Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK armed forces personnel are embedded in the US Gerald Ford carrier strike group in the Caribbean.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Personnel from His Majesty's Armed Forces routinely serve on long‑standing exchange programmes with NATO Allies and key international partners. These arrangements strengthen interoperability, enhance mutual understanding, and support our shared security aims.
For reasons of operational and personnel security, the Ministry of Defence does not comment on the specific roles, locations, or units in which UK personnel may be embedded.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are present in Guyana.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
None.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has provided (a) training and (b) assistance to Guyana to protect its Exclusive Economic Zone.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence offers a range of training to global partners. Our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) course emphasises peacetime operations both ashore and afloat in support of activities in the EEZ. Personnel from Guyana’s Defence Force have attended this course.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what is the specific purpose is of the Government's £14.5 million funding for Granngemouth; whether this funding is expected to be allocated to technologies identified in the Project Willow scope; and whether this funding will align with (a) existing Grangemouth investment workstreams and (b) Scottish Government funding.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The UK and Scottish Governments are working together to progress all investment at Grangemouth. To support this, on 11 December we announced the first project to benefit from this £14.5m funding, the Scottish biotech company MiAlgae, which will receive a total of £3 million from both governments to develop an innovative new project on the Grangemouth site, using byproducts from whisky distillation. This investment is expected to support around 310 jobs over the next five years.
This is the first of a number of projects we are working to bring to the site, though at this moment in time, we cannot provide further information on future allocations of funding due to commercial sensitivities. On 17 December we went further, committing £120 million in support for the ethylene plant at Grangemouth. The UK Government remains firmly committed to delivering a successful low-carbon future for Grangemouth.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce mandatory heart screening for cardiac conditions for young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening, and which supports implementation.
The UK NSC last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019 and concluded that population screening should not be offered. Further information is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
The UK NSC is currently examining the evidence for SCD screening and will open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on this in due course.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Department for Transport and (b) offshore helicopter transport operators on advice that HM Coastguard has supplied to the oil and gas industry on Search and Rescue helicopter winching systems.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the value of offshore catering contracts awarded in the oil and gas sector since 2019 to date.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
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 impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on (a) glass manufacturers in Scotland, (b) economic growth in Scotland and (c) changes from glass to less sustainable packaging materials.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In autumn last year my department published an assessment of the impacts of implementing extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR), when the regulations were laid in parliament. This impact assessment does not include an assessment of the impact on specific materials or sectors or disaggregate at a national level.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what access the UK government has had to the business accounts of ExxonMobil at Mossmorran.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Both UK government Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with ExxonMobil regarding the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.
Following the closure announcement, Ministers met with Unite and GMB union representatives to discuss workforce support options.
The UK Government has not had access to ExxonMobil's internal management accounts for Mossmorran operations.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what engagement the UK government has had with the trade unions representing the workers at ExxonMobil Mossmorran.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Both UK government Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with ExxonMobil regarding the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.
Following the closure announcement, Ministers met with Unite and GMB union representatives to discuss workforce support options.
The UK Government has not had access to ExxonMobil's internal management accounts for Mossmorran operations.