Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether domestic wood burning counts towards either (a) low-carbon heat or (b) renewable energy targets.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Sustainably sourced domestic wood burning does count towards our broader carbon reduction goals.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 the Climate Change Committee on its UK Health Expert Advisory Group report entitled Sustainable Health Equity: Achieving a Net Zero UK before publication of the Sixth Carbon Budget in December 2020.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are grateful to the Climate Change Committee for the wide range of advice it provides government, which is discussed on an ongoing basis. The published impact assessment for the sixth carbon budget considered a range of relevant evidence to provide a solid basis for the government’s decision on the budget level, including the advice of the Climate Change Committee.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Joint Air Quality Unit on (a) steps it is taking to deliver clean air and (b) how those steps are aligned with the Net Zero Strategy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the period leading up to the publication of the Net Zero Strategy, there were numerous cross-government discussions, including on air quality, reflecting the contribution that every sector of the UK economy needs to make to climate change mitigation.
As set out in the Strategy, as a principle of the transition to net zero the Government will pursue options that leave the environment in a better state for the next generation by improving biodiversity, air quality, water quality, natural capital, and resilience to climate change where appropriate.
Air quality policy is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to match funding for COP26 scholarships recently announced by universities.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has been ensuring that science and research for climate action is part of our work towards a high ambition outcome at COP26. As such, the UK Presidency has been working closely with universities and academics all over the world, including the COP26 Universities Network (over 80 Universities across the UK) to mobilise research and academic knowledge in support of the COP26 Goals. The Government welcomes the great work they are doing to bring research to governments and the public, and to support action on climate change.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to ensure that the Local Electricity Bill achieves its aim of unblocking the potential for community renewable energy generation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government agrees with the broad aims of the Local Electricity Bill but does not support it as the means to enable local energy supply. There are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specific geographic area, and small-scale generators can also apply for a licence exemption in some cases to reduce the regulatory burdens of operating at a community level.
The Government are supporting community energy projects through the Rural Community Energy Fund and the Government will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research into the efficacy of a covid-19 vaccine in (a) older people and (b) other vulnerable groups.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The University of Oxford / Astra Zeneca Phase 3 trial includes branches that specifically looks at safety and efficacy of the vaccine in those aged between 56 – 69 and over 70. For these groups, researchers are assessing the immune response to the vaccine in people of different ages, to find out if there is variation in how well the immune system responds in older people. Other vaccine developers that the Government are working with may also decide to include specific groups such as these in their trials.
In addition to the work that vaccine developers are undertaking, the Government has funded the NHS Registry, developed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This national registry is encouraging people who may be disproportionately affected by COVD19, such as older people, older people with underlying health conditions and people from different ethnic groups, to volunteer for clinical trials. This includes supporting the development of communications materials to provide information on taking part in COVID 19 vaccine trials via the NIHR website (Be Part of Research). These have been translated into other languages, including Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali in order to reach the wider Asian community.
The Government also has a proactive communications programme aimed at the above-mentioned groups, to encourage greater sign up to the registry.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister of the Cabinet Office on the UK’s future association with the Horizon Europe programme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly speaks to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office about a range of policy issues, including the UK’s potential association with Horizon Europe.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research into understanding the biological mechanisms of long-term covid-19 symptoms and air pollution.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, has provided research funding for programmes looking into the factors that contribute to the severity of Covid-19 cases. This includes £4.9m funding to the ISARIC consortium for research and provision of real time information into the factors, including existing respiratory conditions, that put people most at risk of developing severe hospitalised illness as a result of Covid-19; and £1m to OpenSAFELY, a secure platform linking the primary care NHS records of 24 million patients, which is able to identify patients at higher risk of admission, ventilation and death from Covid-19.
UKRI’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) provides a national capability in air pollution research that underpins ongoing evaluations of the potential relationship between long-term air pollution exposure, respiratory conditions and COVID-19 symptoms and mortality. UKRI has also funded or repurposed at least 12 research projects studying the links between Covid-19 and air quality.
Through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Department of Health and Social Care funds 14 Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs), which are research partnerships between universities and Public Health England (PHE). One of these Units, the NIHR HPRU in Environmental Exposures and Health based at Imperial College London, undertakes research on the health effects associated with exposure to a range of environmental pollutants. This includes research to investigate possible links between air pollution and COVID-19. Further information on projects on COVID-19 that are underway at the Unit can be found here: https://eeh.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/covid-19-projects/.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research into covid-19 and respiratory conditions caused by air pollution.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, has provided research funding for programmes looking into the factors that contribute to the severity of Covid-19 cases. This includes £4.9m funding to the ISARIC consortium for research and provision of real time information into the factors, including existing respiratory conditions, that put people most at risk of developing severe hospitalised illness as a result of Covid-19; and £1m to OpenSAFELY, a secure platform linking the primary care NHS records of 24 million patients, which is able to identify patients at higher risk of admission, ventilation and death from Covid-19.
UKRI’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) provides a national capability in air pollution research that underpins ongoing evaluations of the potential relationship between long-term air pollution exposure, respiratory conditions and COVID-19 symptoms and mortality. UKRI has also funded or repurposed at least 12 research projects studying the links between Covid-19 and air quality.
Through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Department of Health and Social Care funds 14 Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs), which are research partnerships between universities and Public Health England (PHE). One of these Units, the NIHR HPRU in Environmental Exposures and Health based at Imperial College London, undertakes research on the health effects associated with exposure to a range of environmental pollutants. This includes research to investigate possible links between air pollution and COVID-19. Further information on projects on COVID-19 that are underway at the Unit can be found here: https://eeh.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/covid-19-projects/.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support research into covid-19 and ageing.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood on 7th September 2020 to Question 77719.