Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 has made an assessment of a potential link between (a) the rebate in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and (b) the accompanying Statutory Scheme on the level of foreign direct investment into UK R&D.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is working to better understand the impacts the operation of the current Voluntary Scheme and the accompanying Statutory Scheme on investments in the UK. We are therefore in direct conversations with companies to understand these impacts. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is in close discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department responsible for the Voluntary Scheme and Statutory Scheme, about the business environment for life sciences and its impact on investment.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 planning to take to help ensure that the number of students undertaking PhD research in mathematics is sustained.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK is a world leader in Mathematics. British mathematicians publish a large volume of highly regarded work. When compared to international colleagues, British mathematicians have the 5th largest share of publications in the world. When looking at the top 1% of most cited publications, UK mathematicians are responsible for the third largest share.
Since January 2020, UKRI has awarded £104 million of additional funding into Mathematical Sciences, over and above EPSRC’s core Mathematical Sciences Theme budget. The additional funding has funded institutes, small and large research grants, fellowships, doctoral studentships, and postdoctoral awards.
Following the SR, BEIS will set R&D budgets through to 2024/25. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the Government’s Chief Scientists have a mathematical background; and if will provide information on the academic backgrounds of the Government’s Chief Scientists.
Answered by Paul Scully
Most government departments have a Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to provide scientific advice. A CSA is typically a distinguished scientist or engineer, recruited externally from academia or industry. Of the current cohort of CSAs, two have a purely mathematical background (FCDO CSA & MOD CSA).
However, all CSAs bring deep science and/or engineering knowledge and are able to work fluently across a range of sciences including mathematics.
All current departmental CSAs have their academic background published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/chief-scientific-advisers.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps his Department is taking to support UK research and development.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
We have committed to investing £14.9 billion in R&D in 2021/22, meaning Government R&D spending is now at its highest level in four decades.
We are working to ensure the benefits are felt nationwide, with our UK Innovation Strategy and R&D Places Strategy due to be published this summer.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 is being invested by UKRI in understanding the biological mechanisms of ageing.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Through the Ageing Society Grand Challenge (ASGC), the Government has set an ambitious mission to “ensure that people can enjoy at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035”.
UKRI is a key part in addressing this Challenge. We have announced £98m of funding for healthcare innovation to support healthy aging, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, and £69.5 million through UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund to unlock new treatments that allow people to lead healthier and longer lives.
In 2018/19, UKRI spent £81.9m on a huge breadth of healthy ageing research. Within this, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) are the main funders of research into the biological mechanism of ageing. In 2017/18:
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of time it will take to meet the Government’s ageing society target of five healthier, more independent years of life.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Through the Ageing Society Grand Challenge (ASGC), led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Government has set an ambitious mission to “ensure that people can enjoy at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035”.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What recent steps she has taken to support businesses in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We are committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a business.
BEIS has unveiled several new measures to support business across the UK, including an £88 million boost for productivity and the publication of the SME Finance Charter.
We have also invested £591 million to South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers South Basildon and East Thurrock, to empower local areas to reach their potential, boosting national productivity and growth.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps UKRI are taking to support interdisciplinary working in UK research.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
UK Research and Innovation has established several mechanisms to encourage and support multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and this is a central theme in the organisation’s recently published Delivery Plans. In addition to examples taking place across its Councils, UKRI supports a multibillion pound portfolio of cross-cutting funds demonstrating commitment to interdisciplinary research.
The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and Future Leaders Fellowships, for example, were both designed to encourage and support interdisciplinary projects. The Strategic Priorities Fund realises Sir Paul Nurse’s vision of a ‘common fund’ and is already investing in interdisciplinary projects that each bring together several of UKRI’s councils along with government departments to tackle shared challenges and opportunities.
In addition to these targeted programmes, quality-related funding awarded by Research England allows universities and researchers in England to address their research priorities as they identify them
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) human resources, (b) communications, (c) grant administration, (d) building and estates management and (e) other administrative functions are shared by the seven research councils; and which such services are delivered independently by each research council.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The seven Research Councils currently operate their own corporate functions, with separate Human Resources, Finance, Communications and IT operations.
The Research Councils are working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on a new digital grants system and common technology platform.
The Research Councils share a number of services including a main campus in Swindon at Polaris House; access to the London base of the Medical Research Council (MRC); and Internal Audit and Assurance functions, which are hosted by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). BBSRC also operate the estates and facilities management of Polaris House.
All seven Councils have their transactional HR, finance, payroll, systems and grants administration provided by UK Shared Business Services and six of the seven Councils share a pension scheme and its administration, with MRC running its own pension scheme.
The Government is implementing Sir Paul Nurse’s report, which recommended an evolution of the Research Councils into a formal organisation with a single Accounting Officer. Sir Paul advised that a new Research UK body could support the whole system to collectively become more than the sum of its parts, including by simplifying transactional operations, reducing the burden of administration currently placed on each individual Research Council, and enabling a stronger focus on multi-disciplinary research. We also want to strengthen collaboration between the research base and the commercialisation of discoveries in the business community and this is why we are looking to integrate Innovate UK into Research UK. Innovate UK will retain its clear business focus and separate funding stream.