Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffith Excerpts
Wednesday 22nd May 2024

(3 weeks, 4 days ago)

Commons Chamber
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Kim Johnson Portrait Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)
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10. What steps her Department is taking to help increase diversity and inclusion in the STEM workforce.

Andrew Griffith Portrait The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (Andrew Griffith)
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The science and technology framework sets out our commitment to expanding STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—opportunities to the most diverse range of people possible. We have acted swiftly to identify and dismantle any barriers to entry. As a result, we have seen major improvements in recent years, although there is always more to do.

Paulette Hamilton Portrait Mrs Hamilton
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Today is National Numeracy Day. In my constituency, which is one of the poorest, all seven wards fall into the lowest numeracy ranking in the UK. What is the Minister doing to ensure that people in constituencies like mine are not locked out of jobs in STEM by a skills gap that does not recognise the disadvantages they face?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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The hon. Lady raises a very important point on National Numeracy Day. While we must not be complacent, the Government have made outstanding progress on equality for all. I hope she will join me in congratulating teachers in her constituency, and up and down the country, on the fact that last year, under this Government, girls made up 52%—a majority—of all science entries at A-level.

Kim Johnson Portrait Kim Johnson
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The Institute of Cancer Research has made positive steps on diversifying representation in STEM through its apprenticeship scheme. Can the Minister say what, if any, lessons he is taking from that very positive initiative, in particular to increase representation in respect of ethnic diversity?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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I congratulate the Institute of Cancer Research on that progress. I would be delighted to meet the institute and hear what development it is making, as would my hon. Friends. This Government have increased the number of apprenticeships. Unfortunately, under the Opposition’s proposals the number of apprenticeships would halve.

James Gray Portrait James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
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Inclusion and diversity in STEM will be greatly increased and helped by the £6 million that Sir James Dyson has recently given to Malmesbury Primary School in my constituency, as well as by the STEM college he has locally. He has made it plain that it is available to all and that he intends to make sure that everyone in the town of Malmesbury and the surrounding area benefits from it.

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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I commend my hon. Friend and Sir James Dyson for that initiative. It would be wonderful to see many more such initiatives across the whole country. My colleagues and I would be delighted to work with any philanthropists seeking to do something similar.

Michael Fabricant Portrait Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)
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On National Numeracy Day, will my hon. Friend take the opportunity to praise the work of universities, such as the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London and Loughborough University, that go out of their way to attract women on to engineering courses?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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We are enormously blessed in this country with the quality of our universities, so many of which, together with the firms that sponsor undergraduate and postgraduate research, are making magnificent efforts in the important area of diversity in STEM.

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call the shadow Minister.

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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As the hon. Lady well knows, diversity, STEM education and skills are at the heart of the UK science and technology framework, and we will be publishing skills frameworks for each of its priority areas.

Gary Sambrook Portrait Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)
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3. What steps her Department is taking to support the life sciences manufacturing sector.

Andrew Griffith Portrait The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (Andrew Griffith)
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The Government could not be more committed to supporting our valued life sciences sector, which, in the financial year ending 2022, contributed well over £100 billion in turnover to the UK economy and employed more than 300,000 people.

Gary Sambrook Portrait Gary Sambrook
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As the Minister will know, there is a shortage of laboratory space and clinical trials in the UK, and companies such as Precision Health Technologies Accelerator in Birmingham, led by the excellent Professor Gino Martini, want to be part of the solution to the problem. What help can the Government give businesses of that kind so that we can increase the number of clinical trials to help the advancement of lifesaving medicines?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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My hon. Friend is right: such is the growth of this important sector that we need more lab space quickly. I personally benefited from the advice of Professor Martini in the life sciences real estate working group. Precision Health Technologies Accelerator does some amazing work in my hon. Friend’s constituency to knock down barriers to building, many of which are sadly the fault of Labour councils.

Andrew Gwynne Portrait Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
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Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease remain the largest cause of death in the United Kingdom. The Government pledged in 2019 to fund dementia research. What more is the Minister doing to ensure that we have early diagnosis, access to trials and support for life sciences to transform dementia outcomes?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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Dementia is a crippling disease for so many people, and will touch so many people’s lives. The Health Secretary and I recently hosted the heads of the Dementia Mission at No. 10 Downing Street to announce more funding, and I should be happy to meet the hon. Member and any representatives of dementia organisations in his constituency.

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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The hon. Lady has made some important points. My officials and I have met representatives of the institute and have considered a number of options for it, of which they and, I believe, she will be aware.

Theresa Villiers Portrait Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)
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5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that Government-funded research is used to help increase levels of productivity.

Andrew Griffith Portrait The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (Andrew Griffith)
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The Government are providing record levels of taxpayer funding for research, and my right hon. Friend is right to highlight the opportunity to improve productivity. A priority for research councils is to focus on not just discovery but innovation, so that British taxpayers feel the benefits of faster economic growth, rising living standards and better health outcomes.

Theresa Villiers Portrait Theresa Villiers
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As I saw during a recent visit to Chase Farm Hospital, better digital systems can dramatically improve NHS productivity, and artificial intelligence can contribute to that as well. Will the Government use their science and research budget to increase NHS output, improve outcomes for patients and get waiting lists down?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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That is exactly what we are doing. On Monday, the Prime Minister announced £15.5 million to roll out artificial intelligence radiotherapy that locates cancer cells two and a half times more quickly, helping to reduce those anxious days for patients and their families who are awaiting a diagnosis. That is affordable only thanks to the fact that our plan for the economy is working. Labour has no plan, and would end up having to cut the research budget.

Simon Fell Portrait Simon Fell (Barrow and Furness) (Con)
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6. What steps her Department is taking to improve rural connectivity.

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Andrew Rosindell Portrait Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
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9. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the use of animal testing in research.

Andrew Griffith Portrait The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (Andrew Griffith)
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The day when we are able to eliminate animal testing cannot come quickly enough, though we are not there yet. We are committed to supporting the strategy to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research, and since taking office I have doubled the investment in non-animal methods of research to £20 million this year.

Andrew Rosindell Portrait Andrew Rosindell
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The reduction and ultimate ending of the need to use animals for testing purposes is an important policy objective of my animal-loving constituents in Romford. Does the Minister agree that animals are not laboratory tools but sentient creatures, and that the policy of replacement, reduction and refinement must be at the core of Government policy going forward?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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I know that this is an issue close to my hon. Friend’s heart. He is a great animal lover, and I recall his past work as shadow Minister for animal welfare. This summer we will publish a plan, together with colleagues in the Home Office, to accelerate the uptake of non-animal methods of research.

Chris Elmore Portrait Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)
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T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Andrew Griffith Portrait The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (Andrew Griffith)
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This Government have a plan to ensure that technology works for our people, not against them. Right now, the Secretary of State is in South Korea for the AI Seoul summit. She is building on the progress we have made and on the UK’s leadership at Bletchley Park last year to tackle the risks of artificial intelligence. Whether it is AI, quantum, life sciences or the next generation of advanced telecommunications, we are making the UK a science and tech superpower, backed by the highest ever level of spend on research and development. Our plan is working, and our scientists and entrepreneurs cannot afford to go back to square one with Labour.

Chris Elmore Portrait Chris Elmore
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The UK Research and Innovation chief executive has announced that they are stepping down in June next year. The recruitment process normally lasts eight months, yet the Government are speeding up that process. Is that because they are worried about the outcome of a general election?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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This Government are focusing on delivery every single day, and I make no apologies for cracking on with the process of making sure that our brilliant research institutions have the finest leadership that the best and brightest in the world deserve.

Simon Baynes Portrait Simon Baynes  (Clwyd South)  (Con)
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T3. In recent years, Government policies led by the Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure have resulted in a big improvement in broadband and mobile connectivity on the Welsh borders, both in my constituency of Clwyd South and across the border in neighbouring North Shropshire, but there are still some poor areas of connectivity. Could the Minister outline what further steps she is taking to ensure that all homes and businesses on both sides of the Welsh border see better broadband and mobile connectivity?

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Marco Longhi Portrait Marco Longhi  (Dudley North)  (Con)
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T5. Does the Minister agree that the large sums of taxpayers’ money channelled to organisations such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council for woke-driven projects should be spent on other high-tech projects such as, for example, the tagging of illegal migrants in this country so that we can quickly locate and deport them, starting in Dudley?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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Funding councils must be accountable for their own individual decisions. My hon. Friend no doubt reflects the concern of his constituents, who expect, in return for our record expenditure on research, the discovery of life-saving medicines, or groundbreaking technology; that is what they expect in return for hard-earned taxpayers’ money.

Andrew Bridgen Portrait Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
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T2. A representative of the World Economic Forum told the audience at Davos that “we own the science”. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that scientific research in the UK is impartial, objective and ethical, regardless of who is funding it?

Andrew Griffith Portrait Andrew Griffith
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That is absolutely right. It is intrinsic to the scientific method that research is impartial, and that it is challenged, public, transparent and open. That is always our commitment, but it is also to fully fund research and to turn this country into the science and technology superpower that it deserves to be.

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Before we begin Prime Minister’s questions, I am sure the whole House would like to join me in welcoming back our colleague and friend, the inspirational hon. Member for South Thanet (Craig Mackinlay).

Craig, it is so good to have you back among us. You are the man of the moment. I met your daughter, whose birthday is tomorrow. I say to you and your family that you are an inspiration to the people in this country who have suffered with sepsis. You have shown us the way forward. Thank you for everything—[Applause.] That is the only time I allow clapping.

May I also just mention that we have the Speaker of the Icelandic Parliament and the Premier of the Cayman Islands with us today?