Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to deploy drone technologies carrying (a) defibrillators and (b) other emergency medical equipment.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across Government, including between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medical logistics.
Last year, the Department of Health and Social Care, working in collaboration with the Department for Transport, Innovate UK, and UK Research and Innovation, supported five pilot projects, allocating them a total of £500,000 to explore the use of drones in the National Health Service. Given the potential of drones to improve how the NHS delivers patient care, the Department of Health and Social Care is supportive of trials that explore the use of drones in medical logistics.
Recent drone trials in the NHS have included pathology deliveries in Cornwall, blood deliveries in London, and the transport of chemotherapy to the Isle of Wight, where drone use reduced journey times from four hours by road and sea to a 30-minute flight
The National Institute for Health and Care Research has also funded a study into the use of drones to deliver defibrillators in emergency simulations, with more information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/drones-could-deliver-defibrillators-cardiac-arrest-patients-uk
Currently, there are no plans to deploy drone technologies carrying defibrillators outside of trials. The Department of Health and Social Care continuously reviews the available evidence surrounding the use of drones in medical logistics and is supportive of new trials, including those involving defibrillators, to further build this evidence base.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of the (a) legal and (b) safety implications of using VPNs to bypass online safety measures.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While there are legitimate reasons for using VPNs, services that deliberately target UK children and promote VPN use to circumvent online safety measures could face enforcement action under the Online Safety Act. Some VPNs may present security or privacy risks, so users are advised to exercise caution when using VPNs.
Government and Ofcom will monitor the impact of potential circumvention techniques on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act and will consider further options if necessary.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the risks (a) associated with third-party providers' involvement in (i) age verification and (ii) content moderation systems and (b) of (A) data breaches and (B) misuse of personal information by those providers; and what (1) regulations, (2) oversight procedures and (3) safeguards have been put in place to guarantee the safe (a) handling and (b) storage of the sensitive data of (i) children, (ii) vulnerable users and (iii) other users.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act impose obligations on data controllers – including third-party providers - to process data fairly, lawfully, and transparently.
The OSA also requires all providers to give particular regard to the importance of protecting users’ privacy rights when implementing measures to comply with their new safety duties, including age assurance and any content moderation measures.
The ICO has responsibility for monitoring and enforcing the application of data protection legislation in the UK. It has a range of tough criminal and civil enforcement tools at its disposal, including powers of prosecution and powers to issue substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help counter hostile state threats.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We are ensuring the UK is a harder target for states that seek to harm our people and interests
We have established a cross-Whitehall Joint Unit for state threats, launched the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme on 1 July, placing Iran and Russia on the enhanced tier, and are taking forward recommendations from the comprehensive review of transnational repression.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans her Department has to introduce (a) semi-transparent and (b) non-transparent Exchange Traded Funds.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s world-leading asset management sector.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK to benefit from increased marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
Semi-transparent and non-transparent ETFs which are domiciled in Europe can list in the UK and market to retail investors, following the UK’s recognition of certain retail funds from the EEA states, under the Overseas Funds Regime.
At present no non-transparent or semi-transparent ETFs have sought to be established in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority, as the relevant regulator, would deal with any such applications on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is considering steps to incentivise domicile Exchange Traded Funds in the UK if they have a significant corporate footprint in country.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is home to the world’s second largest investment management sector, with over £10.9 trillion of assets under management (11% of global assets). The UK has historic expertise in portfolio management, a crucial part of the Financial Services ecosystem. The UK Government is committed to supporting this important sector and in the recently published Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy committed to be one of the most competitive places globally to manage investments.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK for a range of reasons including marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
The Government has undertaken a wealth of work to enhance the UK’s fund domicile offering, including as part of the recent review of the UK funds regime. This has led to the introduction of new UK fund structures focused on enhancing real-economy investment including the Reserved Investor Fund, the Long-Term Asset Fund and Qualifying Asset Holding Companies.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is taking steps to establish an Exchange Traded Fund.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is home to the world’s second largest investment management sector, with over £10.9 trillion of assets under management (11% of global assets). The UK has historic expertise in portfolio management, a crucial part of the Financial Services ecosystem. The UK Government is committed to supporting this important sector and in the recently published Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy committed to be one of the most competitive places globally to manage investments.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK for a range of reasons including marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
The Government has undertaken a wealth of work to enhance the UK’s fund domicile offering, including as part of the recent review of the UK funds regime. This has led to the introduction of new UK fund structures focused on enhancing real-economy investment including the Reserved Investor Fund, the Long-Term Asset Fund and Qualifying Asset Holding Companies.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with UKRI on steps his Department is taking to support innovative materials whose development has been funded by grants from Innovate UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Officials regularly engage with UK Research and Innovation including with Innovate UK as the delivery partner for some of our most significant research programmes.
The Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, provides grants to support industry-led R&D to develop technologies and innovative practices to drive innovation in agriculture and increase productivity, sustainability and resilience in our farming sectors.
Examples of other collaborative programmes include the Defra co-funded Innovation in Environmental Monitoring programme. This programme has connected industry and research to the growing UK environmental monitoring sector, ensuring that the public and private sectors work in partnership to develop and test new sensing capabilities that can be commercialised, helping to boost the UK’s economic growth.
This programme has supported technologies in fields such as environmental DNA, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and acoustic monitoring.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that visa applications for injured Palestinian children are processed without delay; and whether those visas applications can be fast-tracked.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Prime Minister announced at the end of July that the UK will medically evacuate Gazan children for treatment in the UK. A cross-government taskforce is working urgently to get some of these sick and injured children out of Gaza, so that they can receive specialist treatment in NHS hospitals across the UK.
We are working at pace to do so as quickly as possible, and the first patients and their immediate family members are expected to arrive in the UK in the coming weeks. Visa applications will be dealt with in a timely and sensitive manner. Helping people leave a war-zone is a highly complex and dangerous process and their safety and wellbeing are our top priority, so we will not be providing a running commentary on the evacuation process.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the definition of recycled in Section 49 of the Finance Act 2021 to recognize organic recycling through food waste schemes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Plastic Packaging Tax provides a clear economic incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging, thereby stimulating the collection and recycling of plastic waste and diverting it away from landfill or incineration. The government has no plans to review the definition of recycled plastic that is used for the tax.