Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether all trials using new medical devices are logged centrally; and what steps he is taking to ensure that there is oversight of all non-drug trials.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Medical devices are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). All trials of new medical devices being developed for the United Kingdom market are reviewed by the MHRA before the devices are used on humans in these trials in the UK. The MHRA maintains a record of all such trials whether approved or refused. Plans are in place to make this information available to the public in future. The MHRA only has oversight of medicines and medical devices trials and therefore do not have oversight of all non-drug trials.
All non-drug trials (including device studies) are centrally reviewed for ethical approval by the Health Research Authority (HRA). If they meet a set of additional legal and policy criteria, they are granted approval to proceed in the National Health Service.
All clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with the Policy Framework for Health and Social Care, which describes the roles and responsibilities of those involved in research oversight.
There is an expectation that all trials are registered and a lay summary made available on the HRA website.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will ensure that the distribution of the covid-19 arts rescue package includes funding for (a) the Royal Northern Sinfonia and (b) other institutions in the North of England.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Culture Recovery Fund will provide targeted support to critical cultural, arts and heritage organisations to help them survive and recover through the coronavirus pandemic. Funding will be prioritised to institutions of national and international significance and those that are crucial to levelling up places and communities, including smaller organisations and cultural venues that are at the centre of their communities.
Key organisations in England are able to apply for grants or loans. The relevant DCMS Arms Length Bodies (Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute) will make funding decisions for grants against the published criteria agreed by Ministers. In addition, the independent Culture Recovery Board will make decisions regarding applications for loans, and provide additional assurance over the largest grants.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to introduce International Road Permits for HGVs entering the UK from 1 January 2021 in the event that a reciprocal agreement is not secured in negotiations on the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is in both the UK and EU’s interests to secure liberalised rights for UK and EU hauliers to carry goods between our respective territories without the need for additional documentation, such as permits.
The Government will communicate arrangements informing operators on how to prepare for the end of the transition period in good time. This will cover any changes to documentation requirements.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Ryanair on (a) the continuation of that airline's flights to Spain and (b) the provision of vouchers or refunds to its customers who cancel a flight in order to adhere to Foreign and Commonwealth Office's guidance advising against all but essential travel to Spain.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has not had any discussions with Ryanair about the continuation of flights to Spain. Aviation is a private industry and these are commercial decisions for individual airlines.
Where a flight or holiday has been cancelled the Department has been clear that airlines should not deny consumers their legal right to a refund, if it is requested and this should be done in a timely manner. Many businesses are trying to do the right thing during this unprecedented time, but where the regulator has evidence of businesses taking advantage of this crisis, we would expect them to act.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that high street lenders do not require firms to conduct costly third party audits before being considered for a loan under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
There are now over 90 accredited lenders of CBILS and individual lending decisions remain at the discretion of these lenders. We would expect a lender to follow its normal credit policy when assessing security. There has been significant demand for the Scheme and lenders are fully aware of the current urgency, so we expect them to respond appropriately to their customers’ needs.
Since the CBILS was introduced, Government has made several improvements to speed up the application process and ensure businesses are getting the support they need. These include:
- Clarifying that all lenders should use automated, rather than manual, credit checks when assessing the viability of a business;
- Removing the forward-looking viability test;
- Removing the per lender portfolio cap; and
- Removing any requirement for the main lenders to interact with the British Business Bank systems before issuing loans.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will use returned Discretionary Grant Funds unspent by local authorities to provide financial assistance to close companies directors who operate businesses from their homes, have had no access to business grants or local authority discretionary funds and have been unable to trade throughout the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Local Authorities had significant discretion when it came to setting the eligibility criteria for their discretionary grant schemes. Although the Government encouraged Local Authorities to focus on small businesses which faced high fixed property-related costs and which had missed out on the main business grant schemes due to the way they interacted with the business rates system, Local Authorities were able to pay grants to other kinds of businesses, according to their assessment of local economic need.The business grant funds, including the Discretionary Grant Fund, were primarily intended to support small businesses which faced high fixed property-related costs during the strict ‘lockdown’ period, when consumer footfall was dramatically reduced. As most businesses are now able to reopen, it is right that we wind up the grant schemes, all of which closed to new applicants on 28 August. The Government continues to review the economic situation and consider what support businesses need. However, there are currently no plans to re-open the business grants to new applications.
We expect that Local Authorities will spend the vast majority of the funding which they were allocated for the Discretionary Grant Fund. We do expect there to be some underspends from the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund. We have asked Local Authorities to return any underspends to the Exchequer.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for the resumption of (a) nursing and (b) care home visits in England; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits on enabling immediate covid-secure visits for residents who have a (i) terminal illness and (b) mental and physical health condition that is affected by a lack of contact with relatives.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 22 July 2020 the Government published updated guidance on visiting arrangements for care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance is applicable to all nursing and care homes and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visiting-care-homes-during-coronavirus
Updated visiting guidance was developed with collaboration from a range of social care stakeholders, including the Alzheimer’s Society. Our priority has been to enable residents to be reunited safely with their loved ones. This guidance will be updated as the risk posed by COVID-19 continues to change.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education,if schools will be able to use the £1 billion Covid Catch-Up Premium for intensive revision lessons for Key Stage 4 pupils wishing to resit their GCSEs in the Autumn.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has announced a catch-up package worth £1 billion, including a ‘Catch-Up Premium’ worth a total of £650 million, to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. This ‘Catch-Up Premium’ will be paid to schools in the 2020-21 academic year to support catch up for students aged 5 to 16.
As part of the catch-up package we have also announced a £350 million National Tutoring Programme which includes a 16 to 19 Tuition Fund. This fund will allocate up to £96 million as a one-off, one year, ring-fenced grant to school sixth forms, colleges and all other 16 to 19 providers to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16 to 19 students whose studies have been disrupted as a result of COVID-19, including those resitting GCSEs. Further detail of this element will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he can provide a timeframe for the events and exhibitions sector on when gatherings of more than 30 people will be allowed.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Meetings of up to 30 people indoors are now allowed in permitted venues if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate that it has followed the
Covid-19 guidance.
From 1 August, exhibition and conference centres are allowed to show small groups (of up to 30 people with social distancing requirements) around to view the facilities and plan
future events and to enable government-backed pilots to take place. They should not be
open fully to host events more widely.
From 1 October, it is expected that events of all types (such as trade shows, consumer shows, exhibitions and conferences) will be allowed at a capacity allowing for compliance
with social distancing. As with all aspects of the Government’s response to COVID-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health
assessments.
We have worked closely with events stakeholders through both the Visitor Economy and Events & Entertainment Working Groups to develop Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance
for the business events industry. We continue to meet with the Events Industry Senior
Leaders Advisory Panel to discuss the specific issues facing the industry. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place - including
agricultural shows, literary fairs and car boot sales.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to expedite the bringing forward of legislative proposals for a plastic packaging tax as a result of the (a) fall in global oil prices and (b) the rise in the level of production of virgin plastic in order to protect the financial viability of recycling companies in the UK.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
At Budget 2020, the Government announced key details of the world leading Plastic Packaging Tax, which will help to tackle the pressing issue of plastic waste. The initial rate of the tax will be £200 per tonne and it will be paid by manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic.
The Government is continuing to monitor both the global oil price and recycling capacity in the UK. The Government expects the tax to create greater demand for recycled material and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste. Since the announcement of the tax at Budget 2018 there has been increased investment in the UK’s recycling capacity, partly due to the tax.
The Government has set a rate of £200 per tonne for the tax as this is expected to make using recycled plastic the most cost-effective option for a business in many cases. Following its introduction in April 2022, the rate will be kept under review to ensure that the tax remains effective in increasing the use of recycled plastic in plastic packaging.
The Government is now consulting on the detailed design and implementation of the tax, and will publish draft primary legislation before it is included in a future Finance Bill, followed by draft secondary legislation and guidance. It is right that the Government consults on the detail of the tax in this manner to make sure it works as intended and that businesses are given time to prepare.