Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the adequacy of the single technology appraisal pathway for the assessment of (a) innovative technologies and (b) advanced therapy medicinal products.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department regularly meets with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. NICE’s technology appraisal programme has been proven to be suitable for the assessment of innovative medicines and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) where companies are able to price their products in a way that represents value to the taxpayer.
NICE has recommended several ATMPs through its technology appraisal programme that are now available to patients in the National Health Service. NICE concluded a review of its methods and processes for health technology evaluation in January 2022 and has introduced changes that ensure that its appraisal processes are suitable for emerging new medicines, including a broader severity modifier and changes to better respond to uncertainty.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department has allocated for the (a) design and (b) construction of nuclear small modular reactors.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2020, the Government committed up to £385m to an Advanced Nuclear Fund. Of this £385m, the Government has awarded up to £210m to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design.
The Government has also set up Great British Nuclear (GBN) to drive delivery of new nuclear projects. GBN has launched a Technology Selection Process (TSP) to select the best SMR technologies. We will offer funding to support technology development and site-specific design; a close partnership with GBN, which will be ready and able to provide developer capability; and support in accessing sites. The total level of development funding will be subject to future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of producing a new industrial strategy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is focused on action and has a clear plan to grow the economy and support high growth industries. The Chancellor has identified five key sectors: Digital Technologies, Green Industries, Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing and Creative Industries. Delivering growth in these sectors is a priority, and government has announced a £500 million per year package for 20,000 research and development intensive businesses and a £650 million war chest to fire up the UK’s sciences sector.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a Contract for Difference scheme for the domestic sustainable aviation fuel industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world. The Government is securing demand for SAF through mandating its use from 2025 and is supporting supply through its £165 million Advanced Fuels Fund competition to help scale up SAF production in the UK. SAF technologies are relatively new and many have not been demonstrated at full scale. Technology, construction and feedstock barriers to investment remain as well as revenue certainty.
The Government has committed to work together with industry to consider the best way to help the aviation industry to decarbonise, including options for additional revenue certainty for a UK SAF industry to be provided via an industry funded intervention. This work is under way and the Department is awaiting the findings from several key pieces of work that have been undertaken by industry experts, through the Jet Zero Council’s Sub Delivery Group on SAF, to inform next steps.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether subsidies for biomass will be included under the contracts for difference scheme after 2027.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Biomass is eligible for the current Contracts for Difference Scheme for specific technologies including anaerobic digestion (above 5MW), landfill gas, sewage gas, advanced conversion technologies, energy from waste with combined heat and power and dedicated biomass plants with combined heat and power. Allocation Round 5 (AR5) opened in March 2023 for new projects with delivery years of 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 for pot 1 technologies and 2026/27 and 2027/28 for pot 2 technologies.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what year the UK’s fully-digitised modern warfighting division will be deployable.
Answered by James Heappey
The British Army’s 3rd Division is deployable. Future Soldier will see this Division modernised by 2030 with a variety of new capabilities built around a digitally networked combination of Ajax, Boxer, Challenger 3, long range precision fires and un-crewed aerial systems.
Additionally, as we’ve learnt through our support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the draping of advanced technologies on to existing platforms can rapidly transform capability. The Army is exploring which technologies that have been successful in Ukraine could similarly be pulled through onto the existing force at pace.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the advanced screen and performance technology research facilities announced in the creative industries sector vision on video game development studios.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Sector Vision was developed in partnership by government and industry, and includes £77 million in new government spending on top of the £233 million of existing public funding since the 2021 Spending Review, including specific measures to support the UK’s thriving video game industry.
The Sector Vision announced an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF), to provide content funding to high-potential UK games studios, allowing them to develop their intellectual property, boosting their ability to attract investment and reach their next stage of growth.
The Create Growth Programme (CGP) supports a range of creative businesses, including video games companies. As a result of £10.9 million in additional funding announced in the Sector Vision, the CGP will be expanded to cover 12 English regions outside of London, supporting over 2,000 creative businesses to access private investment and scale up.
The Sector Vision also announced an additional investment of at least £50 million in the next wave of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Creative Industries Clusters programme. This funding will be used to identify and support at least six new clusters specialising in creative subsectors, building on the existing nine clusters supported by this programme. One of the existing clusters includes InGAME, a research and development (R&D) centre for the video games industry led by Abertay University.
The Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will establish a new national R&D infrastructure for the next generation of screen and performance technologies, including virtual production.
Additionally, over 200 creative companies across the UK have received a share of £10 million of innovation funding from the first round of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst programme. Of these projects, approximately 10% are innovation projects based directly with the UK games sector.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with international vehicle technical regulators on the approval of Ford’s BlueCruise technology.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Each application for approval of ‘hands-off’ technologies is considered on its own merits. The Vehicle Certification Agency evaluated the Ford BlueCruise system is at least as safe as existing ‘hands-on’ systems available in the market. This was in part due to more sophisticated camera-based driver monitoring being utilised that can better determine if the driver is paying attention to the road and warn them more promptly if not. It is expected that this will significantly reduce the risks of drivers inappropriately engaging in non-driving activities.
The Department for Transport is engaging with vehicle technical regulators at the UNECE’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations to develop new harmonised requirements for advanced driver assistance systems, including hands-free functions such as Ford’s BlueCruise technology.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of hands-off driving technology in non-automated vehicle on (a) safety and (b) the frequency drivers conducting non-driving related activities whilst the vehicle is in operation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Each application for approval of ‘hands-off’ technologies is considered on its own merits. The Vehicle Certification Agency evaluated the Ford BlueCruise system is at least as safe as existing ‘hands-on’ systems available in the market. This was in part due to more sophisticated camera-based driver monitoring being utilised that can better determine if the driver is paying attention to the road and warn them more promptly if not. It is expected that this will significantly reduce the risks of drivers inappropriately engaging in non-driving activities.
The Department for Transport is engaging with vehicle technical regulators at the UNECE’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations to develop new harmonised requirements for advanced driver assistance systems, including hands-free functions such as Ford’s BlueCruise technology.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to support research and development into (a) advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, (b) organ-on-a-chip technology and (c) artificial intelligence.
Answered by Paul Scully
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a portfolio of research involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies. This includes a recent £5 million investment by UKRI’s Medical Research Council in two new platforms as part of a human nervous tissue resources call; and a £4.7 million joint funding call by UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.
This complements work by UKRI including £1.6 million support for an AI in bioscience network.