Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to WPQ 3948 Dated 9/9/2024, which areas in the nations and regions of the UK were events held to ensure that businesses become more aware of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Since September 2023 the Department for Business and Trade has attended or coordinated over 70 events (online or in-person) to ensure that UK businesses are aware of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). In person events have so far taken place in areas across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and online events have been targeted at UK businesses based throughout the UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Connect Fund reaches communities that have previously had lower application rates for grant funding across Northern Ireland.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The £1m Connect Fund makes awards to strengthen civic ties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain across a range of sectors. I am encouraged by the high level of interest the Fund has received from community and voluntary groups to date. Early next year, a series of roadshows will be hosted across Northern Ireland, including areas with lower application rates, to advertise the Fund and support a broad geographical spread of applicants.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people aged 66 and over are estimated in 2025 to be in (a) full time employment, and (b) part time employment.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 15th of December is attached.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the change in the tonnage of (a) recycled and (b) incinerated waste between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most comprehensive waste treatment data Defra hold for the period from 2019 to 2024 cover the management of local authority collected waste in England for the financial years 2018/19 to 2023/24. The data are available in the Local authority collected waste management - annual results - GOV.UK publication.
Over this period, the total tonnage of waste collected by local authorities has fallen by 534,000 tonnes, from 25.6 million tonnes in 2018/19 to 25.1 million tonnes in 2023/24. Tonnages of waste recycled have fallen by 560,000 tonnes, while tonnages of waste sent for incineration with energy recovery have increased by 1.5 million tonnes and tonnages incinerated without energy recovery have fallen by 88,000 tonnes.
Data are available on the final treatment of all waste in the UK in the UK statistics on waste - GOV.UK publication, the most recent data are for 2020. Equivalent England-level data are also available for 2022 in the same publication. Both the UK and England data sets are updated biennially.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate has been made of the number of people paying (a) basic rate, (b) higher rate, and (c) additional rate of Income Tax between 2020 and 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of individuals in each of the three main Income Tax rate bands from 2020 to 2025 is published in Table 2.1 of HMRC’s Accredited official statistics. Updated forecasts are published in Table 3.19 of the OBR’s November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook, linked below:
The previous Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many biomass boilers granted and installed under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme have had to be replaced due to faults in the installation or in the boiler in each of the last three years.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not hold specific data on the number of biomass boilers that have subsequently been replaced under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Ofgem, the scheme administrators, continue to work closely with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and consumer codes to monitor any complaints received, and to identify and resolve any issues with systems installed under the scheme.
Biomass deployment under the scheme represents a relatively small proportion of overall installations.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what has been the change in the volume of sustainable aviation fuel production in the UK between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not hold statistics on volumes of SAF produced in the UK. SAF volumes are reported to the Department by fuel suppliers to discharge their obligations under the SAF mandate, and between 2019 and 2024, under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). SAF is not yet produced globally at a large scale. In the UK the only commercial scale SAF producer is at Phillips 66’s Humberside refinery.
Looking forward, the Government is taking decisive action to scale up UK SAF production. From 1 January 2025, the SAF mandate came into effect, setting a clear trajectory for growth – 10% of UK aviation fuel is required to be SAF by 2030 and 22% by 2040. To help deliver this, £63 million in grant funding has been allocated through the Advanced Fuels Fund for the current year to support UK SAF plants, with continued support for SAF production through to 2029/30. We have also introduced a SAF Bill that will establish a Revenue Certainty Mechanism, giving investors confidence to build and operate SAF facilities in the UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will consider changing air passenger duty on all passengers so that higher duty is levied on those who fly more frequently.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The distance-band structure of Air Passenger Duty (APD) already ensures that those who fly furthest, in the greatest comfort, pay the most. Similarly, given APD is charged on all UK-departing flights, those who fly most often pay more.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to WPQ 51812, what assessment he has made of the reliability of BMI testing, in the context of the Global Burden of Disease’s indication that one of the main contributory causes of type 2 diabetes is high body mass index.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service.
NICE has published guidance on the management of overweight and obesity. The guidance recommends that body mass index (BMI) is used as a practical measure of overweight and obesity. It acknowledges the limitations of BMI, highlighting that the measurement should be interpreted with caution because it is not a direct measure of abdominal fat. In adults with a BMI below 35 kilogram per meter of height squared, waist to height ratio is also recommended. These measurements together can be used to help assess and predict health risks, such as type 2 diabetes.
NICE also recommends lower BMI cut offs for certain ethnic minority groups, as they are prone to higher levels of abdominal fat and have an increased risk of developing certain health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, at a lower BMI.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help support and promote biotechnology in Northern Ireland through the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Life sciences, which includes biotechnology, is one of the priority sectors under the Government’s Industrial Strategy. This summer the Government published the UK Life Sciences Sector Plan, setting out a bold ambition to make the UK the leading life sciences economy in Europe by 2030. The Plan supports growth across the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, recognising its particular strengths in precision medicine, diagnostics, advanced manufacturing and clinical research. The Office for Life Sciences is working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to align priorities, attract investment, and deliver growth in Northern Ireland’s life sciences sector.