Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
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 cost to the Government of purchasing covid-19 vaccines for residents in Scotland.
Answered by George Freeman
As announced at the Spending Review in 2020, the Government has made available more than £6 billion in total to develop and procure COVID-19 vaccines.
The UK Government has procured vaccines on behalf of all four nations of the country and Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. As a consequence, a total of 8,169,061 vaccinations have been administered in Scotland as of 17 October 2021 with 81.1% of those aged 12 and over fully vaccinated.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the financial total of Start Up Loans issued in the Scottish Borders is as at 14 September 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Start Up Loans, offered by the Government’s British Business Bank, provide government-backed loans and support for businesses who struggle to access other forms of finance. Since the scheme launched in 2012 to the end of July 2021, the total value of Start Up Loans issued in the Scottish Borders was £796,381, with 95 loans issued.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made on introducing carer’s leave.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to introduce a new right to an additional week of leave for unpaid carers.
The consultation on Carer’s Leave ran from March to August 2020, setting out detailed policy proposals to create a new employment right for one week’s unpaid leave.
The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the way forward.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
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 publish an update on the UK’s covid-19 vaccine portfolio, including the number of doses secured with each manufacturer.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The UK Government has secured early access to 407 million vaccines doses through supply agreements with seven separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with:
In addition, we announced a non-binding agreement in February 2021 with CureVac for 50 million doses and have a reservation agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur for 60 million doses.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been on the establishment of the Centre for Process Innovation that will support the creation of a library of mRNA vaccines to help protect against new variants of covid-19.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
It has not proved possible to respond to my Hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.