Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what specific steps she has taken to increase the numbers of students studying (a) IT programming, (b) IT hardware and network engineering, (c) cybersecurity and (d) data analysis.
Answered by Robert Halfon
To support more employers and learners to access apprenticeships the department is increasing funding in England to £2.7 billion by 2024/25. Employers have designed over 650 high-quality apprenticeship standards, across every sector, to support them to develop the skilled workforces they need. There are a range of apprenticeship standards available in these specific sectors such as:
T Levels include one or more occupational specialisms to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed for a particular area. For example, students taking the Onsite Construction T Level can choose from specialisms in Bricklaying or Plastering, and the Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing T Level includes specialisms in Mechanical or Electrical engineering. Other T Levels available include Accounting, Engineering and Digital, with Craft and Design, Media, Broadcast and Production available from September.
The department has introduced Skills Bootcamps which offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview on completion. Skills Bootcamps around the country are available in many sectors covering digital, construction, arboriculture and agriculture, engineering, design for backstage theatre and many others.
We have also launched the Free Courses for Jobs offer which allows eligible adults to access over 400 Level 3 qualifications (A level equivalent) for free, in subject areas including engineering, construction, digital, health and social care and accounting.
In Higher Education (HE), the Strategic Priorities Grant is supporting teaching and students in HE, including expensive to deliver subjects, such as science and engineering. We are investing an additional £750 million over the next three years to support high quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.
Careers education, information, advice and guidance is a crucial first step to supporting individuals to access excellent education and skills training. Driven nationally by the internationally recognised Gatsby Benchmarks, secondary schools and colleges are embedding career learning in the curriculum and providing young people with tailored advice and guidance, including more opportunities to learn about skills and apprenticeships. Through our National Careers Service digital offer and campaigns, such as Get the Jump and Skills for Life, we are bringing together information about education and training courses into one place for learners of all ages.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what amount was provided in research and development grants to (1) the steel industry, (2) the ship building industry, (3) the aerospace industry, and (4) the building and construction industries, in (a) 2018, and (b) 2019.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 2nd November 2022 to Question HL2736. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold the requested information. Government innovation funding is generally not allocated on a sector-by-sector basis but is instead targeted towards specific research questions. Many research, development and innovation programmes support multiple sectors. For example, the Government invested £22.25m in 2018/19 and £28.34m in 2019/20 through the Transforming Construction Challenge (TCC), which supported energy, digital and manufacturing innovators to work with the construction sector.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to offer incentives to UK business and industry to pursue new opportunities in the economy of South America, including clean growth and infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department is working tirelessly to ensure that the demand for UK expertise in South America’s clean energy transition and infrastructure development is capitalised on.
Recently, the Government supported the development of regulatory frameworks for offshore wind projects in Brazil and Colombia; signed three government-to-government public infrastructure contracts worth £2.5 billion in Peru; and, through UK Export Finance, supported hospital construction and aerospace projects in Brazil and Guyana.
UK businesses working on these projects and more enjoy preferential access under the UK-Andean Countries Free Trade Agreement and UK-Chile Association Agreement, which also benefit those pursuing new opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current support available for the aviation sector and its supply chain.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, industry and Government are co-investing in the development of cutting-edge aircraft technology to grow UK’s share of the global aerospace market.
The 2021 Spending Review increased government’s commitment to aerospace R&D by 50% to £685 million across the Spending Review Period, extending the programme to 2031. By 2025, government and industry will invest almost £4 billion in developing new ultra-efficient and zero emission aircraft technologies.
We have supported industry investment in supply chain competitiveness through our ‘Sharing in Growth’, SC21 Competitiveness & Growth, and NATEP programmes, which have benefited from over £140m public funding, leveraging additional private investment.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the tweet by his Procurement Adviser on 9 December, in which areas in the combat air sector he considers that the UK has weak industrial capabilities.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
On 9 December 2022, the UK, Japan and Italy announced the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral partnership to develop a next generation fighter jet. The UK, Japan and Italy all have strong combat air industrial capabilities, which complement each other and enable the synergies needed to deliver the programme at pace. Industry partners from these three advanced industrial nations will play an important part in the programme, working together to develop the capability. This partnership allows us to harness the strong industrial bases of each country in the co-development of advanced technologies, to deliver cutting-edge military capabilities and share the cost of development as we further modernise the already strong industrial base in each country.
The UK defence industry is already leading the world in advanced aerospace engineering, as demonstrated by our core role in the development of Typhoon, our participation in F35 and our success in the defence exports market. The Defence Command Paper noted that UK combat air industry employs 18,000 people, with tens of thousands more in the supply chain. There are now over 2,500 people employed in this new programme, and the number continues to grow. Since the launch of the Concept and Assessment Phase in 2021, we have done substantial work defining and designing the system and are working on a range of technology areas, including the development a joint engine demonstrator and advanced sensors. Within the UK, the programme is a key avenue for public and private investment in Research and Development in the combat air industrial sector. Ministry of Defence has already invested over £1 billion, with hundreds of millions more from private industry, developing advanced industrial capabilities and keeping the UK combat air sector at the cutting edge internationally.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 December (HL3482), whether they can provide a breakdown of the £194 million grant by (1) hydrogen fuel cells, (2) other electric battery technologies, (3) hydrogen combustion, (4) synthetic liquid fuels, and (5) biofuels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A breakdown of ATI Programme R&D grants awarded, by individual project, are set out in the table below. Co-funded R&D project supported through the ATI Programme typically involve a range of collaborators including industry partners, universities and research organisations (the ATI Programme has an average of 4 partners per project). Further project information and descriptions can be found on UKRI’s Gateway to Research (gtr.ukri.org) and the ATI website (ati.org.uk)
ACCEL (Rolls-Royce) – battery-electric powertrain | £3.4m |
AEDD (Vertical Aerospace) – diagnostic charge device for aircraft batteries | £1.2m |
AEMTA (Safran) – electro-mechanical systems for moving electrical motors and machines | £3.1m |
AEPEC (Safran) – electrical power systems | £10.8m |
AEROBAT (Rolls-Royce) – battery modules for all-electric propulsion systems | £7.3m |
AeroMC (Safran) – electric and hybrid propulsion and power controls | £14.9m |
E-HAV1 (Hybrid Air Vehicles) – electric propulsion system technologies | £1.1m |
EMPAS (QinetiQ) – electric motors for jet engines | £1.2m |
Feasibility Analysis and Modelling of MgB2 Superconducting Electrical Power Machines (Epoch Wires) – electric machines for future aircraft | £0.25m |
FRESSON (Cranfield Aerospace Solutions) – electric (hydrogen fuel cell) propulsion system | £9.6m |
H2GEAR (GKN Aerospace) – Liquid hydrogen (fuel cell) propulsion system | £27.2m |
HEPBAS (Electroflight) – electric drivetrain and battery systems | £0.4m |
HEPBAS (Electroflight) – electric propulsion battery systems | £0.35m |
HIDASP (MicroLink Devices) – solar fuel cells for electric aircraft | £3.0m |
HYFLY (Airbus) – airframe integration for hybrid electric demonstrator | £14m |
HYFLYER (ZeroAvia) – hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system | £2.7m |
HYFLYER 2 (ZeroAvia) – hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system | £12.3m |
IDP (Vertical Aerospace) – key technologies for battery-electric flying taxi | £11.9m |
INCEPTION (Blue Bear) – all electric propulsion module using batteries and fuel cells | £2.9m |
IPCCA (Collins) – architecture for motor drive electronics | £2.4m |
IPPA (Airbus) – identify key technologies enabling more electrical aircraft | £4.2m |
LACS (Blue Dolphin UK) | £0.32m |
LAMPS (Collins Aerospace) – power electronics and motors | £1.3m |
MEGAFLIGHT (Rolls-Royce) – propulsion system for hybrid electric demonstrator | £17.2m |
SMPP (Safran) – electrical systems for more electric aircraft | £12.2m |
SREEV (Advanced Innovative Engineering) – Hybrid power units for UAVs | £0.53m |
UTOPEA (Evolito/YASA) – electric motors and power electronics | £5.5m |
ZEST-1 (Airbus) – initial steps towards large hydrogen-powered aircraft | £19.5m |
ZIP (Airbus) – key technologies for high altitude satellites | £3.6m |
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason there is a delay in the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft fleet reaching full operational capability.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
There have been several reasons behind delays to the E-7 Wedgetail schedule including the Covid-19 pandemic, and global supply chain and resourcing challenges affecting the aerospace and defence industries, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and a hurricane impacting the radar production facility.
The Ministry of Defence and Boeing are working closely to identify opportunities to minimise the delays, and the detailed schedule, including the Full Operating Capability, will be confirmed when the Full Business Case is finalised in mid-2023.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial assistance they have given to (1) businesses, or (2) academic institutions, in connection with low carbon aviation in the form of (a) grants, (b) loans, (c) guarantees or indemnities, (d) acquisitions of shares or securities, (e) undertakings or assets, or (f) incurring expenditure, for the benefit of the body assisted in the creation of (i) hydrogen fuel cells, (ii) other electric battery technologies, (iii) hydrogen combustion, (iv) synthetic liquid fuels, and (v) biofuels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government co-invests in mid-stage R&D, with industry, to develop new ultra-efficient and zero-carbon aircraft technologies through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme. Since 2013, the ATI Programme has committed R&D grants to 29 industry-led collaborative projects on new forms of propulsion or fuels totalling £194m. Industry will co-invest £178m alongside these grants. The R&D projects cover a range of technologies but are primarily focused on aircraft propulsion systems involving hydrogen fuel cells, batteries, and electric motors and machines. Each project involves a range of collaborators including industry partners, universities and research organisations. Grants through the ATI Programme have also been provided to develop aircraft gas turbine engines, which have included work packages to test synthetic fuels or biofuels. We have not been able to isolate the cost of this element of research within large projects, so have not included it in the figures set out above.
In order to explore the potential for zero-carbon emission flight, the Government also provided a £15m grant to the ATI-led FlyZero project. This in-depth research study, which was completed in March 2022, found green liquid hydrogen offers the greatest potential to power future zero-carbon emission aircraft.
To kickstart a domestic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry, the Government has made £227m available, since 2014, to support the development of advanced fuel plants. This includes investing in 8 SAF plants through the Green Fuels, Green Skies competition and more recently launching the £165m Advanced Fuels Fund. The Government has separately committed £12m to establish a UK SAF Clearing House to support the testing and certification of new SAF and £1m to run the first-ever passenger aircraft flight powered by 100% SAF, between the UK and the US, through the Net Zero Transatlantic Flight Fund. These investments are coupled with the £400m UK Government partnership with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst into emerging climate technologies, including SAF.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help support UK businesses working on net zero aviation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is supporting UK businesses working on net zero aviation through a variety of programmes and policies which are set out in our Jet Zero Strategy, published in July 2022.
We have also committed to introducing a SAF mandate requiring at least 10% of fuel to be made from sustainable sources by 2030. Over the next three years we are also providing £180 million of funding to accelerate the commercialisation of SAF plants and fuel testing, including £165 million for the Advanced Fuels Fund. We are looking carefully at how to create the long-term conditions for investable projects in the UK and have said we will set out a preferred position by the end of the year.
To support the development of new and zero-carbon emission aircraft technology still further, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is providing £685 million of funding to the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme over the next three years, an increase of £235 million over the previous three years.
We continue to work with businesses through the Jet Zero Council and other forums to consider how to develop and industrialise clean aviation and aerospace technologies, establish UK production facilities for SAF and develop a co-ordinated approach to the policy and regulatory framework needed to deliver net zero aviation.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
If he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of onshore UK critical mineral supply chains to the levelling up agenda.
Answered by George Freeman
A secure supply of critical minerals is fundamental to supporting almost all other UK manufacturing industries – such as automotive, aerospace, defence, energy and electronics. Without a reliable supply of critical minerals, the health of these industries, and the communities in which they operate would be adversely affected.
The Critical Minerals Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to increase domestic capabilities in critical mineral supply chain, which has the potential to create well-paid jobs and boost productivity, particularly in areas such as Cornwall, Merseyside and Yorkshire.