Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create a public beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property.
Answered by Paul Scully
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement made on 2nd November 2021, the Government remains committed to establishing a new beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property. This register will help combat money laundering and achieve greater transparency in the UK property market. We will legislate when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2021 to Question 69687, whether the Government delivered the 20 million covid-19 vaccine doses due to be donated by the Government by the end of 2021 to countries in need.
Answered by George Freeman
On 30 December. the Government announced that we had met the target to donate 30 million COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. We also reiterated our plan for millions more vaccines to be sent to other countries in 2022, including 20 million more Oxford-AstraZeneca doses and 20 million Janssen doses.
Of the over 30 million vaccines we have donated; approximately 25.4m have been received by COVAX, and 5.5m have been delivered directly by the UK to countries in need. These donations have benefitted more than 30 countries. The majority, 23.3m, of these donations have now arrived at their final destination, with 7.6 million of the doses received by COVAX that remain to be shipped to recipient countries in the next few weeks.
In addition to life saving vaccine, the Government have also recently pledged £105m of UK emergency aid to help vulnerable countries tackle Omicron, with a particular focus on Africa.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with officials in his Department on the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre.
Answered by George Freeman
The Vaccine Taskforce and UK Research and Innovation are working closely with VMIC, which is a private company, to ensure the UK has a strong domestic vaccine manufacturing capability to contribute to the UK’s resilience against COVID-19 and other future health emergencies. At present these discussions are commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the 20 million covid-19 vaccine doses to be donated by the Government by the end of 2021 to countries in need, what the expiry date is of those doses; and when the Government plans to deliver them.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 30 October, we announced a further donation of 20 million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses. Of this, 10 million has already been sent to COVAX, and 10 million more are due to be delivered in the coming weeks between now and the end of 2021 to some of the world’s most vulnerable people. This means that at least 30.7 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca will have been donated in 2021.
The UK, COVAX and AZ are working closely together and with international partners such as UNICEF to allocate vaccines according to need, facilitate the rapid delivery of doses and maximise the shelf life available to recipients. This includes the provision of regular forecasts to COVAX to assist planning. Doses are sent directly by AZ to UNICEF, rather than having to be processed by the UK Government. Vaccines delivered by COVAX are distributed in line with the World Health Organisation's 'equitable allocation framework', which helps ensure COVAX doses reach those countries most in need. Recipient countries are informed of vaccine expiry dates, and doses are delivered in consultation with countries via COVAX to ensure they are ready and able to begin immediate roll out.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to rectify the £120 million gap between the allocations and commitments of Official Development Assistance funding provided by his Department to UKRI.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
On 2nd December last year, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the International Development Committee setting out the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, which details the UK’s foreign aid spending priorities. In line with these priorities, he confirmed each Department’s total ODA settlement on 26th January.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships and supporting the UK research sector. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer committed to increasing UK investment in R&D to £14.6 billion in 2021/22 in this recent Budget.
We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the Financial Year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to their award holders to set out the process for reviewing ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance funding allocated to UKRI on ongoing coronavirus vaccine development.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships, and supporting the UK research sector. Our commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement of increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22; and as has been set out in our Integrated Review ambitions, international collaboration is central to a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the financial year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to many award holders setting out the next stage of the review of ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website).