes delay and add costs to rollout of electricity network infrastructure required for delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s transition to Net zero.
This has included looking at where there might be opportunities to learn from approaches to other utilities.
Government’s assessment was set out in a consultation in Summer 2025 on proposed reforms to these processes. We expect to publish the response in the coming quarter.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of current land rights processes on the UK's ability to meet its Clean power 2030 targets.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ has worked closely with stakeholders to understand the extent to which current land access, rights and consents processes delay and add costs to rollout of electricity network infrastructure required for delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s transition to Net zero.
This has included looking at where there might be opportunities to learn from approaches to other utilities.
Government’s assessment was set out in a consultation in Summer 2025 on proposed reforms to these processes. We expect to publish the response in the coming quarter.