Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government why a grant of £8 million was recently paid to Vertical Aerospace to develop a flying taxi company at a time when the firm faced material uncertainty.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A research consortium led by Vertical Aerospace, including four universities, was awarded an Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme grant to develop propeller technology.
The ATI Programme co-funds UK research and development activity with industry to develop zero-carbon and ultra-efficient aircraft technology. Grants are awarded after a competitive process, with only the best projects recommended - those that offer real innovation, emissions reduction and tangible economic benefits to the UK.
Due diligence checks are completed ahead of all awards, with grants paid in arrears based on activity delivered against an agreed plan. Safeguards are in place in the event of business failure.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of hydrogen technology in reducing aviation carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, and what steps they are taking to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s Jet Zero Strategy, published in July 2022, set out our approach to achieving net zero UK aviation by 2050 through multiple different measures. The use of hydrogen is considered in the Zero Emission Flight chapter of the Strategy.
The Strategy anticipates that hydrogen will be first deployed in short haul aviation with recognised uncertainty on the potential for and timing of its scaling up for use in long haul. As with all measures in the Jet Zero Strategy the Government keeps the evidence base under regular review and any changes will be reflected in future updates to the Strategy.
Between 2013 and 2030, industry and government will invest over £5 billion to develop transformational aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme. This includes co-investment in industry led projects to develop hydrogen aircraft in the UK.
In 2022 a Delivery Group of the government and industry forum the Jet Zero Council was established to accelerate the adoption of zero emission flight.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2024 to Question 13224 on Veterans: Aerospace Industry and Defence, if he will publish the Career Transition Partnership’s annual statistics on veterans they have supported.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence publishes an annual Official Statistics report covering the employment outcomes of Service leavers who utilised the support of the Career Transition Partnership. The latest figures cover Financial Year 2022-23 and were published on 15 February 2024 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/career-transition-partnership-ex-service-personnel-employment-outcomes-statistics-index
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to encourage more veterans to establish businesses in the defence, aerospace and cybersecurity sectors.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 20 February 2024 to PQ13224.
The same applies to those looking to start up a business.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to take steps to encourage more veterans to work in the defence and aerospace industries.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Veterans who need support from the department in finding employment are able to get support from their Work Coach. For those who might need extra specialist support, we have a network of Armed Forces Champions spread throughout the Jobcentre Plus network.
The Armed Forces Champions have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community, including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary. Every Work Coach is trained on how to provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions.
Veterans have early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme. Other employment support may be available to veterans depending on their circumstances, including specialist local support provided by the third sector which the department may be able to refer them to. Veterans generally enjoy successful employment outcomes when they leave the services, and the Career Transition Partnership has published annual statistics on those they have supported.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what number and proportion of UK jobs are in the (a) aerospace and (b) defence industry in each constituency as of 2 February 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held in the format requested.
However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does hold a regional breakdown of direct jobs supported in UK industry by MOD expenditure. In Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 MOD expenditure supported an estimated 209,000 direct and indirect jobs in UK industry. In that same period the breakdown of direct jobs supported by MOD expenditure in each region was:
Region | FY2021-22 |
UK Total | 130,000 |
East Midlands | 6,900 |
East of England | 6,200 |
London | 8,200 |
North East | 900 |
North West | 16,600 |
Northern Ireland | 600 |
Scotland | 12,200 |
South East | 29,100 |
South West | 37,400 |
Wales | 4,500 |
West Midlands | 5,000 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,500 |
The MOD regional expenditure with UK industry and commerce and supported employment report for FY2021-22 can be found here: MOD regional expenditure with UK industry and commerce and supported employment 2021/22 (revised August 2023) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of SMEs in the defence sector that have been denied (a) banking facilities and (b) other forms of finance because of environmental, social and governance policies since 2020.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital role small and medium-sized enterprises play in fuelling economic growth, and it is important they can access the banking services they need. Last year the Chancellor asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to collect evidence to help us understand where account closures and refusals are happening and why. The FCA published their initial findings on 19 September, and are doing further work with firms to verify the data and to better understand the reasons behind account refusals. In addition, HM Treasury is continuing to engage with industry to understand any existing or emerging issues regarding bank account access for businesses.
The Government welcomes steps that the financial services sector is taking to improve understanding of how firms can access financial services. In December, guidance specifically aimed at businesses operating in the defence and security sectors was published by UK Finance, the trade association for the banking and finance industry, and ADS, the trade association for the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors. This work was supported by the Department for Business and Trade.
The Government has been clear that it does not support the exclusion of defence companies from access to debt and equity capital on the basis of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. This was made evident in a Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence, in conjunction with HM Treasury, that stated “the important values within ESG should not undermine capabilities developed to help us preserve peace and security, without which sustaining those values would not be possible”. In addition, HM Treasury has recently consulted on a potential regulatory framework for ESG ratings providers which would aim to improve transparency and promote good conduct, which will help address some of the issues which defence companies have raised.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1042, if he will provide a list of attendees at the 15 November meeting with industry partners.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The following organisations were represented at the 15 November 2023 Land Enterprise Working Group. Attendance is not set, with variation at each meeting based on the agenda and areas for intended discussion.
Ministry of Defence
4C Strategies
Adarga
ADS Group
Amazon
Babcock
BAE Systems
Boeing Defence
Briggs Equipment
Decision Analysis Services
Denchi Group
Elbit Systems UK
General Dynamics UK
Horstman
Jacobs
Jankel
KBR
KPMG
L3 Harris
Leonardo
Lockheed Martin UK
MBDA
Northrop Grumman
NP Aerospace
Oshkosh
Pearson Engineering
Plexus
QinetiQ
Raytheon
Rheinmettal
Ricardo
Rolls Royce
RUSI
Saab Group
Serco
Supacat
Thales
UKDSC
WFEL
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each year since 2013, what number of people were working in each of the nine sub-sectors of the creative industries, and what contribution each sub-sector has made to the economy.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK’s creative industries are worth more than the life sciences, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and oil and gas sectors put together, generating £126 billion annually and employing over 2.4 million people across the country.
As set out in the Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision, our ambition is to grow this sector by a further £50 billion gross value added and to support one million more jobs by 2030, delivering a creative careers promise which builds a pipeline of talent.
Each sub-sector of the creative industries makes a distinct contribution to the UK economy. The information requested is shown in the following tables:
Number of people working in each creative industries sub-sector (000s):
| Advertising and marketing | Architecture | Crafts | Design and designer fashion | Film, TV, radio and photography | IT, software and computer services | Publishing | Museums, Galleries and Libraries | Music, performing and visual arts |
2013 | 155 | 94 | 8 | 124 | 232 | 574 | 198 | 85 | 244 |
2014 | 167 | 101 | 8 | 136 | 228 | 607 | 193 | 84 | 284 |
2015 | 182 | 90 | 7 | 132 | 231 | 640 | 200 | 97 | 286 |
2016 | 198 | 98 | 7 | 160 | 246 | 674 | 193 | 92 | 291 |
2017 | 190 | 104 | 10 | 160 | 261 | 712 | 192 | 96 | 283 |
2018 | 195 | 111 | 9 | 163 | 245 | 733 | 199 | 89 | 296 |
2019 | 190 | 112 | 9 | 171 | 239 | 775 | 196 | 95 | 315 |
2020 | 201 | 115 | 8 | 151 | 279 | 872 | 197 | 104 | 294 |
2021 | 226 | 106 | 7 | 160 | 290 | 963 | 199 | 94 | 294 |
2022 | 241 | 110 | 5 | 139 | 280 | 1,035 | 209 | 96 | 283 |
Contribution to economy of each creative industries sub-sector, as measured by gross value added (GVA) (£ billions):
| Advertising and marketing | Architecture | Crafts | Design and designer fashion | Film, TV, radio and photography | IT, software and computer services | Publishing | Museums, Galleries and Libraries | Music, performing and visual arts |
2013 | 13.2 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 18.2 | 29.9 | 11.4 | 1 | 9.7 |
2014 | 13.3 | 3 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 18.1 | 32.6 | 11.4 | 0.8 | 8.6 |
2015 | 17 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 19.4 | 33.5 | 11.1 | 0.9 | 9.6 |
2016 | 15.7 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 3 | 20 | 37.6 | 11.4 | 0.9 | 9.3 |
2017 | 16.8 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 19.7 | 38.2 | 10.6 | 1 | 9.6 |
2018 | 16.4 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 19.2 | 40 | 10.4 | 0.9 | 10.2 |
2019 | 15.8 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 3 | 20.2 | 41.3 | 10.7 | 1 | 10.1 |
2020 | 15.9 | 3.2 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 17.8 | 42.9 | 10.1 | 0.6 | 7.4 |
2021* | 18.2 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 19.9 | 48.8 | 11.3 | 1 | 8.9 |
2022* | 18.8 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 20.8 | 55.4 | 11.6 | 1 | 11.2 |
*Figures for 2021 and 2022 are summed monthly GVA estimates as annual GVA estimates are not yet available. These figures are subject to revision and not directly comparable to the annual GVA estimates for 2013-2020 due to being calculated via a different method.
Source: Economic Estimates: GVA for DCMS Sectors and the Digital Sector, 2020 - GOV.UK (Annual GVA 2013-2020); DCMS and Digital Economic Estimates: Monthly GVA (to Sept 2023) - GOV.UK (Summed monthly GVA 2021-2022)
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the low carbon fuels strategy; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the use of hydrogen in aviation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is planning to publish a Low Carbon Fuels Strategy in early 2024, which aims to support investment in the sector by setting out a vision for the deployment of low carbon fuels across transport modes up to 2050.
The Government’s Jet Zero Strategy published in 2022 recognises the role that hydrogen can play, both directly as a fuel in zero emission flight and as a feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, in our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
In addition, the Government, through the Department for Business and Trade, is investing £685 million between 2022 and 2025 through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme to co-fund with industry the development of ultra-efficient and zero emission, including hydrogen, aircraft technology.