Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many full-time equivalent staff from his Department work on programmes relating to the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO employs 480-499 full-time equivalent staff in UK missions overseas and in Africa Directorate at headquarters covering the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan). Further support on the Horn of Africa is provided by other teams across the rest of the organisation. The UK delivers a wide range of programmes across the region, benefiting millions of people.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of Horizon Europe funding opportunities among British manufacturers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government is committed to maximising UK applications to Horizon Europe.
We are engaging closely with representatives of the manufacturing industry, as well as wider businesses and academia, through our new sector engagement systems group. In addition, this Government has appointed National Contact Points to provide expert advice on Horizon Europe.
To encourage UK researchers and businesses of all kinds to apply, we are delivering a series of popular roadshow events across the UK, with the next event in Glasgow on 12 June. This follows a successful multichannel advertising campaign.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress her Department has made on assessing the infrastructure needs for engineering biology companies across application areas looking to scale up in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department ran a call for evidence in 2023 to assess the needs of the engineering biology sector. This call for evidence included specific asks on infrastructure needs. This consultation has been supplemented through continued engagement with industry since the publication of the National Vision for Engineering Biology in December 2023. As set out in the National Vision for Engineering Biology, DSIT are developing plans to support infrastructure for engineering biology companies.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she next plans to meet the Life Sciences Council; how many times meetings of the Life Sciences Council have been rescheduled in the last three years; and on what date the Life Sciences Council last met.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The last meeting of the Life Sciences Council took place on Tuesday 21 November 2023. Since May 2021, the Life Sciences Council has been rescheduled twice, in May 2022 and May 2024. The Office for Life Sciences are currently agreeing a date for the next meeting of the Council with industry co-chairs. Once agreed, Officials will circulate the rescheduled date to members.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 22306 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs maintains his comment of 5 April 2024 that findings of Israel’s review into the killing of aid workers must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As the Foreign Secretary has said, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, whether his Department plans to recruit additional Tech Envoys.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
It is a priority action of the UK's International Technology Strategy to create the world's most extensive and capable technology diplomacy network, increasing the number of Technology Envoys, increasing our tech expertise across our global network, and uplifting the capability of our diplomats through training, secondments and recruitment. We are in the process of recruiting a North America Technology Envoy.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Full government response to the Lord O'Shaughnessy review into commercial clinical trials, last updated on 8 December 2023, what her Department's planned timetable is for expanding the national contract value review programme to phase 1 and 2a clinical trials.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Contract Value Review (NCVR) process applies to commercial clinical studies. NHS England is working in partnership with the devolved administrations, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and other partners, to pilot the use of the NCVR process for phase I and IIa of commercial clinical trials. The ambition is to make the use of NCVR for phase I and IIa of commercial clinical trials mainstream from October 2024.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the paper entitled The Future of Clinical Research Delivery: 2022 to 2025 implementation plan, published on 30 June 2022, what progress has been made on the Find, Recruit and Follow-up service for clinical trials.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since publication of the Future of Clinical Research Delivery, we have developed early versions of several products as part of the Find, Recruit and Follow-up Service, to deliver secure data enabled study feasibility and recruitment within established governance and legal requirements, across England and other parts of the United Kingdom.
These products include: NHS England’s DigiTrials self-service feasibility tool, which identifies suitable locations for studies by establishing where the largest groupings of eligible people are based; NHS England’s DigiTrials recruitment service, which is currently in its second phase of pilots and will enable the National Health Service to more easily approach patients about research relevant to them; the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Clinical Research Practice Datalink, which allows participating general practices to identify potentially eligible patients for relevant studies more easily; and the Be Part of Research registry, which allows people to proactively register their interest in participating in research.
These tools have been developed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the clinical research process, and also improve our ability to widen access to research opportunities, increase the resilience and sustainability of the healthcare system, and reduce the burden on the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, whether his Department has developed (a) an outline and (b) a full business case for a UK Technology Centre of Expertise to support developing countries to transform their economies.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As part of the International Technology Strategy, the Technology Centre of Expertise will provide support to lower and middle income countries to navigate the complex set of challenges presented by technological advancement. The business case has been developed and the inception phase is underway. Four pilot projects have been selected in Africa and Asia. The FCDO is in the final stages of procurement for an implementing partner for the initial phase which will include design of the programme, review of the pilot projects and mapping of the UK technology expertise ecosystem before the full programme launches in 2025.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, what progress his Department has made on developing a UK Technology Centre of Expertise to support developing countries to transform their economies.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As part of the International Technology Strategy, the Technology Centre of Expertise will provide support to lower and middle income countries to navigate the complex set of challenges presented by technological advancement. The business case has been developed and the inception phase is underway. Four pilot projects have been selected in Africa and Asia. The FCDO is in the final stages of procurement for an implementing partner for the initial phase which will include design of the programme, review of the pilot projects and mapping of the UK technology expertise ecosystem before the full programme launches in 2025.