Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their report Global Britain in a Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published on 16 March, and their stated aim to secure the UK’s status as a ‘Science and Tech Superpower’ by 2030 by redoubling the commitment to research and development, whether they intend to reverse funding cuts to research and development programmes; and if so, to which programmes they intend to provide increased funding.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our commitment to research and development has been clearly demonstrated through the Spending Review announcement to increase investment in R&D across government to £14.6bn in 2021/22. This increase in investment will help deliver our ambition to increase total UK R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
The increased investment will put research and development at the heart of economic and social recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, enabling us to build back better for a greener, healthier and more resilient UK.
As the custodian of the R&D system, BEIS was allocated £11.1 billion for R&D in 2021/22. Funding for each individual programme is subject to our Departmental allocations process, which is under way. We will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is in place on the provision schools must make for children with allergies at risk of anaphylaxis.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies have a legal duty to ensure that their school has a policy in place to support pupils with medical conditions. The department’s statutory guidance ‘Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions at School’ makes it clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance provides advice on a range of areas including staff training, administration of medicines and consulting with parents. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
Schools should also be aware of Department of Health and Social Care guidance for schools on adrenaline auto-injectors: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools. Any member of staff may volunteer to take on the responsibilities set out in this guidance, but they cannot be required to do so.
We have also made allergies part of the Health Education curriculum for all pupils in state funded schools, which has been mandatory since September 2020. Schools must have regard to the guidance we have issued, which sets out that pupils should be taught about the facts and science relating to allergies, immunisation and vaccination: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
In addition to this, officials in the department work closely with the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, of which the Anaphylaxis Campaign is a member, to explore how we can supplement the statutory requirements with accessible resources to help schools to improve the way they support children with allergies.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will list all projects funded by UK Research and Innovation to support research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals; and, in each case, what is (1) the level of funding, and (2) the project timetable.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which scientific advisory committees made the evaluations of which projects UK Research and Innovation should fund to support research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals; and who are the members of each such committee.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances they have received that the research supported by UK Research and Innovation on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals is adequate to support advice on responses for all blood cancers; and whether they have consulted Blood Cancer UK on this matter.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which research projects UK Research and Innovation are funding into vaccine responses for (1) individuals with inflammatory disorders, (2) high risk cancer patient groups, (3) patients with severe kidney and liver disease, and (4) other immune-suppressed individuals.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is funding research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals as part of its support for the OCTAVE study in the National Core Studies (NCS) Immunity Programme. The NCS was established in October 2020, guided by an Oversight Committee, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (Government Chief Scientific Adviser), to increase research scale and ultimately maintain resilience against Covid-19.
The NCS Oversight Committee members are:
Plus, representatives of the Devolved Administrations, NIHR and Health and Safety Executive.
Further expert insights are provided by an international panel comprising Peggy Hamburg (Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Gagandeep Kang (Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore) and Gabriel Leung (Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University).
The OCTAVE study, led by Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow, has a budget of c. £2.3 million, is designed to deliver in twelve months, and is supporting research on vaccine responses in groups of immune-supressed individuals, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups, and patients with severe kidney and liver disease. Cancer patient groups include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, myeloma, acute leukaemia, and bone marrow transplants. In addition, there are proposals on vaccine responses in high-risk clinical groups under consideration by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UKRI COVID-19 Agile call, including in haematological cancers. These submissions will be reviewed by the MRC’s Agile Panel, which draws on members of the MRC’s Research Boards and Panels, and if supported will be coordinated with the OCTAVE study.
The Government Office for Science, acting as the NCS secretariat, establishes the formal links between the NCS and the policymakers and delivery partners in government (including No 10, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and devolved equivalents, and the Joint Biosecurity Centre), ensuring that study outputs support informed policy and operational responses.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will review its policy on children under 12 meeting outdoors during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Under the current restrictions, you cannot leave home for recreational or leisure purposes. It is against the law for anyone, including children under 12 years old, to meet socially with friends outdoors unless they are part of the same household or a support bubble.
The Government keeps its restrictions under continual review and will make changes if the data and science supports it.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate the Government has made of the rate of covid-19 transmission in nurseries in England; what steps his department is taking to support nurseries in Liverpool West Derby to reduce transmission of covid-19; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including nursery staff in the first phase of thecovid-19 vaccination rollout.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to less than 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission. There is no evidence that the new strain of COVID-19 causes more serious illness in either children or adults, or that it disproportionately affects young children.
Public Health England (PHE) advice remains that the risk of transmission and infection is low if early years settings follow the system of controls, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments. This report from PHE shows that, at present under 5s have the lowest confirmed case rate of all age groups: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports.
Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June 2020, and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a significant rise in virus cases within the community. Early modelling evidence from SAGE showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate when modelled with both primary schools and secondary schools. Further information on this evidence is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886994/s0257-sage-sub-group-modelling-behavioural-science-relaxing-school-closures-sage30.pdf.
We continue to prioritise keeping early years settings open in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing and to support working parents. Caring for the youngest age group is not something that can be done remotely.
These plans are being kept under review in the light of emerging scientific evidence. We are working with the scientific community to understand the properties and dynamics of the new variant VUI-202012/01 in relation to children and young people.
The department has been in regular contact with all local authorities, including that of Liverpool West Derby. During these meetings we collect and feedback the concerns and issues raised by providers and the local authority to the relevant policy teams within the department, to ensure that policy is reflective of the needs and experiences of those delivering essential early education.
PHE have endorsed a ‘system of controls’ which are the set of actions all early years settings must take. These are outlined in more detail here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
These build on the hierarchy of protective measures that have been in use throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. When implemented in line with a revised risk assessment, these measures create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems. As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.
Regarding the next phase of vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department of Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other government departments. The Department will input into this cross governmental exercise.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the (a) Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, (b) Merseyside Resilience Forum and (c) individual local authorities play in determining the (i) local covid-19 alert tiering arrangements and (ii) implementation of those arrangements.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We worked with all appropriate local leaders and representative groups to agree the right decision for the area based on the best available science, along with the consideration of the economic, operational, social and policy implications.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) the Liverpool City Region mayor and (b) Liverpool local authority leaders agreed during their recent discussions with him that gyms in the city region area should close as part of the Tier 3 covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We worked closely with local leaders to agree the right decision for each area based on the best available science, along with consideration of the economic, operational, social and policy implications.