Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce delays in decisions on applications for funding under the Turing Scheme; and what assessment have they made of the impact of those delays on students from poorer backgrounds.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Turing Scheme is a demand led, competitive programme with an annual application cycle. Decisions on allocations of funding each year depends on the number of applications that are successful, and how much funding successful organisations apply for. That means the department can only confirm how much funding each organisation can receive once all applications have been assessed.
In the past three academic years, successful applicant institutions have been notified of their funding allocation according to the department’s published timeline, before the start of the academic year and before the funding period for international placements commences. Once the grant agreement is in place, it is the responsibility of grant recipients to make timely requests for payments so that they can disburse funding to their participants at the point of need. All payments to grant recipients making valid payment requests have been disbursed to providers on time according to the agreed process.
The department has published information for 2024/25 applications to the Turing Scheme, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/turing-scheme-apply-for-funding-for-international-placements. Schools, colleges and universities, across the UK can now review the guidance and prepare their applications for funding ahead of the application window opening in February 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to postpone the introduction of tariffs for electric vehicles traded between the UK and Europe; and when they expect to be able to announce the outcome of their discussions on this issue.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We know a key concern for both UK and EU automotive industries is the 2024 change in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s Rules of Origin for Electric Vehicles and batteries. We have listened to the concerns of the sector on both sides and made it a priority to find a joint solution. The UK and the EU have a shared ambition to grow domestic Electric Vehicle manufacturing and battery supply chains. The European Commission’s 6th December proposal to extend the current rules for 3-years is a positive step towards providing long term certainty to industry, ensuring it remains globally competitive.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities have already had, or have requested, meetings with Ministers about financial pressures following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2; and which are those local authorities.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Minister Merriman met Cheshire East Council, at their request, on 29 November to discuss the details of the Network North Announcement, as part of which Cheshire East will receive a funding boost of more than £2.2 million for bus services in the area and a £110m uplift over 11 years for local road maintenance, in addition to benefitting from other Network North programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to report on the GB type approval for road vehicles consultation, which closed on 10 November.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is currently analysing the 33 responses to the consultation. We expect to publish a summary and next steps in the early part of 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what investigations they have undertaken into the potential use of discontinuous electrification on East West Rail.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport and East West Rail Company are reviewing options for traction for East West Rail (EWR) including discontinuous electrification. This work is in progress and as set out at the Route Update Announcement for EWR in May 2023, further details will be provided at statutory consultation stage next year.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish legislation on establishing a price monitoring body for fuel pricing and the requirement for retailers to provide real-time pump prices by site.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government announced on 15 November that the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) would undertake the ongoing road fuels price monitoring function. The Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers (DMCC) Bill was amended at Commons Report stage to give the CMA information-gathering powers for the monitoring function.
We will consult shortly on the statutory road fuel prices open data scheme and elements of the monitoring function not outlined in the DMCC Bill. Following conclusion of the consultation process and Royal Assent of the Data Protection & Digital Information Bill, secondary legislation will be laid using Smart Data powers to establish the open data scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage District Network Operators to make the process of grid connection and upgrade easier for fleets installing EV charging infrastructure; and whether they have any plans to expand Project Rapid to focus on additional transport hubs such as airports, shared depots and truck rest areas.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Powering Up Britain Energy Security Plan, and subsequent Prime Minister’s speech on net zero on 20 September, Government is committed to reducing grid connection timescales for EV charging and other projects. The forthcoming Government and Ofgem Connections Action Plan will set out action to accelerate grid connection timescales for all customers including demand projects, such as EV chargepoint infrastructure. In addition, the Plan for Drivers published in October 2023, committed to a review of grid connections, specifically focused on EV infrastructure.
The Government has no plans to extend the scope of the Rapid Charging Fund beyond the strategic road network. The Government is planning to publish a consultation on the Rapid Charging Fund shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 28 March (HL6760), what steps they have taken in support of preparation for the maintenance phase of hepatitis elimination.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) supports and monitors progress towards the World Health Organisation goal of eliminating hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a major public health threat by 2030. As part of disease surveillance, UKHSA monitors HCV prevention, testing, diagnoses and treatment in England.
Work to support the elimination maintenance phase is currently being developed with multiple stakeholders including NHS England Specialised Commissioning, integrated care boards, the Department, and UKHSA.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address regional disparities in chargepoint provision per capita in each locality.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government and industry have supported the installation of 49,220 publicly available charging devices as of 1 October 2023. This includes more than 8,900 50kW or above charging devices.
The £381 million Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund supports local authorities in England to work with industry and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. This will deliver tens of thousands of local chargepoints, ensuring the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country. Local authority funding was allocated by evaluating need and progress in relation to chargepoint rollout, helping to address existing disparities with infrastructure provision.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 28 March (HL6761), what assessment they have made of the opportunities of utilising peer-to-peer support workers and volunteers with lived experience in the delivery of inclusion health initiatives.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made.