Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is available to businesses forced to close as a result of staff shortages from employees self-isolating following a notification from the NHS Test and Trace app.
Answered by Paul Scully
As of 16 August, fully vaccinated individuals in England are exempt from self-isolation. They are instead advised to take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test following a notification from the NHS COVID-19 app or a call from NHS Test and Trace. Those who are not yet fully vaccinated and those who test positive for COVID-19 are still required to self-isolate following a notification from the app or a call from NHS Test and Trace.
Daily contact testing (DCT) was also introduced to further support businesses in critical sectors, such as energy and food supply, and help them remain open. DCT enables employees to take a supervised test at their workplace every day instead of self-isolating. This has helped to minimise disruption to critical sectors and ensured staff are not put at risk.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses and employees, such as through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. In England, the Government has provided £25 billion through cash grants, including through Restart Grants of £18,000 per business premises and over £2 billion in discretionary grant funds made available to local authorities to provide support in their local areas.
Eligible businesses have also not had to pay business rates in the 15 months to 30 June 2021. Most businesses continue to receive 66% relief for the remainder of the year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much and what proportion of the Government’s £14.9 billion funding for research and development in 2021-22 will be allocated to developing non-animal methods of testing.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Overall Government spending on R&D in 2021/22 is at its highest level in four decades, this means UK scientists will have access to more public funding than ever before.
We recognise the importance of the independence of researchers and our investment in multiple disciplines and methodologies will be guided by experts.
We are not able to provide figures on the proportion of R&D funding dedicated to developing non-animal methods of testing as funding is not categorised in this way.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to hold a public consultation on the Innovation Strategy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In the recently published ‘Build Back Better: our plan for growth’, published alongside the Budget, we announced the publication of a new Innovation Strategy in the summer.
As well as working across Government and with our Innovation Expert Group, BEIS has been engaging with the innovation community on the development of this work, to ensure the evidence base is sound and the policy proposals in the Strategy are well developed. As part of this process, BEIS has met with over 300 organisations and businesses already.
Our engagement with the community will continue during the implementation phase after the publication of the Strategy and beyond we look to drive innovation across the UK.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to hold a public consultation on the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The 2017 Life Sciences Strategy was a joint document between industry and the Government. It was written following significant engagement with organisations, companies, and charities across the life sciences sector. Further to the publication of the Government’s Plan for Growth, we are now developing a new Life Sciences Vision, together with industry and the wider sector, which will build on the successes of the 2017 Strategy.
In developing the Life Sciences Vision, the Department is undertaking extensive engagement with stakeholders representing small and large businesses, charities, patient interest groups, and businesses representative organisations around the country, as well as the NHS and the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the development of the review of research bureaucracy, what recent discussions he has had with third sector organisations that are working to reduce and replace animal experiments.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Review of Research Bureaucracy is continuing its evidence gathering across the research sector. To date, there have been no discussions with third sector organisations about animal experiments.
The use of animals in research is carefully regulated and remains important in ensuring new medicines and treatments are safe. At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved primarily through funding for the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal research. Across the UK, the NC3Rs has invested £71 million in research through grants to universities, and almost £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme to UK and EU-based institutions, mainly focusing on new approaches for the safety assessment of pharmaceuticals and chemicals that reduce the use of animals.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans for there to be a public consultation as part of the review of research bureaucracy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Review of Research Bureaucracy has been engaging broadly across the research sector. The intention is to launch a call for evidence to build on this initial engagement.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the Government has allocated to research and development; and how much and what proportion of that funding was dedicated to animal-free science in each of the last five years for which records are available.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Overall Government spending on R&D in 2021/22 is £14.9 billion, its highest level in four decades.
The Office for National Statistics publishes historical figures on research and development expenditure by the UK Government on their website.
We are not able to provide figures on the proportion of R&D funding dedicated to developing animal-free science as funding is not categorised in this way.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government's policy to increase funding for the life sciences sector will incentivise the (a) development and (b) uptake of non-animal research methods.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Overall Government spending on R&D in 2021/22 is £14.9 billion, its highest level in four decades. UK scientists will have access to more public funding than ever before and our investments confirm the Government’s commitment to cementing the UK's status as a science superpower. The overall UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) budget for 2021/22 will be £7.9 billion, this represents a significant increase on UKRI’s £7.3 billion budget in 2019/20. Our investment across multiple disciplines will be guided by expert researchers.
UKRI work with a variety of stakeholders across the community in the development and uptake of non-animal research methods. Cross-sector collaboration has been at the heart of the success of the work of the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) which is funded by UKRI, and their CRACK IT Challenges programme. NC3Rs partners with the third sector to offer collaborative awards with the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK to speed progress in uptake of the 3Rs (replacing, reducing and refining the use of animals in research) in heart disease and cancer research.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with third sector organisations working to reduce and replace animal testing in developing plans to increase funding for the life sciences sector.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Overall Government spending on R&D in 2021/22 is £14.9 billion, its highest level in four decades. UK scientists will have access to more public funding than ever before and our investments confirm the Government’s commitment to cementing the UK's status as a science superpower. The overall UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) budget for 2021/22 will be £7.9 billion, this represents a significant increase on UKRI’s £7.3 billion budget in 2019/20. Our investment across multiple disciplines will be guided by expert researchers.
UKRI work with a variety of stakeholders across the community in the development and uptake of non-animal research methods. Cross-sector collaboration has been at the heart of the success of the work of the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) which is funded by UKRI, and their CRACK IT Challenges programme. NC3Rs partners with the third sector to offer collaborative awards with the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK to speed progress in uptake of the 3Rs (replacing, reducing and refining the use of animals in research) in heart disease and cancer research.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the new Innovation Strategy will incentivise the (a) development and (b) uptake of non-animal research methods.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The use of animals in research is carefully regulated and remains important in ensuring new medicines and treatments are safe. At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved primarily through funding for the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal research. Across the UK, the NC3Rs has invested £71 million in research through grants to universities, and almost £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme to UK and EU-based institutions, mainly focusing on new approaches for the safety assessment of pharmaceuticals and chemicals that reduce the use of animals.
In ‘Build Back Better: our plan for growth’ published alongside the Budget, the Government announced the publication of a new Innovation Strategy in the summer. We are currently working across government and with our Innovation Expert Group to develop the Strategy. The Strategy will outline how we look to achieve our ambitions in innovation and where we want to focus our efforts over the next decade. It will aim to set out the strategic objective and create the confidence for increased business investment in R&D and innovation.