Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that energy supplied from renewable sources only incurs a cost to the public purse when it is required on the grid.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government, through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme, is considering reforms needed to electricity market arrangements to drive the necessary investment and efficient operation of a secure, cost-effective, low-carbon electricity system. This includes Government schemes, such as the Renewable Obligation and Contract for Difference, that support the generation of renewable electricity.
The Government will work with Ofgem, National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) and the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) to review and take appropriate steps, when necessary, to ensure that system costs associated with renewable generators' participation in the Balancing Mechanism offers the best value for money for consumers.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the success of schemes supported by the UK Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There are regular monitoring points throughout projects’ lifetime.
To assess whether the Community Ownership Fund is delivering its four strategic objectives, we will undertake high-quality, robust evaluations.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to amend regulations to ensure patients' access to early-phase clinical trials for (a) all diseases and (b) diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is introducing new legislation and guidance as part of a swathe of new measures that represent the biggest overhaul in United Kingdom clinical trials regulation in over 20 years.
The agency will introduce more streamlined and efficient application processes, making it easier to apply for trials in the UK, but without compromising on safety standards, including legislating for a combined MHRA/research ethics review. Internationally competitive approval timelines will also be introduced, with more flexibility for sponsors to respond to questions raised by regulators.
These changes will make the UK regulatory environment more attractive for sponsors to bring their trials to the UK, supporting more trials to be run on all kinds of medicines, including treatments for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
The new legislation will help patients access more trials by bolstering the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for innovative and ground-breaking trials of life-saving medicines.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to engage with international financial service businesses on the Government's approach to Clause 37 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government published a Call for Proposals on 9 May 2023, seeking views on what additional metrics the regulators should publish to support scrutiny of their work embedding and advancing their new secondary growth and competitiveness objectives.
The Call for Proposals also set out the Government’s proposed approach to the exercise of the power of direction in Clause 37 of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which is now section 39 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. It asked respondents whether they agreed with the Government’s proposed approach.
The Call for Proposals was open to all persons, including international financial services businesses, and closed on 4 July. The Treasury is currently analysing the responses and will respond in due course.
More broadly, international comparisons were considered by the Government in the design of the new secondary growth and competitiveness objectives as part of the Future Regulatory Framework Review. For example, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan have growth or competitiveness embedded in their regulatory frameworks, and this is something that the Government considered when introducing the new secondary growth and competitiveness objectives for the regulators.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that early career researchers are supported in engaging in research on (a) diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and (b) other similar diseases.
Answered by Will Quince
Brain tumour research, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and similar diseases, remains a challenging scientific area, with a relatively small research community. We are working closely with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) in hosting customised workshops for researchers, and training for clinicians. These actions will grow capacity for brain cancer research, attracting new researchers, developing the community, and supporting researchers to submit high-quality research funding proposals.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research and the TJBCM recently announced two appointments to the inaugural Tessa Jowell Fellowship programme. These 12-month fellowships will support high quality training in neuro-oncology clinical practice and research, to ensure clinicians are equipped with the relevant research skills needed to lead neuro-oncology trials that change practice.
Additionally, the TJBCM have designated 28 adult Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence within the National Health Service, which has created a world-class network of brain tumour treatment and research centres to provide the best care and share best practice.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) legal and (b) industry standards for emerging technologies for autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government paper “Connected & Automated Mobility 2025: realising the benefits of self-driving vehicles in the UK” sets out the Government’s plans to support the development and deployment of safe self-driving vehicles in the UK. This includes proposals for a comprehensive regulatory, legislative and safety framework. The Department remains committed to these plans will bring forward primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Alongside developing legal and regulatory frameworks, the government has committed £100 million of new Research and Development funding following the Government’s Spending Review for the period 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is allocated to the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) through two Departments:
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s latest plans are to support the rollout of autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government paper “Connected & Automated Mobility 2025: realising the benefits of self-driving vehicles in the UK” sets out the Government’s plans to support the development and deployment of safe self-driving vehicles in the UK. This includes proposals for a comprehensive regulatory, legislative and safety framework. The Department remains committed to these plans will bring forward primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Alongside developing legal and regulatory frameworks, the government has committed £100 million of new Research and Development funding following the Government’s Spending Review for the period 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is allocated to the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) through two Departments:
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help regulators implement their secondary objectives set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are responsible for operationalising their new secondary objectives to facilitate the international competitiveness of the UK economy, and its growth in the medium to long-term.
The regulators have already begun to set out how they will approach the new objectives, for example, in the PRA’s September 2022 discussion paper on its future approach to policy (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/prudential-regulation/publication/2022/september/pra-approach-to-policy) and the FCA’s December 2022 paper on its implementation of the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework Review (https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/corporate-documents/future-regulatory-framework-review-reforms).
To support the introduction of the new objectives, the Government published a Call for Proposals, which closed on 4 July, seeking views on what additional metrics the regulators should publish to support scrutiny of their work embedding and advancing their new secondary objectives. The Treasury is analysing the responses and will respond in due course.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 requires the regulators’ Annual Reports to include an explanation of how they have advanced the new secondary objectives. In addition, the Act requires the regulators to publish separate reports on how they have embedded and advanced the new objectives 12 and 24 months after they come into force. This will support scrutiny of how the new objectives have been operationalised.
The Government is confident that the introduction of the new growth and competitiveness objectives will lead to a step-change in the regulators’ approach.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans for the investigation by officials into an update to Growth Market Exemption legislation to conclude.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government keeps all taxes under review. As part of that, officials are exploring the case for reform in this area.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the capacity of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is proposing an approach to cryptoasset regulation under which firm requirements are designed and implemented by the independent regulators to ensure an agile regime able to respond to developments in the sector. The recent Financial Services and Markets Act included powers to bring stablecoins and cryptoasset activities within the FCA regulatory perimeter.
The FCA completed its Transformation Programme in March 2023 seeking to make the FCA a more innovative, assertive and adaptive regulator. It involved significant investment in the FCA’s systems and capabilities to enable better use of data and intelligence to regulate 50,000 firms effectively and efficiently. Further information on the delivery of the Transformation Programme is contained in the FCA Annual Report 2022-2023
The Government will continue to regularly discuss delivery of the Transformation Programme with the FCA to monitor progress.