Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK Science and Technology Framework, published on 6 March 2023, whether references in that paper to engineering biology include (a) gene therapy, (b) vaccine development and (c) other life sciences technologies.

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

DSIT’s definition of engineering biology is set out in the National Vision for Engineering Biology, published in December 2023. Engineering biology includes products or services whose development draws on the tools of synthetic biology. This would capture all gene therapies, and vaccine and life science technologies which are developed using these tools. Engineering biology also delivers applications in other sectors of the economy including agriculture and chemicals.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of East West Rail on the journey time between Oxford and Cambridge.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Modelling conducted by the East West Rail Company and released as part of their Route Update Announcement in 2023 shows an estimated journey time of 89 minutes between Oxford and Cambridge by rail once East West Rail is completed, compared to a current journey time of 167 minutes by road during peak times.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage innovation in (a) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (b) the DVLA, (c) HS2 Ltd. and (d) National Highways.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The UK Government has an overarching goal of making the UK a global hub for innovation, placing innovation at the centre of everything the nation does. We can see this within our Public Bodies:

1. Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The MCA is committed to supporting innovation in maritime. This includes:

- Taking an enabling approach to regulation of innovative future maritime technologies,

- Implementation of the UK Concierge Service and the My MCA technology platform supporting customers and the UK economy, and

- Empowering and supporting staff to explore innovative ways of working, including digital technology, to make best use of resources.

1. DVLA

The DVLA builds its new software and services using the very latest methodologies and technologies. Examples include:

- It is a fast adopter of cutting edge features offered by public cloud infrastructure so it can deliver quicker, safer and serve greater numbers of customers than ever before.

- The DVLA’s in-house TechLab research emerging technologies, including how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assist in building software to support motorists though their interactions with DVLA.

- The DVLA has used these innovations most recently in the development of its driver and vehicles account. When fully rolled out, the account will fundamentally change how the DVLA operates, allowing individuals to authenticate, register and return to DVLA services, view and manage their details, set notification preferences (including reminders) and seamlessly link to the services they need.

1. HS2 Ltd.

HS2 Ltd is at the forefront of innovation within the construction industry and has an obligation to incentivise innovation across the supply chain under the Development Agreement.

Innovation across the programme has made HS2 more efficient with hundreds of millions saved through an accelerator programme to fast-track technology and ideas into the supply chain. Since its launch in September 2020, the accelerator has supported 25 SMEs, raised £220 million in investment, funding and contracts, and helped to create 418 new STEM jobs. Two of the SMEs supported through the accelerator have recently been through an acquisition on the basis of their success.

D. National Highways

National Highways have an innovation and modernisation fund. The Department has provided £216m to NH for this fund during RIS2 (covering the period 2020-2025).

They will use it to research and develop emerging technologies which have the potential to revolutionise what it means to travel on our roads. They will also use this fund to produce new requirements and guidance for proven concepts, enabling the widespread adoption of innovations to modernise the road network. The fund is split across 5 themes:

- Design, construction, and maintenance

- Connected and autonomous vehicles

- Customer mobility

- Energy and environment

- Operations

The Department expect a similar approach to be continued in RIS3 (covering the period 2025-30) which is currently in development.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to improve signalling on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department is currently working with Nexus (operator of the Tyne and Wear Metro) across a range of proposals and live projects. We are awaiting a business case submission from Nexus to address any future signalling proposals. We look forward to receiving this and considering Nexus’s submission through the department's project governance process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent members of staff work on pandemic preparedness in (a) her Department and (b) the UK Health Security Agency.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Government continues to plan and prepare for a range of pandemic and emerging infectious disease scenarios, including those caused by respiratory contact, both influenza and non-influenza, and vector-borne pathogens, building on lessons learned from exercises and incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently 21.35 full time equivalent (FTE) staff working on pandemic preparedness within the Global and Public Health Group of the Department.

Every team across the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is playing a critical role in the nation’s pandemic preparedness and is committing significant resource and effort to meet our remit. As a result, it is not possible to provide an FTE figure of all staff whose work forms part of pandemic preparedness. The UKHSA’s Centre for Pandemic Preparedness (CPP) holds some members of staff who are focused primarily on pandemic preparedness policy and coordination. There currently are 18.4 FTEs working in CPP.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of East West Rail on science and technology activities in locations on that route.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government has a strong desire to maintain and enhance our position as a global science and technology superpower and we recognise the importance of the Oxford-Cambridge region as a globally renowned hub of science, research and innovation, with businesses and universities that are leading the way in life sciences, space and green technologies. At the East West Rail Route Update Announcement in May 2023, it was reconfirmed that East West Rail would approach to Cambridge from the south, serving the new Cambridge South station, and promoting greater economic growth given the proximity of the Biomedical Campus to Cambridge South station.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the London North Eastern Railway Simpler Fares pilot scheme on the average cost to passengers.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department supported LNER to introduce its Simpler Fares trial and officials regularly meet with LNER to discuss progress. During the trial, the majority of passengers will find fixed or semi flexible fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare, and there will be more fixed fares available than before. LNER estimate as of 6th February that 55% of semi flexible tickets sold were cheaper than the old super off peak ticket.

The trial will be evaluated to understand its impact on passengers, and gather passenger feedback. The evaluation will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to respond to feedback from passengers on the London North Eastern Railway Simpler Fares pilot scheme.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department supported LNER to introduce its Simpler Fares trial and officials regularly meet with LNER to discuss progress. During the trial, the majority of passengers will find fixed or semi flexible fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare, and there will be more fixed fares available than before. LNER estimate as of 6th February that 55% of semi flexible tickets sold were cheaper than the old super off peak ticket.

The trial will be evaluated to understand its impact on passengers, and gather passenger feedback. The evaluation will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with London North Eastern Railway on the trial of the Simpler Fares pilot scheme.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department supported LNER to introduce its Simpler Fares trial and officials regularly meet with LNER to discuss progress. During the trial, the majority of passengers will find fixed or semi flexible fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare, and there will be more fixed fares available than before. LNER estimate as of 6th February that 55% of semi flexible tickets sold were cheaper than the old super off peak ticket.

The trial will be evaluated to understand its impact on passengers, and gather passenger feedback. The evaluation will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the working age population are disabled in the North East; and how many and what proportion were disabled in 2010.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is shown in the table below.

The definition of disability changed in 2013 therefore estimates for 2010 and 2022 are not directly comparable.

Number and percentage of disabled people aged 16 to 64 by country/region

Source: Annual Population Survey (APS) -Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)

Notes:

• Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 and percentages to one decimal place.
• Totals may not always sum due to rounding and the exclusion of missing, unknown and not applicable categories.
• Numbers shown are central estimates and subject to sampling variation. The precision of these estimates will be limited by sample size.
• Annual Population Survey data has not been reweighted to incorporate the latest estimates of the size and composition of the UK population.
• Estimates for 2010 are based on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) definition of disability. Estimates for 2022 use the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonised Standard definition.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to formally respond to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report into the communication of state pension age increases, published on 21 March 2024.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data her Department holds on the use of (a) arms and (b) non arms exports to Israel.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the value of arms exports to Israel was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department supports foreign investment in science and technology by region.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Investment is at the very heart of the UK economy - it supports economic growth, creates jobs and enables improvements in productivity for new and existing firms. It is also essential for successful delivery of the Government's objective to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.

The Department for Business and Trade promotes a range of investment opportunities across the science & technology sector. DBT works to attract foreign corporates to the UK, developing compelling investment propositions for DBT's international network to bring to prospective investors, this includes both sector-wide and place-based opportunities. DBT has dedicated based staff across the UK who work with the DAs/their agencies, wider DBT teams, Office for Investment and other UK government departments to deliver investment in priority areas, including science and technology. DBT teams work closely with partners to deliver events to attract investment, such as the Northern Ireland Investment Summit that was held in Belfast, September 2023.

The UK has 13 new Investment Zones which will benefit from £160 million each of Government funding to unlock foreign investment across priority sectors, especially science and technology, with a focus on driving innovation and creating quality jobs. These will be new hubs for investment and innovation across the UK and the funding spread over 10 years, will be spent on fiscal incentives and/or flexible spend to support attracting FDI. In line with the government's levelling up objectives, they are established in places with significant unmet productivity potential, where existing strengths and assets aligned to priority sectors can be leveraged to increase opportunities for local communities. Investment Zones will be established in partnership between central government, local government, research institutions and the private sector. The Investment Opportunity Fund is intended to double down on the objectives of Freeports and Investment Zones by providing a flexible, agile pot of funding that government can use to secure and respond to opportunities in these areas as they emerge.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to help increase the retention rate of staff in HM Prison and Probation Service.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Safe, decent, rehabilitative prisons require excellent and experienced staff, as does supervising offenders in the community to keep the public safe.

We want them to stay in the Prison Service and to support retention, we have:

• Accepted every penny of the Prisons Service PRB pay recommendations for 2023/24.

• Injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year since 2021 to support Probation staff to deliver more robust supervision.

• Rolled out BWV to every officer, to help protect staff by defusing volatile situations.

• Introduced a New Colleague Mentor scheme to help new recruits feel supported in their early weeks and months.

Retention for prison officers is improving, with the staff resignation rate dropping from around 10.7% to around 8.3% over the last year to December 2023.