Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 3.70 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what funding his Department has allocated to extend the Innovation Accelerators programme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government will extend the Innovation Accelerators pilot for a year to continue to bolster high-potential innovation clusters in the Glasgow City Region, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. We will announce further details on the allocation of the R&D budget in due course.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on higher education institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Although my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, did not announce new funding for the higher education (HE) sector, we have since announced measures across fees, maintenance and wider HE reform to address financial pressures faced by the sector, increase support for students, strengthen efforts to improve access and outcomes for disadvantaged students and enable flexibility to be at the core of our HE system.
The department is aware that HE providers will have to pay increased national insurance contributions. As my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the Budget, raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions which is why the government has asked employers to contribute more.
The tuition fee limit increase represents an increased investment from students for the sector and will support HE providers in managing the financial challenges they are facing.
The department will explore how best it can continue to improve access to HE, thus widening opportunity for our students and learners, while driving the HE system to play a bigger role in our ambitions for national growth.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.19 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, whether the funding for growth-driving sectors will be allocated to the Department for Business and Trade.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This government is committed to delivering a modern Industrial Strategy. The Budget took a first step towards supporting our growth driving sectors, by providing funding in 2025-26 for life sciences manufacturing, allocated to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and to automotive and aerospace manufacturing, allocated to the Department for Business and Trade.
The Budget also confirmed long-term funding for these sectors - £975m for aerospace, over £2bn for automotive, and up to £520m for life sciences supporting the development of new technology, further details of this funding will be set out through the Spending Review and publication of the full Industrial Strategy in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the evidential basis is for the calculation that the increase in his Department’s R&D budget to £13.9 billion is a rise by 8.5% in real terms.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT’s capital budget in 2024/25 was £13.3bn, with £12.5bn allocated for investment in R&D. As outlined in the Autumn Budget 2024, DSIT’s R&D allocation has risen to £13.9bn in 2025/26, a £1.4bn cash-terms uplift.
Using the latest OBR GDP deflator estimate for 2025/26 of 2.4 per cent (Autumn Budget 2024), this equates to a real-terms increase of 8.5%.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to Table 4.14 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, whether the £14.7bn capital DEL funding settlement for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for 2025-26 includes the £2.7bn for association to EU research programmes.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT has been allocated an R&D budget of £13.9 billion in 2025/26 within its capital DEL settlement. This includes funding for the full costs of association to EU research programmes, including Horizon Europe, and additional funding for the Horizon Guarantee.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.19 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, if she will publish an allocation breakdown of the £20.4 billion spending on research and development for 2025-26.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To fully harness the potential of the UK's excellent science base and to foster a dynamic investment economy, the Budget protects record levels of government research and development (R&D) investment with £20.4 billion allocated in 2025-26. This is allocated as per the table below.
Department | 25-26 R&D* |
DSIT | £13,936m |
DHSC | £2,036m |
MOD | £1,685m |
DESNZ | £730m |
DEFRA | £512m |
SIA | £439m |
FCDO | £335m |
DBT | £329m |
DfT | £154m |
DCMS | £63m |
DfE | £50m |
HO | £45m |
DWP | £39m |
MHCLG | £9m |
FSA | £8m |
MOJ | £3m |
HMRC | £2m |
HMT | £1m |
TOTAL | £20,376m |
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, if her Department will publish a tabular summary of Capital DEL allocated in the Budget to research and development by Department.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To fully harness the potential of the UK's excellent science base and to foster a dynamic investment economy, the Budget protects record levels of government research and development (R&D) investment with £20.4 billion allocated in 2025-26. This is allocated as per the table below.
Department | 25-26 R&D* |
DSIT | £13,936m |
DHSC | £2,036m |
MOD | £1,685m |
DESNZ | £730m |
DEFRA | £512m |
SIA | £439m |
FCDO | £335m |
DBT | £329m |
DfT | £154m |
DCMS | £63m |
DfE | £50m |
HO | £45m |
DWP | £39m |
MHCLG | £9m |
FSA | £8m |
MOJ | £3m |
HMRC | £2m |
HMT | £1m |
TOTAL | £20,376m |
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which organisation is responsible for ensuring the connection of large energy user buildings.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Depending on the capacity they require, large energy users can connect to either the low-voltage distribution network or the high-voltage transmission network. The networks are owned by private companies that are solely responsible for ensuring the delivery of connections and regulated independently by Ofgem. The distribution network is owned and operated by six Distribution Network Operators across Great Britain. The transmission network is owned by three Transmission Owners and operated by the National Energy System Operator.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of (a) stations and (b) rolling stock on the Northumberland Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The six new stations on the Northumberland Line are being constructed in accordance with the appropriate accessibility standards and will need to demonstrate compliance as part of their acceptance into service. The rolling stock will be in compliance with the appropriate accessibility standards.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to enable more civil servants to relocate from London to Newcastle upon Tyne.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Service is committed to establishing a strong presence in regions and nations across the United Kingdom, including in cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne. The Civil Service should be connected to and representative of the communities it serves as well as delivering a high quality of service for citizens across the whole of the UK. Further plans will be set out in due course, aligned with the upcoming Spending Review.