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 the Higher Education Statistics Authority report entitled Higher Education Provider Data: Business and Community Interaction 2022/23, published on of 4 April 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of spinouts from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There were five fewer spinouts owned by Higher Education Providers formed in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22 based on the Business and Community Interaction data. However, this was accompanied by an 8.9% increase in the number of spinouts surviving at least three years. The government is committed to increasing the commercialisation of university research and accepted all the recommendations of the independent review of university spinouts in November 2023.
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 the to the Higher Education Statistics Authority report entitled Higher Education Provider Data: Business and Community Interaction 2022/23 published on 4 April 2024, what assessment her department has made of the reasons for the decline in higher education income from collaborative research with business from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Higher education income from collaborative research with business dropped between 2021/22 and 2022/23 from £1.89bn to £1.78bn. However, this is still consistent with an upward trend from 2018/19.
The government supports university knowledge exchange activities business, through Higher Education Innovation Funding which is currently at its highest ever level at £260m a year with an additional £20m to support business and commercialisation activities.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will publish the attendance of each meeting of the AI and Copyright Code of Practice Working Group in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The working group on copyright and AI met under terms of reference available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-governments-code-of-practice-on-copyright-and-ai. This information for 2023 has previously been disclosed pursuant to a Freedom of Information request, and is set out in the following table:
Date of meeting | Attendees, by organisation |
05/06/2023 (AI firms and research sector only) | The Entrepreneurs Network; IP Federation; Stability AI; Knowledge Rights 21; Google DeepMind; Tech UK; British Library; UK Research and Innovation (UKRI); Microsoft; Synthesia IPO; Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) |
06/06/2023 (right holders only) | RELX; Professional Publishers Association; British Association of Picture Library Agencies (BAPLA); News Media Association; Alliance for IP; UK Music; NLA Media Access; Association of Photographers; Financial Times; Copyright Licensing Agency; British Phonographic Industry (BPI); Equity; Publishers Association; Creators’ Rights Alliance; Music Publishers Association; British Screen Forum; Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS); Copyright Clearance Center; British Copyright Council; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Premier League IPO; DCMS; CMA |
13/06/2023 | RELX; Professional Publishers Association; The Entrepreneurs Network; IP Federation; Stability AI; Knowledge Rights 21; News Media Association; Alliance for IP; Council of Music Makers; UK Music; NLA Media Access; Association of Photographers; Copyright Licensing Agency; Financial Times; BAPLA; Google DeepMind; Tech UK; Equity; vAIsual; British Library; Creators’ Rights Alliance; Music Publishers Association; UKRI; British Screen Forum; DACS; Copyright Clearance Center; British Copyright Council; Microsoft; BPI; Innovate UK; BBC IPO; DCMS; Office for AI (OAI); CMA |
30/06/2023 | Professional Publishers Association; BAPLA; Knowledge Rights 21; Publishers Association; News Media Association; Alliance for IP; The Entrepreneurs Network; UK Music; NLA Media Access; Association of Photographers; Copyright Licensing Agency; Financial Times; Startup Coalition; Equity; vAIsual; British Library; Creators’ Rights Alliance; Music Publishers Association; UKRI; British Screen Forum; DACS; Copyright Clearance Center; British Copyright Council; Microsoft; BPI; Tech UK; Innovate UK; BBC; RELX; Council of Music Makers IPO; DCMS; OAI |
13/09/2023 (right holders only) | Professional Publishers Association; British Film Institute (BFI); Association of Photographers; Copyright Licensing Agency; Condé Nast; Guardian Media Group; Publishers Association; BPI; Equity IPO |
22/09/2023 | Association of Photographers; Getty Images; BBC; vAIsual; Microsoft; Music Publishers Association; Startup Coalition; British Copyright Council; Stability AI IPO |
26/09/2023 | RELX; Copyright Clearance Center; Copyright Licensing Agency; Alliance for IP; vAIsual; The Entrepreneurs Network; British Copyright Council; IP Federation; Synthesia; Publishers Association; WB Discovery; Council of Music Makers; Financial Times; Guardian Media Group; Startup Coalition |
29/09/2023 | Alliance for IP; British Copyright Council; Creators’ Rights Alliance; Equity; Stability AI; DACS; Microsoft; Innovate UK; BFI; British Screen Forum; Reading University; UK Music; Professional Publishers Association IPO |
04/10/2023 | Creators’ Rights Alliance; Equity; UK Music; Professional Publishers Association; Tech UK; News Media Association; Association of Photographers; Getty Images; The Entrepreneurs Network; BPI IPO |
05/10/2023 (AI firms only) | The Entrepreneurs Network; Startup Coalition; Microsoft; Stability AI; vAIsual IPO |
06/10/2023 | British Library; UKRI; BFI; Tech UK; Alliance for IP; Professional Publishers Association; RELX; Copyright Clearance Center; Turing Institute; Knowledge Rights 21 IPO |
12/10/2023 | Professional Publishers Association; BAPLA; The Entrepreneurs Network; Knowledge Rights 21; Publishers Association; News Media Association; Alliance for IP; Council of Music Makers; UK Music; NLA Media Access; Association of Photographers; Copyright Licensing Agency; Financial Times; BPI; Startup Coalition; Equity; vAIsual; Guardian Media Group; Creators’ Rights Alliance; Music Publishers Association; UKRI; British Screen Forum; BFI; Copyright Clearance Center; British Copyright Council; IP Federation; Microsoft; Innovate UK; BBC IPO; DCMS; OAI; Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; CMA |
The group did not meet in 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to The national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026, published in July 2021, how many additional children have received diagnoses of autism and related support as a result of the expansion of the school-based identification programme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Through the Opportunity Area scheme, in 2021/22 the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education invested £600,000 into a pilot in Bradford through the Born in Bradford programme, which looked to improve early identification of autism and other neurodiverse conditions. This was subsequently adopted by four other Opportunity Areas as Early Identification of Autism Projects.
Information on how many additional children have received diagnoses of autism, and related support as a result of the programme, is not centrally held. The University of Manchester was commissioned to evaluate the Early Identification of Autism Projects, and their report will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on (a) the financial sustainability of the university sector and (b) local economies.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned to provide further evidence to support the government’s understanding of how the Graduate Route is operating in practice. The focus of the Graduate Route review will be to prevent abuse and ensure the integrity and quality of our world-leading UK higher education (HE) sector is protected. No decisions have been made on the future of the Graduate Route and the department awaits the report of the MAC in May.
The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of HE in England, is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the sustainability of HE providers. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the impact of international student recruitment on HE provider financial sustainability.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that higher education institutions succumb to pressure from student unions to undertake boycott divestment and sanction actions in relation to their investment and procurement decisions.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is aware that the BDS Movement has taken credit for divestments from Israeli companies carried out by universities following pressure from student campaigns. For example, the BDS Movement took credit for divestments from Israeli military suppliers by the University of Manchester in 2020 and procurement decisions by King’s College London and Southampton University. The Government is also aware of recent examples of student unions passing motions to lobby their universities to boycott and divest from Israeli companies, including for example Manchester University Student Union in 2022 and Warwick University Student Union in 2023. There are concerns that these campaigns can damage community cohesion and legitimise antisemitism. There are also examples overseas of the BDS Movement pressing universities to boycott or divest from Israeli companies for example in Norway or the United States of America. The Bill rightly applies to universities and higher education providers to prevent them succumbing to student union pressure in the future and to tackle this type of divisive activity on campuses.
Asked by: Lord Johnson of Marylebone (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are aware of any examples in the past five years of higher education institutions succumbing to pressure from student unions to undertake boycott divestment and sanction actions in relation to their investment and procurement decisions.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is aware that the BDS Movement has taken credit for divestments from Israeli companies carried out by universities following pressure from student campaigns. For example, the BDS Movement took credit for divestments from Israeli military suppliers by the University of Manchester in 2020 and procurement decisions by King’s College London and Southampton University. The Government is also aware of recent examples of student unions passing motions to lobby their universities to boycott and divest from Israeli companies, including for example Manchester University Student Union in 2022 and Warwick University Student Union in 2023. There are concerns that these campaigns can damage community cohesion and legitimise antisemitism. There are also examples overseas of the BDS Movement pressing universities to boycott or divest from Israeli companies for example in Norway or the United States of America. The Bill rightly applies to universities and higher education providers to prevent them succumbing to student union pressure in the future and to tackle this type of divisive activity on campuses.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Hong Kong Watch report, Tuition Fees for BNO Visa Holders: The Case for Home Fee Status, and the impact of the cost of international fees on the ability of young British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa holders to attend university; and whether they will follow the Scottish Government in introducing home fees status for BNO visa holders after three years of residency in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To qualify for home fee status in England, a person must have settled status or ’a recognised connection’ to the UK. A recognised connection includes persons who are covered by the EU Withdrawal Agreement, have long residence in this country or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. There are also requirements associated with ordinary residence in the UK.
Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, Hong Kong BN(O) status holders will be able to qualify for home fee status and student finance once they have acquired settled status in the UK (usually after 5 years). Education is fully devolved, and administrations are able to make their own arrangements for accessing home fee status.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support, if any, they will provide to Anglia Ruskin University in their ambition to establish a Global Innovation Centre for Energy Transition in Peterborough.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government runs a significant range of research and innovation programmes to support the transition of the energy system. This includes through UK Research and Innovation, the UK’s agency investing in science and research and interested parties such as Anglia Ruskin University are welcome to apply for these as opportunities arise. More information can be found on UKRI’s online Funding Finder Tool, where all funding opportunities are published (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/).
In addition, recent investments are set out in the Government’s UK Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan 2022-2025.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the research article by University College London entitled Cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use induce shared DNA methylation changes linked to carcinogenesis, published on 19 March 2024, if she will ban advertising for vapes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s position on vaping remains unchanged, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. Studies are important in helping to better understand the long-term health risks associated with vaping, but the mentioned study, that was carried out by University College London, corroborated by Cancer Research UK, does not demonstrate a causal relationship between vaping and cancer.
Overall, studies on the effects of vaping have so far shown that vapes are less harmful than smoking and can help people quit, although the long-term risks are unknown. Vaping is never recommended for children, and carries potential harms of future addiction while their lungs and brains are still developing. There is a lack of research on the potential long-term harms from vaping, and we are exploring future opportunities with the United Kingdom’s research councils.
Otherwise, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 February 2024 to Question 12629, as our position on the advertising of vapes remains unchanged.