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Written Question
Polar Regions: Research
Thursday 23rd November 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Natural Environment Research Council funding rules on UK Polar research.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the leading funder of natural environment research in the United Kingdom. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is part of NERC and operates polar infrastructure and facilities on NERC’s behalf, including the polar research vessel and research stations, to enable polar science and research activity. NERC funding, including to polar research, is delivered via competitive, peer-reviewed application processes. Awards are made to Research Organisations based on terms and conditions detailed in NERC’s Research Grants and Fellowships Handbook. NERC also supports strategic research and national capability programmes.


Written Question
Natural Environment Research Council: Grants
Thursday 23rd November 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to review the funding rules for the Natural Environment Research Council so that international partners can be costed in with a value up to 30% of a grant proposal.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a constituent council of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is responsible for managing funding policy across its councils. Where an “international co-applicant” agreement is in place, NERC funds specified direct costs for international collaborators, paying up to 100% of eligible direct costs or a maximum of 30% of the full economic cost value for eligible international costs. UKRI has no immediate plans to review this policy.


Written Question
Marine Management Organisation: Conditions of Employment
Tuesday 14th November 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Civil Service employees from core departments retained continuity of employment for contractual purposes when they transferred from working for their previous department to work for the Marine Management Organisation in 2009.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Continuous statutory service would be transferred as per the protocols. However, Defra does not keep information on staff who have transferred under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)/ Cabinet Office Statement of Practice. All data becomes owned by the organisation that the work moves to, as the staff are theirs as if they had always been their staff.


Written Question
Marine Management Organisation: Secondment
Tuesday 14th November 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under which staff-transfer protocol employees of core civil service Departments were transferred to the Marine Management Organisation in 2009; and whether this protocol has been applied to other employee transfers.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra follows the correct protocols for each staff transfer as set out in the Statement of Practice.


Written Question
Rare Diseases: Research
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on progress on the actions in the England Rare Diseases Action Plan on the effectiveness of current incentives for innovation in rare diseases.

Answered by George Freeman

While direct discussions have not yet taken place, officials in the Office for Life Sciences, a joint unit between the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department of Health and Social Care, are working closely with officials in the Department of Health and Social Care, who are leading on delivery of the England Rare Diseases Action Plan, to ensure that innovations are utilised for the benefit of patients with rare diseases. This includes joint attendance at ministerial and working level delivery meetings, as appropriate.


Written Question
Schools: Buildings
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit Office report Condition of school buildings, published on 28 June, HC1516, which schools pose a risk to the safety of pupils and staff because of potential structural failure due to disrepair or unsafe building materials or methods.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff. There are no open areas within schools or college buildings where the Department knows of an imminent risk to life.

The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping school buildings safe and in good working order, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools, prioritising poor condition and potential safety issues.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.

Since March 2022, the Department has been working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to identify the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their buildings. Where RAAC is suspected, the Department’s professional surveyors carry out assessments to verify its presence, and if confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where necessary, the provision of temporary buildings. Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme, and urgent capital support.



Written Question
Pesticides
Monday 10th July 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to set a target for a reduction in the use of chemical pesticides.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We have been assessing the potential role of targets to support our policy ambitions to reduce reliance on the use of conventional chemical pesticides We are clear that any targets that we set must be meaningful and designed to deliver our desired outcomes, which are to minimise the risks of pesticides to the environment and encourage sustainable pest management.


Written Question
Pesticides
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of treating biopesticides under a separate regulatory system than chemical pesticides.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Microbiologicals formulated into products, semiochemicals, plant extracts, and other substances based on biological materials are regulated as biopesticides, under the same regulatory system as chemical pesticides, if one of their functions is to protect a plant from pests. We currently do not intend to change this.

However, we plan to review regulatory processes and data requirements to identify where approvals and permissions for biopesticides can be made simpler and speedier. Our assessment is that this should reduce regulatory burden on applicants and lead to quicker approval timelines, without compromising environmental and human health standards.


Written Question
Aviation: Private Sector
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of private business flights that departed from all UK airports and airfields per Air Passenger Duty band in 2022.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Information regarding private business flights, airports and airfields is not available, however, the data used in the Air Passenger Duty (APD) publication provides a breakdown of historical receipts, chargeable passengers and liabilities for all APD passenger bands.

APD receipts for each band of air passenger duty in January to May 2022 can be found in the Air Passenger Duty Statistics tables, on the APD Bulletin landing page.

Data from June to December 2022 will be published in the upcoming June 2023 APD bulletin release.


Written Question
Air Passenger Duty
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue was raised from private business flights through Air Passenger Duty in 2022 per band of Air Passenger Duty.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Information regarding private business flights, airports and airfields is not available, however, the data used in the Air Passenger Duty (APD) publication provides a breakdown of historical receipts, chargeable passengers and liabilities for all APD passenger bands.

APD receipts for each band of air passenger duty in January to May 2022 can be found in the Air Passenger Duty Statistics tables, on the APD Bulletin landing page.

Data from June to December 2022 will be published in the upcoming June 2023 APD bulletin release.