Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his planned timetable is for the publication of further information on the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is finalising the details of the Alternative Funding to have the process up and running for applications this winter. Further details on eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced very shortly.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether tenants who live in farmhouses on a business energy tariff are eligible for the Energy Bill Support Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) Alternative Funding will provide a £400 discount from energy bills for the small percentage of domestic households who are not reached through the main EBSS fund. This includes those who do not have a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, or who get their supply through a commercial intermediary. Further details on how this will affect those who live in farmhouses, as well as timescales and method of delivery, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 has taken to support scientific research consortia as a future funding model for domestic research and development.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 28 March 2022 to Question 142443.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 has taken on the supporting research into cancer immune therapies.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 25 March 2022 to Question 142442.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 has taken to develop the UK R&D Roadmap into the forthcoming R&D Plan.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 25 March 2022 to Question 142441.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress has been made towards the ratification of the UK’s association with the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Answered by George Freeman
The UK stands ready to formalise our association to EU programmes at the earliest opportunity. The UK raised the ongoing delays at the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes in December. In this meeting the EU confirmed that they were unwilling to move on UK association due to broader political issues. The minutes from this meeting can be found on GOV.UK. We continue to push the EU to formalise our association to Horizon Europe as soon as possible.
We recognise that the EU’s delays to the UK’s association have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses and innovators based in the UK. In order to provide reassurance, the Government guaranteed funding for the first wave of eligible successful applicants to Horizon Europe. On 15 March, the Government announced an extension of the guarantee to a second wave of eligible, successful applicants to ensure that important international collaborations can continue and to provide reassurance for future collaborations.
This guarantee protects researchers whether we associate to Horizon Europe, or not. The Government’s position remains to associate and we will continue to do everything we can, but the UK cannot wait indefinitely. If the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe soon, and in time to make full use of the opportunities it offers, we are committed to introducing a comprehensive alternative programme of international science, research and innovation collaborations. These will focus on both immediate stability for the sector, with short-term mitigations including the guarantee of funding for successful Horizon applicants, and a bold and ambitious longer-term offer that delivers many of the benefits of Horizon association, and additional benefits, through wider global participation, and even stronger industry and SME engagement.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of how the model of collaborative funding for covid-19 research at pace can be used to fund other research areas.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 15 February 2022 to Question 119577.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which sectors (a) his Department and (b) HM Treasury plan to consider in the development of Sector Visions as outlined in the Plan for Growth.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As set out in ‘Build Back Better: our plan for growth’, over the next 12 months the Government will work to develop visions for high growth sectors that will help shape the UK’s future and build on our existing competitive advantage and strengths in innovation. The specific sectors will be set out in the coming months.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the UK manufacturing sector fits into the future of innovation in the (a) Plan for Growth and (b) upcoming Innovation Strategy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is, and will continue to be, a champion of the needs of business and industry, including the UK manufacturing sector. This is why Build Back Better: plan for growth and its supporting strategies will put the UK at the forefront of opportunities, give businesses the confidence to invest, boost productivity across the UK, enable our green industrial revolution, and support our vision for Global Britain.
As announced in the Plan for Growth, published alongside Budget, the Department is engaging across Government to develop an Innovation Strategy. As well as working across Whitehall and with our Innovation Expert Group, we want to engage with the innovation community, including the manufacturing sector which accounts for 64% of all business expenditure on UK R&D, to ensure the evidence base is sound and the policy proposals in the Strategy are well developed.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the maintenance of the science and research funding in the international aid budget.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary ran a cross-government process with Departments to review in detail how ODA is allocated between key priorities. The Foreign Secretary announced an ODA settlement of £706 million for my Department on Tuesday 26th January.
Though the impact of the COVID pandemic has impacted ODA budgets, international collaboration remains central to a healthy and productive R&D sector. The Government’s commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated, given we are increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22, and as set out in our Integrated Review ambition.