Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research into new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has invested nearly £500 million towards 2,200 new research and innovation initiatives, both in the UK and globally. These initiatives are diverse and include research into new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
The University of Liverpool is part of a new national research project to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2. Supported by £2.5 million of funding from UKRI, the G2P-UK National Virology Consortium will study how mutations in the virus affect key outcomes. This includes factors such as how transmissible the virus is, the severity of COVID-19 caused, and the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.
The Consortium will bring together leading virologists from 10 research institutions including the University of Liverpool. The university will work alongside the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, which plays a world-leading role in virus genome sequencing, as well as Public Health England, to boost the UK's capacity to study newly identified virus variants and rapidly inform the Government’s policy.
The current overall UKRI portfolio of COVID-19-related grants, including awards supported by Innovate UK, involves vaccine projects that provide greater diversity of approaches than for the first generation of vaccines developed. More details can be found on the UKRI website.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to prepare for the UK potentially not participating in Horizon Europe.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As part of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) published on 24 December, the UK has agreed to associate to Horizon Europe which represents a valuable collaboration on science and research to tackle global challenges, and in fields that will benefit the British people. The government is committed to establishing the UK as a science and research global superpower, and this deal fulfils our manifesto commitment to collaborate internationally in this regard. As a responsible government, we were also prepared for a scenario where we did not agree to participate in Horizon Europe and were ready to implement a suite of domestic alternative schemes to support international research and innovation collaboration if required.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to promote the UK as a destination for life sciences innovation, in the context of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) becoming the first regulator to approve the mRNA vaccine for covid-19 on 2 December 2020.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The flexibility and pragmatism of the MHRA has been instrumental to our COVID response, including enabling us to approve the COVID-19 vaccine before any other country. The MHRA will continue to pioneer innovative regulatory approaches to the most ground-breaking treatments, from the latest AI-enabled technologies to the best new precision therapies, benefiting both patients and the sector.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the volume of (a) jobs, (b) investment and (c) GVA that could be stimulated throughout the UK in the event that all those onshore wind, solar and offshore wind sites predicted to bid into the Contract for Difference Auction Round 4 are successful in that auction round.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The low carbon economy is a success story, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, and it will continue to grow as we deliver net zero. The Government has not estimated the volume of jobs, investment and GVA that could directly be created or stimulated as a result of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4. Auction outcomes are dependent on many factors including the auction parameters, which are yet to be set. However, we work closely with industry to maximise the opportunities for UK suppliers from projects with approved Supply Chain Plans.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether there are statutory restrictions on the volume of onshore wind, solar and offshore wind sites that are permitted to secure contracts through a Contracts for Difference auction.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Whilst there are no predetermined limits on the volume of sites permitted to secure contracts through an allocation round, the Government has discretion to apply a capacity cap to an allocation round in order to limit the total capacity of projects awarded contracts in a round. Capacity caps can be used to drive competition in auctions and deliver value for money for consumers. We will publish allocation round parameters in advance of the next auction in 2021, taking into account a range of factors including the anticipated pipeline of eligible projects.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The non-statutory Magnox Inquiry is currently underway, which is an independent inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and its subsequent termination.
Once convened, public inquiries are run independently of the Government. The Department supports and cooperates fully with all public inquiries as required.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has bring forward legislative proposals to ban companies from profiteering during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to tackling consumer rip-offs and bad business practices, including profiteering.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has written to firms suspected of profiteering to challenge unjustifiable price increases. To date, the CMA has written to 264 firms, accounting for over 3,100 complaints, about price rises for essential products.
The Government continues to monitor the extent of profiteering and will update the law if it is proportionate to do so.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of social enterprises that have received Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans.
Answered by Paul Scully
The British Business Bank does not provide a breakdown on the issuance of loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to social enterprises.
As of 29 April, in total over £4.1 billion worth of loans have been issues under the CBILS across all sectors, to over 25,262 businesses. We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and the lenders on providing transparent and regular data publication going forward.