Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will instruct the Meteorological Office to publish the (a) actual and (b) forecast data on wind in relation to Orwell Bridge in Suffolk every day.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Met Office provides public site-specific weather forecasts for numerous locations in the UK, which are available on the Met Office website and app. The nearest site-specific forecast is for Suffolk Ski Centre, which is adjacent to Orwell Bridge. The Met Office has a network of weather observing stations around the UK and the latest observations are available on the Met Office website. The Met Office does not have a weather observing station at Orwell Bridge. The nearest is at Wattisham. The Met Office provides a commercial forecasting service to national highways to aid decision making on speed limits and closure of Orwell Bridge due to high winds, to help keep bridge users safe.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to help ensure digital (a) literacy and (b) understanding among legal professionals.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is driving the digital transformation of the legal sector by providing £6 million for the LawtechUK programme, which aims to increase innovation and adoption of lawtech in the delivery of UK legal services. Lawtech describes technologies which aim to support, supplement, or replace traditional methods for the delivery of legal services.
LawtechUK offers a range of free education programmes designed to help organisations interested in harnessing the benefits of innovation for their legal operations. This includes Lawtech Bridge which brings together startups and established legal businesses to explore approaches to digital innovation.
LawtechUK also organises events aimed at raising awareness and increasing understanding of lawtech. For example, a recent Lawtech Student Fair brought together law firms, alternate legal service providers and lawtech providers with students and junior lawyers to help ensure the next generation of lawyers are digitally literate and embracing technology.
Whilst the Government aims to support a flourishing and innovative legal sector, the legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operate independently of the Government. The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, the approved regulator for solicitors, supports innovation in the legal sector through their Innovate programme by helping law firms run their business creatively, supporting technology firms looking to develop products for legal businesses and bringing together law firms and innovators.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with relevant authorities to improve the condition of waterways in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to improving the condition of waterways in England as set out in our Plan for Water published in April 2023. The Plan for Water marks a step-change in how we manage our waters. It is delivering more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle pollution and clean up our water.
With respect to the Romford constituency, the Environment Agency is working collaboratively with partners within the Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership to improve the water quality and biodiversity of waterbodies.
This includes carrying out river maintenance work such as vegetation management, operational checks on flood defence assets, treatment of invasive non-native species, bridge inspections, and inspection and maintenance of public safety measures. The Environment Agency also worked closely with the local council to form the rivers policy in their Local Plan, which now influences developments adjacent to Havering's rivers and river corridors.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the priority areas of research are under the five year grant made to NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre for vision research innovation in 2022.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) is a partnership between Moorfields-Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology, dedicated to pioneering discovery to transform the lives of patients facing sight loss. The BRC has five research themes:
- vascular disease and inflammation;
- genomic discovery and therapeutics;
- regenerative therapies, lasers, and medical devices;
- translational data science; and
- imaging, visual assessment, and digital innovation.
The BRC’s themes bridge biological sciences, health data, and translational science. Their aim is to change lives across the United Kingdom and the world by preserving sight and driving equity through innovation, particularly for those with the greatest need.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 with NHS England of the potential merits of left ventricular assist devices as long-term therapy for patients ineligible for transplantation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a commissioning specification for using ventricular assist devices (VADs) as a bridge to transplantation, or as a bridge to a decision on transplant suitability. The use of VADs as a treatment and destination therapy for patients who are not eligible for a transplant, is not routinely commissioned. NHS England has recently received a policy proposition for use of VADs as long-term destination therapy for selected patients with advanced heart failure. This proposition is currently under evaluation in line with the published Policy Methods Process, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-clinical-policies/
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the (a) similarities and (b) differences between the European Innovation Council and Innovate UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Both organisations bridge the funding gap for small and medium-sized enterprises to succeed through a range of support mechanisms. These include funding products for thematic R&D projects to help individual businesses take their ideas towards commercialisation; and providing support services including advisors to support business access to global markets.
The European Innovation Council provides the opportunity for businesses to seek direct equity investment. The British Business Bank, a close partner of Innovate UK, offer some similar products and Innovate UK enables connectivity with trusted investors to bring about private investment aligned with its funding and support.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has uplifted the Government contribution for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167 (M) road works from 85% to 100%.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Prime Minister’s ‘Network North’ announcement in early October included the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167 (M) scheme. The Department for Transport are finalising plans for this scheme’s uplift, and the Council will be contacted in due course. All schemes will continue to be subject to the Department's standard business case rules.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the minutes of each of the fortnightly meetings held by his Department, TfL and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the business case for the strengthening works on Hammersmith Bridge in the last six months.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
These meetings are primarily for the Department’s officials to discuss any updates regarding the ongoing Hammersmith Bridge restoration project with their counterparts at Transport for London and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and are not minuted.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the £41.4 million funding they have promised for the restoration of the Tyne Bridge will be released in time for the works to completed for its centenary in 2028.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am delighted that the Roads Minister announced at the Tyne Bridge last Friday, 2 February, that the Full Business Case (FBC) for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167(M) Major Road Network scheme has been approved.
The Department has agreed to provide an initial funding contribution of £35.2m towards an estimated total scheme cost of £41.4m. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Network North last autumn, our commitment to schemes in the Major Road Network programme has increased from 85% of cost, as estimated at the Outline Business Case stage, to up to 100%. We will announce shortly how individual schemes, including the Tyne Bridge, will benefit from this additional funding.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has provided for the maintenance of the River Rom in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s records relating to maintenance funding on main rivers are set out per financial year, which runs from 1 April – 31 March. The Environment Agency has spent the following on maintenance for the River Rom and Black’s Brook (which feeds into the Rom) in the past 3 years (to the nearest whole figure):
2021 - 2022: £93,350
2022 - 2023: £74,430
2023 - 2024: £52,550 (expected cost as financial year not yet complete).
This includes a variety of works including vegetation management, operational checks on flood defence assets, treatment of invasive non-native species, bridge inspections, and inspection and maintenance of public safety measures.
These figures will not include any expenditure on maintenance carried out as part of the Environment Agency’s incident response activities as the financial data for this is not held for each river.