Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the statement entitled Official Development Assistance: Foreign Secretary's statement on 26 November 2020, what assessment his Department has made of effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance funding allocated to UKRI on his Department's ability to its stated goals relating to science, research and technology.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The challenging financial situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%. This means making difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising how we spend aid money to deliver the most impactful outcomes.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships, and supporting the UK research sector. Our commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement of increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22; and as has been set out in our Integrated Review ambitions, international collaboration is central to a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners, to manage the financial year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to many award holders setting out the next stage of the review of ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance on UK Research and Innovation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recognises the importance of supporting international research partnerships, and supporting the UK research sector. Our commitment to research and innovation has been clearly demonstrated by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement of increasing investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22, and as has been set out in our Integrated Review ambitions, international collaboration is central to a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We are working with UKRI and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners to manage the impact of next year’s ODA allocation.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people in (a) Thames Valley region, (b) Oxfordshire and (c) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency (i) applied for and (ii) successfully received a Green Homes Scheme Grant in 2020.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official statistics for the Green Homes Grant (Voucher) Scheme were released on 18 February. The data published in this release is for all applications to the end of January 2021:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/green-home-grant-statistics.
Further scheme statistics will be published in due course.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses in (a) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, (b) the Thames Valley region, (c) England and (d) the UK have called the EU Business Helpline in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Business Support Helpline operates in England and provides a range of support and advice to pre-start, and established businesses. This support includes advice following the UK’s exit from the EU. Businesses in the Devolved Administrations can access similar services within their country.
In the last 12 months (Feb 2020 to Jan 2021) the Business Support Helpline has received over 76,000 calls from individuals and businesses.
During the same period, for the Thames Valley area, the service has handled over 800 contacts from individuals and businesses.
Statistics are gathered by each Local Authority, rather than by constituency. However, in the same period the service handled 99 customers from the Oxford City Council area; 93 customers in the Vale of White Horse area; and 87 customers in West Oxfordshire.
The individual data can be seen in the attached tables.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what effect the 30 per cent reduction in his Department’s Official Development Assistance allocation will have on the Government’s ringfenced climate change and R&D funding commitments.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The difficult finance situation we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary reduction in the UK’s aid spending target from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%.
ODA allocations for all departments were determined in light of this by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in consultation with HM Treasury, and with regard to wider commitments including the R&D ringfence. The Government’s commitment to research and innovation is clearly demonstrated through the recently published R&D Roadmap, and the £400m uplift in R&D spending announced in the Spending Review.
The Department remains committed to supporting my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s pledge to double the UK’s International Climate Finance to £11.6bn between 2021/22 and 2025/26, and we will deliver ambitious programmes to support both this commitment and the Prime Minister’s recent pledge to spend £3bn of our climate finance on nature. This significant uplift of our climate finance sets a clear benchmark for the international community towards COP26 and beyond.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance on the UK’s ambition to support research to tackle (a) climate change, (b) biodiversity loss and other global challenges.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to international development and will continue to provide £10 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021-22to fight poverty, tackle climate change and improve global health.
The Government’s commitment to research and innovation is clearly demonstrated through the recently published R&D Roadmap, and the £400m uplift in R&D spending announced in the Spending Review. International collaboration is a central feature of a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We are committed to doubling UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) to £11.6bn in the years 2021-2025. Our ICF helps to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions, for instance through our £200m+ investment to support green recovery across Africa, Asia and Latin America since June 2020.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the potential effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance on the UK’s support for the development of an international research culture to address (a) climate change, (b) biodiversity loss and (c) other global challenges.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to international development and will continue to provide £10 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021-22 to fight poverty, tackle climate change and improve global health.
The Government’s commitment to research and innovation is clearly demonstrated through the recently published R&D Roadmap, and the £400m uplift in R&D spending announced in the Spending Review International collaboration is central feature of a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We recently reaffirmed our commitment to doubling UK’s International Climate Finance to £11.6bn in the years 2021-2025. The UK plays a crucial role in addressing the global challenge of climate change, responding to the needs of developing countries.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget on the UK’s reputation as a partner of choice in international research and development projects.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government remains committed to international development and will continue to provide £10 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021-22.
The UK’s scientific excellence makes it a partner of choice for many international collaborations. The Government continues to support this excellence through its work towards a 2.4% of GDP investment in R&D by 2027. This has most recently been demonstrated in the £400m uplift to R&D funding announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review for financial year 2021/2022. International collaboration is?a?central feature of a healthy and productive?R&D sector.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the potential effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget on the UK’s commitment to global research and innovation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government remains committed to international development and will continue to provide £10 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021-22.
The UK’s scientific excellence makes it a partner of choice for many international collaborations. The Government continues to support this excellence through its work towards a 2.4% of GDP investment in R&D by 2027. This has most recently been demonstrated in the £400m uplift to R&D funding announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review for financial year 2021/2022. International collaboration is?a?central feature of a healthy and productive?R&D sector.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK's energy supply will be interrupted in the event of no deal of UK-EU trade relations at the end of the transition period.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The UK’s exit from the EU does not alter the fact that our energy system is resilient and secure, and UK energy is supplied from diverse sources.
We have planned extensively for the end of the transition period, alongside National Grid and industry, to ensure electricity and gas demands are met. Electricity and gas will continue to flow over interconnectors between the UK and the EU at the end of the transition period in any scenario.
The forecast electricity margin for this winter is healthy, at 4.8GW or 8.3% additional generation. The forecast gas margin for this winter is also healthy, at around 79 million cubic metres or 15% more supply than would be required to meet demand on the coldest day in 20 winters.