Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that providers of broadband social tariffs apply the same (a) discount levels and (b) eligibility criteria to those tariffs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises that this is a difficult time for households across the country who are struggling with their bills due to the rise in the cost of living.
Social tariffs are offered on a voluntary basis by 27 telecommunications providers and are available in 99% of the UK for the around 5 million eligible households on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. The design of broadband and mobile social tariffs, including pricing, speeds, and eligibility, are decided by individual operators, and this has resulted in a good range of offers for people to choose from.
The Government does not currently have plans to intervene in the telecommunications market to prescribe the make-up of social tariffs. We recognise that low-income households need help with their bills now and any legislative proposal will take time to design and deliver and may cause operators to withdraw their existing social offers. In December 2023, Ofcom’s Pricing Trends report showed 380,000 households were taking up a social tariff. This is an increase of almost 160% since their September 2022 report. We continue to work closely with Ofcom to monitor market provision and stand ready to act if necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with producers of personal protective equipment regarding regulatory or technological solutions to the issue of short use-by dates for such equipment.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425 sets out essential safety requirements that PPE must meet. This includes an obligation on the manufacturer to give, if possible, the month and year of obsolescence, if it is known that the design performance may be significantly affected by ageing.
The Government has had no discussions with PPE producers about changing this requirement in the Regulation, but welcomes new technological innovation to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in the UK military space sector; and how many people in the UK military space sector were involved in satellite design as of 16 February 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The space sector is important for the UK, adding £7 billion to the economy in 2022. In that year, the sector employed 48,800 people, increasing from 47,000 the previous year. Many of these jobs work on a range of activities, both civil and military, for governments and a range of other customers. Defence accounts for an estimated 10.2% of total space industry income in 2022 and continues to be a significant part of government's support to the sector. The Skynet secure satellite communications programme, where we are investing £5 billion over the next decade, has provided a significant boost to the UK space sector. In the initial stage of the next generation of Skynet alone we have created up to 600 jobs. Defence has also committed £1.4 billion over 10 years to deliver cutting edge space technology, including a multi-satellite system known as ISTARI which is supporting high tech jobs in the UK as a world leader in science. We will continue to support growth in the space sector, including through the upcoming plan for the space sector which will be published in the coming months by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in close consultation with Defence, which will increase growth and resilience for this vital part of the economy.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme 2023 on (a) UK food security and (b) associated agribusinesses.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the design of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) we have made both qualitative and quantitative assessments of the impact actions will have on food production and as such food security. Long term food security and agribusiness viability relies on farming becoming more sustainable and SFI is designed to support farmers in this. Many SFI actions are undertaken alongside agricultural operations and do not require land be taken out of production. Some actions within SFI are likely to take small areas of often marginally productive land out of production, lowering overall output for the farm in the short term. In the longer term this is likely to be offset by long term improvements in soil health and pollinator abundance which will support increased yields. Some actions in SFI will also reduce the need for fertilisers or pesticides leading to lower inputs and higher productivity. We have further schemes within the farming and countryside programme including for example the Farming Resilience Fund, the Farming Investment Fund and the Farming Innovation Programme which will further help to improve farm productivity in line with the government commitment on food security set out in the food strategy. Innovation funding will help to support and build the agribusiness economy and new opportunities may arise from environmental land management as markets for environmental goods and services are expanded or created.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry about regulatory and technological solutions to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425 sets out essential safety requirements that PPE must meet. This includes an obligation on the manufacturer to give, if possible, the month and year of obsolescence, if it is known that the design performance may be significantly affected by ageing.
The Government has had no discussions with industry about changing this requirement in the Regulation, but welcomes new technological innovation to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to ensure that female patients are included in (a) medical research and (b) clinical trials for (i) dementia and (ii) early on-set Alzheimer's disease funded by her Department.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UKRI, through the Medical Research Council is working to ensure that female patients are included in medical research and clinical trials for all conditions, including by instituting a requirement for both sexes to be included in research studies by default. MRC's embedding diversity in research design policy requires researchers to consider characteristics such as gender, age and ethnicity - as well as sex - in their projects. MRC is working with the MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equality) initiative to co-design a sex and gender policy framework which could guide organisations throughout the health and biomedical research sector.
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, with reference to page 8 of the Government's R&D People and Culture Strategy, published in July 2021, what progress she has made on working with funders and the research and innovation community to co-design a joined-up talent offer.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is continuing to work closely with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the four UK National Academies and the wider R&D sector, including through the R&D People and Culture Strategy Ministerial Coordination Group, to ensure the UK has an attractive joined-up talent offer to support our science and technology superpower ambitions.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of and (b) adequacy of the levels of industry co-funding for the AI and data science postgraduate conversion course scholarship programme.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The £30 million AI and Data Science Conversion Course programme was established in 2020 to broaden the supply of talent in the UK AI labour market. It funded universities to develop masters level AI or data science courses suitable for non-STEM students and 2,600 scholarships for students from backgrounds underrepresented in the tech industry.
We are already seeing the positive impact the programme is having in addressing the AI skills gap. As of March 2023 6,300 students have enrolled on the programme, almost three times our targets. 73% of scholarships awarded to women, 35% awarded to Black students, and 26% awarded to disabled students. The courses are successfully converting non-STEM students to enter the AI labour market: 88% of employed graduates were in employment directly related to AI or data science, either in the public or private sector.
In 2023 an industry co-funding element was added, whereby industry could support the programme through in-kind support or scholarship funding. As of November 2023, this amounted to over £6.5 million in in-kind support and scholarship funding. The in-kind contributions directly support student employability and includes co-design and delivery of course content to ensure students gain skills to meet sector need; providing access to software and applications to support learning and skills development; and opportunities to engage with industry through employer-led talks and workshops, industry mentoring support, and provision of work-based projects and placements.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to accelerate (a) upper catchment management and (b) water holding schemes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood risk is a top priority for the Government. We are investing a record £5.2 billion in flood and coastal erosion schemes across England between 2021-2027. In addition, the Government is investing £200 million in our Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes, supporting more than 25 local areas to test innovative actions to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion. For example, Southend-on-sea's Catchment to Coast project will use innovative solutions to improve whole-catchment resilience from nature-based solutions in the upper catchment, rainwater harvesting in the mid, to tackling coastal erosion of historic landfills.
Our Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Policy Statement sets out our long-term ambition to create a nation more resilient to flood and coastal erosion risk. This includes a holistic approach to managing water throughout catchments that considers the full range of actions which could be taken in an area, upstream and downstream by a variety of bodies. Helping to ensure water availability in times of drought and slow and store water in times of excess.
There are many ways to mitigate flood risk; from slowing the flow in the upper catchment through natural flood management measures such as small scale storage or tree planting, using water infrastructure such as reservoirs to create space for water and manage flows, and blue green infrastructure and sustainable drainage in urban areas.
In September 2023 the Environment Agency and Defra announced £25 million funding for improving flood resilience through a new natural flood management programme, which could include projects operating in the upper catchment, and those designed to store water in times of excess. Expressions of interest closed on 10 November 2023 and we will announce the successful projects this year.
Finally, our Plan for Water commits to designing towns and cities for water sustainability and reducing flood risk, with actions targeted at mitigating excess run off. These include, rolling out standardised sustainable drainage systems in all new developments which store and improve water quality, requiring water companies to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans, and considering how planning policy can promote local design decisions and water reuse and dual pipe systems.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 1560 on Science: Research, when the Department plans to publish the interactive digital tool to map the UK’s innovation clusters.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government expects to launch the interactive digital tool to map the UK’s innovation clusters shortly. This follows engagement with a range of stakeholders, from investors and businesses to local government leaders, to inform and test the design of the tool.