Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support SMEs in Scotland to access the aerospace industry supply chain.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are working closely with the Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high-value skilled jobs in Scotland, in support of companies of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises. This is backed with a UK wide industry strategy which is integral to Scotland’s own industrial strategy for aerospace, defence, marine & security.
Support from the Department is provided through the £1.95billion committed to new UK aerospace research and technology, out to 2026, which is matched by industry; and the £250m Sharing in Growth intensive performance improvement programme, focussing support to SMEs. Other R&D provisions are also available, for example Innovate UK has committed £45,883,111 in core grant funding to the Advance Forming Research Centre since 1st October 2011 - and up to 31st March 2019 - through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. On top of this core funding, AFRC has been in receipt of separate, competitively-won funding from Innovate UK by being part of consortia that have made successfully bids through our various CR&D competitions.
BEIS officials are in regular contact and meetings with officials in Scottish Enterprise responsible for supporting aerospace in Scotland to discuss aerospace priorities in Scotland and new investment opportunities.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing to the aerospace industry in Scotland to create more highly skilled jobs.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are working closely with the Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high-value skilled jobs in Scotland, in support of companies of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises. This is backed with a UK wide industry strategy which is integral to Scotland’s own industrial strategy for aerospace, defence, marine & security.
Support from the Department is provided through the £1.95billion committed to new UK aerospace research and technology, out to 2026, which is matched by industry; and the £250m Sharing in Growth intensive performance improvement programme, focussing support to SMEs. Other R&D provisions are also available, for example Innovate UK has committed £45,883,111 in core grant funding to the Advance Forming Research Centre since 1st October 2011 - and up to 31st March 2019 - through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. On top of this core funding, AFRC has been in receipt of separate, competitively-won funding from Innovate UK by being part of consortia that have made successfully bids through our various CR&D competitions.
BEIS officials are in regular contact and meetings with officials in Scottish Enterprise responsible for supporting aerospace in Scotland to discuss aerospace priorities in Scotland and new investment opportunities.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has met representatives of the Scottish Government to discuss aerospace industry priorities in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We are working closely with the Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high-value skilled jobs in Scotland, in support of companies of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises. This is backed with a UK wide industry strategy which is integral to Scotland’s own industrial strategy for aerospace, defence, marine & security.
Support from the Department is provided through the £1.95billion committed to new UK aerospace research and technology, out to 2026, which is matched by industry; and the £250m Sharing in Growth intensive performance improvement programme, focussing support to SMEs. Other R&D provisions are also available, for example Innovate UK has committed £45,883,111 in core grant funding to the Advance Forming Research Centre since 1st October 2011 - and up to 31st March 2019 - through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. On top of this core funding, AFRC has been in receipt of separate, competitively-won funding from Innovate UK by being part of consortia that have made successfully bids through our various CR&D competitions.
BEIS officials are in regular contact and meetings with officials in Scottish Enterprise responsible for supporting aerospace in Scotland to discuss aerospace priorities in Scotland and new investment opportunities.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether UK exporters of industrial products within the EU that currently rely on conformity assessments carried out by a UK Notified Body will (a) be required to apply for new certificates issued by an EU27 Notified Body after the UK has exited the EU and (b) be provided with UK Government support to manage the effect on their business caused by changes to conformity assessment procedures when exporting to the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
We recognise the important role that UK Notified Bodies play in ensuring that products that enter the UK and EU markets are safe and conform to relevant requirements and assessments.
We have reached agreement with the EU on the terms of an implementation period, during which market access will continue on current terms. This means that businesses will be able to operate with the same certificates as now up until the end of this period, including those issued by UK Notified Bodies.
Regarding our future partnership with the EU, we want to ensure that UK companies have the maximum freedom to trade with European markets. We continue to engage with UK stakeholders to understand and represent their concerns as we develop our negotiating position.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is the Government's policy for Scotland to lead the UK in research and development investment.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Industrial Strategy shows how the government plans to invest in R&D to transform the UK economy. To do this we need to build on research and innovation excellence across the UK.
The Science and Innovation Audits (SIAs) are identifying and validating areas of potential globally competitive advantage across the UK to provide evidence to help underpin future investment decisions. Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region’s SIA on data driven innovation undertaken in wave 1 has helped to inform and evidence their Edinburgh Region City Deal which includes funding for innovation projects. Scottish SIAs in subsequent waves include the Offshore Renewable Energy SIA (North of England and Scotland) and the Enabling Technologies in Scotland’s Central Belt SIA (Published in September 2017); as well as the Maximising the Marine Economy of the Highlands and Islands SIA and the Precision Medicine in Scotland SIA (due to be published in the Summer) which are likely to be utilised in similar ways contributing to both strategy and funding decisions.
In addition, the new £115m Strength in Places Fund will support areas right across the UK to build on existing strengths in science and innovation, where proposals can demonstrate a strong impact on local productivity and enhanced collaboration.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the UK has invested in research and development as a percentage of GDP in each year since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides annual estimates of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the UK. This is the preferred measure of R&D activity by international standards, as defined in the Frascati Manual 2015 (see: http://www.oecd.org/publications/frascati-manual-2015-9789264239012-en.htm). The latest data covers the period 2010 to 2015, this shows that GERD as a percentage of GDP has increased from 1.64% in 2010, to 1.68% in 2015. Further information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/governmentexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the launch of the International Research and Innovation Strategy.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
International collaboration is at the heart of this Government’s ambition to ensure UK remains one of the best places in the world for research and innovation. As outlined in the Industrial Strategy, we will publish an International Research and Innovation Strategy.
In many areas, we are already delivering. Last September we became the first nation to sign a formal Science and Innovation agreement with the United States. We signed a similar agreement with Canada. In December 2017, UK became the first nation to develop a joint Science and Innovation Strategy with China. More will come throughout this year. These agreements will provide new opportunities for our researchers, innovators, institutions and business to strengthen and extend their activities with international partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what applications for arms export licences were rejected by his Department in each year since 2010.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Information on military and dual use export licences is published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls which are all available to view on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.
Data covers all years from 2008 up to 30 September 2015. Information covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2015 will be published on 19 April 2016.
Bespoke reports on the published data can be run via https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the viability of hydro pump storage energy solutions; and what support her Department makes available to that industry.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Energy storage is one way to provide flexibility to the energy system, alongside demand side response, interconnection and smarter networks. We continue to assess the potential for all forms of energy storage, including pumped hydro, to benefit the UK energy system.
More than £80m public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012. This innovation funding has included DECC grant support for a UK pumped hydro storage developer to assess the potential location of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. The developer concluded that up to 15GW of novel pumped storage could be possible, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site is in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential pumped storage.
We are also investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions. We are focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart systems route map in due course.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on hydro pump storage in Scotland.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met Mr. Fergus Ewing, in October last year where energy storage was discussed. This resulted in a dialogue between the two ministers discussing next steps. The dialogue has been taken forward at official-level through existing working groups such as the Low Carbon Innovation Co-ordination Group (LCICG).
We are investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions. We are focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart system routemap shortly.