Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK Science and Technology Framework, last updated on 9 February 2024, what assessment her Department has made of its progress against the goal of working with industry and philanthropic partners to increase inward investment by Summer Recess 2023.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT has made significant strides towards enhancing collaboration with industry and philanthropic partners to bolster investment.
Last year’s successful Global Investment Summit attracted more than £29 billion, including landmark investments in AI, life sciences and quantum. We will continue to build on our collaborative approach to increase philanthropic and private investment, including working with DBT and the Office for Investment, to further our investment ambitions.
We announced £25 million for UK Biobank conditional on philanthropic match-funding within a consortium. So far, we have secured £16 million from philanthropists Eric Schmidt and Ken Griffin, and work is underway to secure further donations.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Higher Education Statistics Authority report entitled Higher Education Provider Data: Business and Community Interaction 2022/23, published on of 4 April 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of spinouts from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There were five fewer spinouts owned by Higher Education Providers formed in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22 based on the Business and Community Interaction data. However, this was accompanied by an 8.9% increase in the number of spinouts surviving at least three years. The government is committed to increasing the commercialisation of university research and accepted all the recommendations of the independent review of university spinouts in November 2023.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the to the Higher Education Statistics Authority report entitled Higher Education Provider Data: Business and Community Interaction 2022/23 published on 4 April 2024, what assessment her department has made of the reasons for the decline in higher education income from collaborative research with business from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Higher education income from collaborative research with business dropped between 2021/22 and 2022/23 from £1.89bn to £1.78bn. However, this is still consistent with an upward trend from 2018/19.
The government supports university knowledge exchange activities business, through Higher Education Innovation Funding which is currently at its highest ever level at £260m a year with an additional £20m to support business and commercialisation activities.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK Science and Technology Framework, last updated on 9 February 2024, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing the long-term national plan for research and innovation infrastructure.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As per the S&T Framework update published in February, the government expects to publish a national plan for research and innovation infrastructure within 12 months.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding her Department has provided to support research into pandemic preparedness in the financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DHSC are the lead department for pandemic preparedness, a core element of the UK Biological Security Strategy.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
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.