Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support the retention and re-employment of UK scientists alongside plans to recruit scientists from overseas.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to ensuring universities and research institutions remain internationally competitive, with long-term career sustainability. DSIT has allocated £38.6 billion to UKRI over four years, including £14 billion for curiosity-driven research. DSIT supports talent at all career stages to help researchers build and sustain careers here, with over £5 billion of investment to attract and retain talent over four years. This includes government funding to train doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and deliver globally prestigious fellowship and professorship schemes through UKRI and the National Academies. The UK’s new Global Talent Fund has already announced eight leading researchers as successful awardees.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the impact of pharmaceutical and medical device R&D site closures on the trends in the levels of UK’s scientific research capacity since 2010.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has made no formal assessment of the impact of pharmaceutical and medical device R&D site closures on trends in the UK’s scientific research capacity since 2010.
The Government does monitor the health of the UK life sciences sector, including R&D performed by UK businesses. Office for National Statistics data shows £9.3 billion of pharmaceutical R&D was performed by UK businesses in 2024, accounting for almost 17% of all R&D undertaken by UK businesses.
We are actively working with industry to boost the UK’s competitiveness and significantly grow the volume of private sector R&D and manufacturing in the UK over the next decade. For instance, the up to £520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund and the pilot £50m Transformational R&D Investment Fund, which are supporting companies like UCB to invest in innovative early manufacturing in the UK.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the impact of the High Income Child Benefit Charge threshold on single-earner and two-earner households.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) applies to Child Benefit recipients, or their partner, who has an adjusted net income of £60,000 or more. An individual’s adjusted net income is their total taxable income before any Personal Allowances and less certain tax reliefs.
The HICBC threshold was increased to £60,000 in April 2024, which took 170,000 families out of paying this tax charge in 2024/25. The point at which Child Benefit is fully withdrawn was also raised to £80,000. The HICBC threshold was £50,000 prior to 6 April 2024.
The adjusted net income threshold of £60,000 ensures the Government supports the majority of Child Benefit claimants, whilst keeping welfare expenditure sustainable.
HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy. In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that there are no current plans to change to a system where HICBC is calculated on a household income basis, as it is estimated this would cost up to £1.4 billion or would require some families currently in receipt of Child Benefit and outside the scope of the tax charge to lose out.
As with all elements of tax policy the Government keeps HICBC under review as part of its Budget process.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the income threshold for the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) applies to Child Benefit recipients, or their partner, who has an adjusted net income of £60,000 or more. An individual’s adjusted net income is their total taxable income before any Personal Allowances and less certain tax reliefs.
The HICBC threshold was increased to £60,000 in April 2024, which took 170,000 families out of paying this tax charge in 2024/25. The point at which Child Benefit is fully withdrawn was also raised to £80,000. The HICBC threshold was £50,000 prior to 6 April 2024.
The adjusted net income threshold of £60,000 ensures the Government supports the majority of Child Benefit claimants, whilst keeping welfare expenditure sustainable.
HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy. In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that there are no current plans to change to a system where HICBC is calculated on a household income basis, as it is estimated this would cost up to £1.4 billion or would require some families currently in receipt of Child Benefit and outside the scope of the tax charge to lose out.
As with all elements of tax policy the Government keeps HICBC under review as part of its Budget process.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure transparency from AI companies on the level of their energy usage.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Large AI companies in the UK must report energy and carbon use under The Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework. Many companies also voluntarily report their Power Utilisation Effectiveness, which is the industry standard measure of efficiency of a data centre. Government is assessing the relevant technologies and metrics involved in its drive towards building a sustainable energy system as part of the AI Energy Council.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resilience of mobile communications infrastructure during prolonged power outages.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 21 January 2026 to Question UINs 104628, 104629, and 104630.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to request that Ofcom introduces new mandates for telecom resilience requirements, including adequate on-site, built-in resilience measures, particularly backup power via batteries at mobile phone masts and increasing the mandated minimum amount of backup power via batteries.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 21 January 2026 to Question UINs 104628, 104629, and 104630.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures her Department is taking to review the adequacy of the exclusion of aircraft noise from the statutory nuisance regime, particularly in relation to communities affected by regular helicopter overflight.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise is to balance the economic and consumer benefits of aviation against its social and health implications.
The Air Navigation Guidance 2017 provided by the Department to the Civil Aviation Authority urges helicopter operators to fly with consideration for communities that may live under their flightpath. The Department has also sought to encourage pilots to follow other available guidance, such as that produced by the British Helicopter Association which encourages pilots to fly as high as possible within safety and operational limits.
Aircraft and traffic noise is not included as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Government believes it is not practical for local authorities to enforce noise from these sources, and that aviation noise is better managed through specific Government policies tailored to individual noise sources. Powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are devolved in Scotland.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures her Department is taking to ensure that an appropriate balance is struck between helicopter operations and the impact of aviation noise on communities located beneath established helicopter routes.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise is to balance the economic and consumer benefits of aviation against its social and health implications.
The Air Navigation Guidance 2017 provided by the Department to the Civil Aviation Authority urges helicopter operators to fly with consideration for communities that may live under their flightpath. The Department has also sought to encourage pilots to follow other available guidance, such as that produced by the British Helicopter Association which encourages pilots to fly as high as possible within safety and operational limits.
Aircraft and traffic noise is not included as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Government believes it is not practical for local authorities to enforce noise from these sources, and that aviation noise is better managed through specific Government policies tailored to individual noise sources. Powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are devolved in Scotland.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of existing monitoring and data collection arrangements for helicopter movements in uncontrolled airspace, including over residential areas.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not monitor aircraft movements within uncontrolled airspace and therefore has not made any assessment of existing monitoring and data collection arrangements for helicopter movements in uncontrolled airspace.
The Civil Aviation Authority, as the UK's independent regulator for civil aviation, manages and regulates the use of UK airspace. Uncontrolled airspace enables aircraft to operate freely and without the need to follow set routes, whilst abiding by the Rules of the Air Regulation 2015.