Rare Diseases

Debate between Charles Hendry and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Westminster Hall

[Charles Hendry]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. A constituent has written to me just this week about meningitis and a drug that has gone through the trials process. It has been approved, essentially, but is only being made available to people who can pay for it at the moment. It seems to me that when treatments could be made available, expediting the process of approval and then ensuring that they are generally available as soon as possible, to as many people as possible, should be an objective of its own. I absolutely agree with what he said in that respect.

[Jim Shannon]

As I said in my introduction, the Teenage Cancer Trust indicated that that was one of its recommendations and it would like to see that happening. Perhaps the Minister can respond to that recommendation from the Teenage Cancer Trust. When it comes to the trial, effectiveness and availability of the drugs, we have to look outside the box. That is what we are trying to do, and I think that the hon. Gentleman is also saying that.

[Charles Hendry]

That is exactly what I am saying. The other thing that we owe tremendous credit to the Teenager Cancer Trust for is highlighting the way in which teenagers are dealt with in hospitals. The issue is that sometimes they are put in children’s wards, which is clearly not suitable for somebody who is in their late teens, and at other times, they are put in wards with people who were in their 80s and 90s, who are dying or are ill with other conditions. Someone who is a teenager is at a particularly vulnerable time of transition in their life, and it is incredibly important that their needs are dealt with in a specialist way and that they are surrounded by as many people of their own age group as possible. I think that is an important part of the treatment and recovery process.

I encourage the Government to continue what they are doing to try and address the issues. The strategy that is being put in place is of great importance, but more could be done to achieve a bigger overall gain from so many different fragmented, but immensely worthwhile contributions.

UK Trade & Investment

Debate between Charles Hendry and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Charles Hendry (Wealden) (Con)]

I put on record my interests as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and as the chairman of the advisory board of the Russo-British chamber of commerce.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Nick de Bois) on securing the debate. He was absolutely right to say that our future recovery lies not within the eurozone, but outside it. We must focus much more on countries where there are tremendous opportunities that we are often missing. From my experience of visiting them as a Minister and subsequently, such countries want to trade with Britain. The door is open, and the question we are most often asked is, “Why don’t we see more of you?” I am delighted at the work being done by the Foreign Office and UKTI teams to try to ensure that we are in a strong position to do that.

There are very exciting developments in Russia, with which our trade has doubled in the past three years. It has moved from being our 19th biggest trading partner to being as large as our 11th biggest, which is a huge improvement in activity. We want such an approach to be replicated in many other countries.

I welcome the approach taken by the Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend Lord Green, towards developing links with chambers of commerce. They are well established in their countries, where they are well known to their Governments, and they understand those countries well. It is much better to develop those relations than to put in place a new structure.

Chambers of commerce are also well positioned to ensure that we go beyond the few cities that trade delegations usually visit. In Russia, there will be delegations to Moscow and St Petersburg, but there are exciting new opportunities and a real enthusiasm for doing business in Kazan in Tatarstan, and chambers of commerce should be our natural allies in making things happen.

At the end of last year, the Prime Minister appointed seven of us as trade envoys to some of the fast-developing markets, which are exactly the sort of markets that my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North spoke about. We should recognise the extraordinary personal contribution that the Prime Minister is making in that area, with the success of his trade missions and his determination to get out there and win opportunities for British companies right around the world.

The role of trade envoys is to give an extra level of support, working alongside the FCO and UKTI. It is to focus purely on trade, not politics or diplomacy, and on taking that contact forward to a deeper and broader level of engagement. In the three countries in which I work, there are tens of billions of pounds of British investment in the oil and gas sector, and companies such as Shell, BP and BG have enormous departments that focus on improving such links. My focus therefore needs to be not only on working with them, but on seeing how to secure opportunities for the supply chain and service companies, of which Britain has some of the finest in the world.

[Jim Shannon]

The effectiveness of businesses is measured by export contracts. Does the hon. Gentleman think that we should do more for our skills and people skills in construction, for instance, so that people are able to go overseas to help companies to build?

[Charles Hendry]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that we have world-class skills in that sector. I find that people saw what happened in Britain in 2012, when we delivered the most successful Olympic games ever, and know that those involved often have a tremendous amount to offer to countries with big ambitions in such areas.

The Asian games are in Ashgabat in 2017, the European games are in Baku in 2015 and the Expo is in Astana in 2017. In all those areas, we are introducing British architects, engineers and construction companies—working alongside other partners—to ensure that they have the chance to compete. The issue is not only about the big companies, because my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North is completely right that it is also about SMEs. On the recent mission that I undertook to Turkmenistan, the majority of companies were SMEs with expertise in the sports sector that saw how they could work alongside others and realise the potential of the 2017 games.

We also have opportunities to attract more investment into the United Kingdom. These countries all have significant sovereign wealth funds. We can highlight the opportunities for them to invest in British businesses and infrastructure, and they should become our natural partners as we take that forward.

I believe that what really makes a difference is the relationship between trade envoys, and the Foreign Office and UKTI. We have excellent missions and ambassadors in those countries, but we also have outstanding UKTI representatives who are focused on understanding those markets and realising the opportunities. That means that we host good round tables to bring together a range of companies that are interested in investing here. For companies that are looking for where to export next, but are anxious about going to markets that are distant and new, we can help to make the process much easier.

I very much welcome the debate. Above all, the key message is that countries throughout the world that want to trade with Britain need to see us more. I am delighted that we have such an energetic Minister in post, because I know that he is tireless in taking that forward.

Renewable Energy

Debate between Charles Hendry and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Westminster Hall

[Charles Hendry]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. For the first time, we are now moving towards a clear, cross-Department strategy on waste. That means looking at the hierarchy and at where we reuse and recycle, but also seeing that as part of that process there is residual waste, and getting an energy source from that is better than putting it into landfill and land raise.

[Jim Shannon]

Will the Minister give way?

[Charles Hendry]

I will give way briefly to the hon. Gentleman, but then must get on to the comments of my hon. Friend.

[Jim Shannon]

I recognise the Minister’s passion for the subject. He mentioned a Government strategy: will that include the regions such as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well, so that it is uniform and UK-wide?

[Charles Hendry]

We seek to work with the devolved Administrations but, clearly, different rules apply in different parts of the United Kingdom, where the different Governments have responsibility for such matters. If we have central control in Westminster over different aspects, we have the influence, but we obviously wish to work with the devolved Administrations to ensure that the strategy is as holistic as possible. The more that we can remove the barriers and have an integrated and holistic approach, the more effectively we can attract investment into the sector.

We have identified eight technologies that we believe will bring us closest to delivering those 2020 targets cost-effectively and sustainably. They are onshore and offshore wind, marine energy, biomass heat and electricity, ground source and air source heat pumps, and renewable transport. Biomass heat and power includes energy from waste technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, waste combustion and the new, advanced technologies of gasification and pyrolysis. We believe that those eight technologies collectively are capable of delivering more than 90% of the renewable energy we need for 2020.

Instead of just having targets, we are determined to show how we meet our objectives. It is easy for Governments to have targets, but then to leave them to a future Government to explain why they were not met. We are determined to put in place a clear road map that shows what barriers exist, and how we intend to overcome them so that we can be more effectively held to account in the process.

Last year, we published the UK renewable energy road map, which shows where we are now on those eight technologies, how deployment may develop up to 2020, and the actions that will need to be taken now to overcome the barriers to deployment. Although our evidence shows that we can meet our target of 15% renewables by 2020, we are clear that we need a rapid increase in deployment. At the end of 2010, renewable energy accounted for 3.3% of UK energy consumption, so there is a significant way to go.

Renewable electricity and heat technologies are generally more expensive than fossil fuel generation, and require subsidy to boost deployment, just as every previous new energy technology has done. Support is available under the renewables obligation, the feed-in tariffs scheme, the renewable heat incentive, and the renewable transport fuel obligation.

Metal Thefts (Electricity Industry)

Debate between Charles Hendry and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 6th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

The first priority, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman understands, is to decide what are the best courses of action and determine what needs primary legislation and what can be done through secondary legislation. We are at the stage before that, but I hope that I am showing him that, with the new Minister, Baroness Browning, coming in, a great sense of urgency is being given to the sort of solution he has been highlighting.

Baroness Browning also spoke about closer links to environmental legislation and the licensing requirements for waste management and the need for more stringent identification requirements when selling metal, to identify both the seller and the owner of the material. The current regime requires little more than any name written down on the dealer’s records. The power to close scrap metal yards where there is clear evidence of sustained illegal activity is being considered, as is the possibility of moving away from cash as a method of payment for this industry, thereby removing the perceived easy access to cash. We are absolutely looking at the issue the hon. Gentleman has highlighted. If there are any other issues on the list he set out, I will ensure that they are on the agenda for the meeting so that we look at the full range of possible options.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

There seems to be an insatiable demand for scrap metal in other parts of the world. Like many others in the Chamber, I suspect that the metals are ending up in the far east. Does the Minister intend to have more stringent export controls?

[Charles Hendry]

Part of the purpose of looking at the issue as an organised crime activity is that it gives us a much greater ability to look at it internationally. The hon. Member for Hyndburn highlighted how action is being taken in other European countries, and there is certainly a need for an international co-ordination of approaches—better understanding and better information sharing—so that when things are happening through an international chain, we can pursue them and make sure that the relevant people are brought to justice in the most appropriate regime.

The Government have no desire to target or hinder the perfectly legitimate and valuable green economy work undertaken by the vast majority of law-abiding scrap metal dealers. However, elements of the industry are facilitating the theft of metals, and steps must be taken to shut such disposal routes.

I thank the hon. Member for Hyndburn for securing this important debate. I assure him and the House that the Government take the issue very seriously. We will be having the meeting next week, on a cross-departmental basis, and the issues that he has highlighted will be addressed then. As I have explained, we are determined to address the issue, which is causing massive inconvenience, great threats and a really serious challenge to people working in the industry.

Question put and agreed to.