Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Critical Minerals Strategy will be published.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Critical Minerals Strategy was published on 22 July 2022 and sets out plans to accelerate the UK’s domestic capabilities, collaborate with international partners and enhance international financial and trading markets.
The Critical Minerals Expert Committee provides high quality, independent advice to the Government on critical minerals. At the most recent Committee meeting on 10 October, members reflected on the publication of the Strategy, and articulated which measures should be prioritised in the Delivery Plan which we are expecting to publish by the end of the year.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress was reported at the most recent Critical Minerals Expert Committee.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Critical Minerals Strategy was published on 22 July 2022 and sets out plans to accelerate the UK’s domestic capabilities, collaborate with international partners and enhance international financial and trading markets.
The Critical Minerals Expert Committee provides high quality, independent advice to the Government on critical minerals. At the most recent Committee meeting on 10 October, members reflected on the publication of the Strategy, and articulated which measures should be prioritised in the Delivery Plan which we are expecting to publish by the end of the year.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 President of COP26 on the progress of COP26 commitments.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Minister meets regularly with the COP President, including through the Climate Action Implementation Committee, to discuss progress on implementing the historic Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at COP26.
COP27 must now build on these commitments made at COP26, with Glasgow and Paris as the baseline of our ambition. The UK will continue driving the delivery of Glasgow commitments at the upcoming COP27 and beyond.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 potential obstacles to increasing the production of tidal energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is planning to publish revised guidance on tidal energy in the energy National Policy Statement to bring greater clarity for developers and remove any potential obstacles to deployment. The Government is also exploring options for increasing the production of tidal energy including innovative funding mechanisms.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 include tidal energy as a means to meet the net zero target by 2050.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is planning to publish revised guidance on tidal energy in the energy National Policy Statement on the important role this technology can play in meeting the net zero target and how its impacts can be mitigated.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what role his Department will have in the Treasury-led review into the Energy Price Guarantee in April 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will work closely with the Treasury in conducting a review of the Energy Price Guarantee to support households with their energy bills after 31 March 2023. This new approach will consider more targeted measures to support households with their energy bills and cost the taxpayer significantly less than initially planned.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 estimate of the number of pubs that will close in the next 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department monitors hospitality sector trends using a range of data sources and regularly meets with businesses to understand the pressures that they face.
The Hospitality Sector Council (HSC) has been set up to support delivery of the commitments set out in the Hospitality Strategy and build the long-term resilience of the sector.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 will take to support proactive, predictive immunology research into second and third generation COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will be committing at least £21 million in 2023 to support major new research consortia addressing key challenges to underpin development of second and third generation COVID-19 vaccinations. These consortia will provide sustained funding to address key issues in understanding viral evolution, future variant risks, immune responses to infection and vaccination and how to drive sustained, mucosal immune responses. The consortia will be multidisciplinary and cross-institutional, will be supported for 5 years and are encouraged to engage with industry partners.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 has taken to support the development of mucosal covid-19 vaccines.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will be committing at least £21 million in 2023 to support major new research consortia addressing key challenges to underpin development of second and third generation COVID-19 vaccinations. These consortia will provide sustained funding to address key issues in understanding viral evolution, future variant risks, immune responses to infection and vaccination and how to drive sustained, mucosal immune responses. The consortia will be multidisciplinary and cross-institutional, will be supported for 5 years and are encouraged to engage with industry partners.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timetable is for the implementation of the alternative UK programme to Horizon Europe.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Our preference remains association to EU programmes and we continue to do everything we can to secure this, however we cannot wait indefinitely; the EU’s delays are creating significant uncertainty for our R&D communities. The Government’s priority remains to support the UK’s research and development sector through this period which is why the Government has already put in place a guarantee for eligible, successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe which we recently extended to cover all calls closing on or before 31 December 2022.
On 20 July 2022, the Department set out detail on plans for transitional measures that would be implemented if association is no longer possible. The document made clear that a comprehensive package of transitional measures could be launched immediately, if needed, and would aim to provide stability and continuity of funding for UK researchers and businesses. These transitional measures would remain in place as long as it is needed to establish the long-term programme.