Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 feasibility of introducing nasal vaccines as part of the Government's covid-19 vaccination programme.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government’s approach to seeking a vaccine for COVID-19 has, from the outset, been to take a portfolio approach to vaccine procurement. This has allowed the Government to secure access to six different vaccine candidates across three vaccine types and from a range of developers. The aim is to ensure that the UK has access to the most promising vaccines currently in development, should any of these prove safe and effective.
While there are currently no approved nasal vaccines for COVID-19, the Government continues to engage with the market as new vaccines and vaccine technologies gain approval.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of holding a public scientific hearing on animal experimentation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The use of animals in research is carefully regulated and remains important in ensuring new medicines and treatments are safe. At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved primarily through funding for the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal research.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the amount of statutory redundancy paid to former Greensill Capital employees since the collapse of that company.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) is dealing with two cases: Greensill Capital Management Company (UK) Limited and its subsidiary, Greensill Capital (UK) Limited.
In respect of Greensill Capital Management Company (UK) Limited the RPS has, to date, paid out £138,971 in statutory redundancy payments.
In respect of Greensill Capital (UK) Limited, to date no claims have yet been received and no payments made.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 potential merits of strengthening consumer protections in respect of purchases on online marketplaces that are dispatched from within the UK but are serviced by overseas sellers that operate outside of UK law.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK has a robust legislative framework to protect consumers. All businesses targeting UK consumers, wherever they may be located, must comply with this legislative framework.
Consumers should report any problems to the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133, www.citizensadvice.org/. The helpline offers free advice to consumers on their rights and can refer on complaints to Trading Standards for appropriate enforcement action.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) effect of LEPs on their constituent areas and (b) the short and medium term future of LEPs.
Answered by Paul Scully
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) performance is monitored through an annual assurance process and regular reporting. LEPs are required to participate in relevant Local Authority scrutiny arrangements to guarantee the effective and appropriate scrutiny of their investment decisions.
LEPs must also publish Delivery Plans and End of Year Reports, which set out details of the contributions they are making to promote economic growth in their areas.
Alongside the Budget, the Government committed to working with local businesses on the future role of Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 potential merits of strengthening protections for consumers from unfair contracts and cancellation clauses.
Answered by Paul Scully
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, all terms of written contracts must be fair and transparent. If terms in a consumer contract are assessed by a court as unfair, they will not be binding on the consumer, even if the consumer has “accepted” them.
The Government is working closely with Citizens Advice and the Consumer Protection Partnership, which brings together key partners within the consumer protection framework, to examine ways to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and avoid them facing unreasonable charges.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made in ensuring that wedding venues provide refunds where events have not gone ahead as a result of the covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Competition and Markets Authority has produced a statement to help consumers and business understand how the law operates when contracts for wedding services have been or will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-refunds-cma-warns-wedding-firms-over-unfair-practices.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 potential merits of compensating people who have lost money as a result of weddings being cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions and the venue refusing to refund in full.
Answered by Paul Scully
No assessment has been made. Guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority in relation to wedding services affected by Covid-19 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wedding-services-coronavirus-covid-19-cancellations-and-refunds.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on updating the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Public Authorities to take into account the temporary increase in EU State Aid limits in order to help support the hospitality sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
The European Commission approved amendments to the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK authorities on 08 December 2020. These included support for uncovered fixed costs, an increase in the budget of the scheme and inclusion of subsidised interest rates for subordinated loans.
The EU State aid rules ceased to apply to the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020, except in the limited circumstances of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The United Kingdom remains bound by its international commitments, including the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU. In particular, it will be important for relevant subsidies to meet the terms of the Principles set out in Article 3.4 of the TCA. Covid-19 schemes in operation before 1 January 2021 will already be compliant with these Principles.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of locating the National Artificial Intelligence Centre At Sci-Tech, Daresbury in Weaver Vale constituency as part of the Government's levelling up policy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced an ambitious modernisation of the Armed Forces supported by more than?£24 billion over the next four years, including at least £6.6 billion for R&D.
This commitment includes a new agency for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accelerate the research, development, testing, integration and deployment of world-leading AI and Autonomous Systems.
This investment will underpin the UK’s enduring technical edge and status as a global science superpower. A decision has yet to been made about the agency’s location.
Furthermore, the Government's unprecedented commitment at the last Budget to increase public investment in R&D to £22 billion by 2024 to 2025 will boost economic performance outside of London and the South East and level up across the country.
This investment builds on the achievements under the Industrial Strategy AI and Data Grand Challenge and the AI Sector Deal.
Some of the Government’s key investments across the country includes:
Founding The Alan Turing Institute as the UK’s national institute for data science and AI. Thirteen of the UK’s best universities make up the Turing’s core partners.