Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what consideration he has given to utilising the powers laid out in Section 6 of the 2015 Infrastructure Act to allow (a) communities and (b) groups connected with a community the right to buy a stake in (i) onshore and (ii) offshore renewable energy projects (A) in and (B) adjacent to the community.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that communities hosting energy infrastructure play a vital role in delivering a clean, secure and affordable energy system. Through the Clean Power Action Plan, we are committed to ensuring communities benefit from low carbon energy infrastructure and the Government has set out its ambition that there should be much more energy infrastructure owned by communities directly.
On 21 May, we published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The working paper sought evidence on current shared ownership practices in the UK and whether introducing a legal requirement to offer shared ownership using powers in Section 38 Part 6 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 is appropriate. We are currently reviewing responses.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures she is considering to expand blue light and siren permissions to more voluntary rescue services.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Consolidating blue light and siren permissions for all voluntary search and rescue organisations operating under UK Search and Rescue (UKSAR) governance will be considered by Ministers in due course.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Scotland's rural economy.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Our recently announced trade deals will benefit key industries in rural, coastal and island communities, such as whisky and salmon.
Our forthcoming Industrial Strategy and drive to clean energy will ensure good quality jobs across Scotland.
Project Gigabit is improving broadband connectivity for homes and businesses, and only last week we announced thirteen upgraded phone masts to transform rural connectivity across the Scottish countryside.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Marine Coastguard Agency plan to replace the Sikorsky s92 Search and Rescue helicopter with the Augusta Westland 189 at (a) Stornoway and (b) Sumburgh coastguard base.
Answered by Mike Kane
As set out in the contract for the Second Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme, search and rescue helicopter provision will transition from the Sikorsky S92 to the Leonardo AW189 in Quarter 4 of 2026 at Stornoway, and in Quarter 1 of 2027 at Sumburgh.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to support a national public awareness campaign on prostate cancer risk factors and the benefits of early detection for high-risk groups.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England run Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address the barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.
The Department continues to advise patients to follow National Health Service guidance on signs and symptoms of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This advice is available publicly on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prostate-cancer/
To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer earlier, we have invested £16 million in the United Kingdom-wide TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping find the best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment, ensuring that one in ten participants are black men.
We have also asked the National Screening Committee to review the evidence for prostate cancer screening, including for high-risk groups like black men.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve broadband connectivity in rural communities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 86% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.
More than £2 billion of contracts have now been signed to provide gigabit connectivity to over a million more premises. The vast majority of the premises to be covered by these contracts will be in rural areas.
This includes the first Project Gigabit contract in Scotland which was announced last month, and we aim to announce further contracts in the coming months.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to promote Scotland internationally.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Brand Scotland, the Scotland Office’s programme of international trade and investment promotion, is about selling Scotland to the world.
I have already visited Norway, Singapore and Malaysia, to promote our food and drink, energy, and defence sectors. Next month, I will be in Washington D.C and New York for the famous Tartan Week.
Closer to home, I was delighted to meet my Honourable Friend last week to discuss how Brand Scotland can support some of his constituents’ finest products - Harris tweed and Scottish seafood - and I commend his outstanding work in this area.
Asked by: Torcuil Crichton (Labour - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on the green energy transition in Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I have been working closely with my cabinet colleagues to achieve our clean energy Mission.
Scotland has a huge role to play, not least through GB Energy - headquartered in Aberdeen and backed with £8.3bn. It will work to deliver clean energy, lower bills, and bring the jobs of the future to all parts of Scotland.
This is on top of the largest ever Contracts for Difference round and the National Wealth Fund, which will mobilise billions into our world-leading clean energy industries.