Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support more women into the manufacturing industry.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The UK Government is aware of the current underrepresentation of women in manufacturing and is committed to advancing diversity within the sector. In the recently published Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan we state our intent to improve the equality profile of the sector through a Make UK-led equalities taskforce and by sponsoring an Equality Charter. This will be co-developed with industry stakeholders, including the aim of achieving 35% representation of women in the UK manufacturing sector by 2035.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will publish information on the planned role of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Industrial Strategy Council.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) supports the government's objective of delivering a long-term Industrial Strategy. Members have been appointed based on their expertise and wide-ranging experience and there is extensive business experience on the Council across a wide range of sectors and sizes of businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

The ISAC will make and publish recommendations on the development and implementation of the Industrial Strategy, including an annual report on its work.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support Small and Medium Enterprises in (a) manufacturing and (b) other sectors, as part of the Industrial Strategy.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Industrial Strategy's Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan sets out this government's plans to support manufacturers to grow and thrive, boosting jobs and increasing prosperity across the UK. SMEs will benefit from a range of policies, including skills, energy, scale-up and innovation, for example directly benefitting from the expansion of Made Smarter Adoption, with up to £99m of funding.

The Industrial Strategy will complement the recently published SME Small Business Plan that will span this Government's whole approach to driving small business growth and productivity - from boosting scale-ups to supporting budding entrepreneurs.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State fo Health and Social Care on the potential merits of funding a research hub to (a) coordinate research and (b) support early-career researchers working on ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) work closely together to coordinate research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Extensive support is provided to early-career researchers through the NIHR Academy and NIHR Infrastructure.

ME/CFS is a priority area for UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and it has committed over £4,460,000 to ME/CFS research since 2020. NIHR has also committed approximately £3.7 million to this area across the 2019/20-2023/24 financial years.

MRC recently awarded funding to PRIME, a £800,000 partnership to build new research infrastructure for ME/CFS research. PRIME will establish new research collaborations, bringing together researchers and private sector partners, to investigate the genetics, biomarkers and disease mechanisms of ME/CFS.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) encourage research on and (b) support the development of (i) strategic partnerships and (ii) research infrastructure for ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including post-acute infection condition such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), for which research funding is available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality, rather than designating an amount of funding for a particular condition. Welcoming applications on ME/CFS and other post-acute infection conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The NIHR Academy offers extensive support for early-career researchers through various fellowships, training awards, and mentoring structures. For instance, through the INSIGHT Programme, they work with universities to fund research masters studentships and to attract students into research. Through Academic Clinical Fellowships, for doctors and dentists, and Predoctoral Academic Fellowships, for other health professionals, the NIHR Academy supports healthcare practitioners in integrating research with clinical practice.

Together with the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, we are actively exploring next steps in ME/CFS research, as outlined in the ME/CFS final delivery plan. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS. This funding opportunity is one component of our approach to improve evidence around the diagnosis, management, and treatment of post-acute infection conditions, including ME/CFS. We are also planning an NIHR and MRC hosted showcase event for post-acute infection conditions research, including for ME/CFS and long COVID, later this year to stimulate further research in this field.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to allocate for research on ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the next (a) year and (b) five years.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including post-acute infection condition such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), for which research funding is available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality, rather than designating an amount of funding for a particular condition. Welcoming applications on ME/CFS and other post-acute infection conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The NIHR Academy offers extensive support for early-career researchers through various fellowships, training awards, and mentoring structures. For instance, through the INSIGHT Programme, they work with universities to fund research masters studentships and to attract students into research. Through Academic Clinical Fellowships, for doctors and dentists, and Predoctoral Academic Fellowships, for other health professionals, the NIHR Academy supports healthcare practitioners in integrating research with clinical practice.

Together with the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, we are actively exploring next steps in ME/CFS research, as outlined in the ME/CFS final delivery plan. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS. This funding opportunity is one component of our approach to improve evidence around the diagnosis, management, and treatment of post-acute infection conditions, including ME/CFS. We are also planning an NIHR and MRC hosted showcase event for post-acute infection conditions research, including for ME/CFS and long COVID, later this year to stimulate further research in this field.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the early morning alcohol restriction orders to help tackle early morning street drinking.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Licensing authorities already have powers under the Licensing Act 2003 to introduce Early Morning Alcohol Restriction Orders (EMROs) which can prohibit the sale of alcohol between midnight and 6am where appropriate for promoting the licensing objectives.

We keep the Licensing Act under review.

Found: Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Damian Hinds; Dr Rupa Huq; Natasha Irons; Liz Jarvis; Jo Platt

Found: Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Mr James Frith; Damian Hinds; Dr Rupa Huq; Liz Jarvis; Jo Platt