Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what progress has been made towards the Government's target of reducing the use of dogs in dedicated pharmacokinetic studies by at least 35% by 2030; and how much funding has been allocated to develop non-animal methods to replace the use of dogs.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Replacing Animals in Science strategy includes a target to reduce the use of dogs in dedicated pharmacokinetic studies for human medicines by at least 35% by 2030, where scientifically justified and supported by validated alternatives. Progress is being supported through work with regulators, industry and research partners to develop, validate and increase uptake of alternative methods. The Government has allocated up to £2 million through Innovate UK to support the development of human-relevant approaches to pharmacokinetic and safety testing, including projects aimed at reducing reliance on dogs in medicines development.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the alignment of Industrial Strategy sector plans and public procurement frameworks.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My department and I work closely with the Cabinet Office and other departments to maximise public procurement as a lever for growth, including across the IS-8 sectors. This Government is already making changes to make public procurement work harder to drive reindustrialisation and provide good, secure jobs to people across the UK.
To this end, we have appointed Procurement of Innovation Champions to drive behavioural change; introduced a new social value model to ensure contracts deliver good British jobs, and we will strengthen UK supply chains in critical sectors by using national security exemptions to procurement processes, where applicable.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has assessed the challenges for coastal towns and other areas with significant stocks of older housing in improving residential energy efficiency; and whether he has a national strategy for addressing heritage protection, household affordability, housing quality and carbon reduction in such areas.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to improving the UK’s diverse building stock.
The Government continues to work with heritage organisations and across government to support appropriate energy efficiency improvements to historic and listed buildings, while safeguarding their heritage value.
A national strategy is already in place in the form of the Warm Homes Plan, which was published earlier this year and sets out a range of schemes, policies, and approaches to these issues.
In particular, current Government capital schemes are designed with criteria specifically targeting low-income households and the least efficient properties based on their EPC rating.
The Plan also sets out how over the longer term we will integrate those schemes into an ambitious new single scheme which will shift towards area-based delivery, building on the experience of local authorities with more targeted and deliverable investment, and devolving funding so regional and local government accelerate home and building upgrades according to their needs.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to advance the mutual recognition of veterinary licenses with the EU.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government remains committed to improving recognition of professional qualifications with the EU, including for vets.
The UK’s veterinary regulator, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), is responsible for recognising overseas qualifications and currently recognises EU qualifications from veterinary schools accredited under the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Accreditation.
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains provisions which allow the UK and EU to agree mutual recognition of professional qualifications arrangements for specific professions where jointly proposed by UK and EU regulators. We encourage and support all UK regulators, including RCVS, to use this framework to agree mutual routes for recognition.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the gap between NHS England’s 2018 commissioning target of 1,000 LAAO procedures per annum and current delivery.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 24 June in response to Question 10430.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Borders Council on the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office officials continue to engage with the Scottish Borders Council and other local partners on asylum accommodation.
We recognise the value and importance of working with local authorities and taking account of local circumstances when considering accommodation requirements.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the secondary threshold for employer National Insurance contributions in April 2025 on the (a) number and (b) average weekly hours of part-time jobs in the retail sector.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
In their October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the impact that the increase in employer NICs would have on labour supply. In their latest forecast (taking into account all government policies expected to have a significant impact), the OBR expect that employment levels will rise in every year of the forecast, reaching 35.3m in 2030-31.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer; the economic impacts of the policy; and the impacts on individuals, businesses and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the changes to employer National Insurance contributions introduced in April 2025 on (a) employment costs, (b) operating costs and (c) prices in the retail sector.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
In their October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the impact that the increase in employer NICs would have on labour supply. In their latest forecast (taking into account all government policies expected to have a significant impact), the OBR expect that employment levels will rise in every year of the forecast, reaching 35.3m in 2030-31.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer; the economic impacts of the policy; and the impacts on individuals, businesses and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding carcinogenic warnings to the packaging of processed meats, such as ham and bacon.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency to assess the safety of food products, and we will continue to be guided by their recommendations. Separately, through our National Cancer Plan, we are working to ensure that the National Health Service remains at the cutting edge of global research into the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, and the United Kingdom scientific bodies leading that work are constantly exploring new evidence to that end.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has HMPPS spent on branded goods since 4 July 2024, what the branded goods purchased were, and what the branding was.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.