Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UK's membership of the Energy Charter Treaty does not affect progress towards environmental targets.
Answered by Graham Stuart
On 24 June 2022, Contracting Parties came to an agreement in principle on the amendments to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty. The modernised Energy Charter Treaty recognises the urgent need to address climate change and align with the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement. It promotes an accelerated energy transition and reduces the risk of successful challenge to UK net zero policies.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 align regulations for the specification of charging ports on electronic devices sold in the UK with any common charging standard introduced by the EU for those devices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is aware of the EU’s proposal for a single charging solution for certain electronic devices and there are no current plans to introduce similar requirements in UK domestic law.
As we do with other international trading partners, we have an ongoing dialogue with EU institutions on relevant regulatory changes both in the EU and the UK. The Government will continue to monitor developments in this area.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency has had discussions with EU officials on proposals to introduce a common charging standard for electronic devices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is aware of the EU’s proposal for a single charging solution for certain electronic devices and there are no current plans to introduce similar requirements in UK domestic law.
As we do with other international trading partners, we have an ongoing dialogue with EU institutions on relevant regulatory changes both in the EU and the UK. The Government will continue to monitor developments in this area.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to steps to accelerate the transition from animal research to human relevant science.
Answered by George Freeman
UK Research and Innovation is committed to ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of global efforts to reduce, refine or replace the use of animals in research, and provides core funding to the National Centre for 3Rs of £49.1 million over 5 years.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has just launched £4 million of funding targeted at developing the next generation of non-animal technology and driving the uptake of existing non-animal technology.
The Medical Research Council launched the new Experimental Medicine Panel in 2020, which has an annual budget of £10 million, and is dedicated to investigating diseases directly in humans using non-invasive techniques.