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1680992

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Medicine: Research
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to support the growth of the human-specific technology sector.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	900787
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2024 answer text <p>We look forward to the moment when technology will allow the end of all animal testing. In the meantime, we are committed to supporting the growth of technologies that support human-specific research. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (3Rs).</p> answering member constituency Arundel and South Downs answering member printed Andrew Griffith question first answered 11/01/2024 15:39:08 answering member 4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1258173

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2020
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Coastal Areas: South East
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) Clacton constituency and (b) deprived coastal areas in the South are included in the Government's levelling up agenda.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	124860
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2020 answer text <p>We are committed to levelling up opportunity across the UK – by boosting jobs, wages and prospects for all communities. The government is launching a new Levelling Up Fund worth £4bn for England. This will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery. We will publish more detail on the criteria for assessing bids in the prospectus.</p><p>The Department is also working to implement the findings of the Green Book Review to better reflect the government's strategic objectives in business cases, particularly on levelling up.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 11/12/2020 11:50:00 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1134963

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	STEM Subjects: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of women taking up careers in STEM.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	269798
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2019 answer text <p>In order to increase the number of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries, we are encouraging more girls to take STEM subjects at school, college and university, as well as providing improved careers advice and awareness and working with the STEM sector to champion gender representation.</p><p> </p><p>We announced substantial spending commitments in the Autumn Budget 2017 on maths, digital and technical education. We are funding programmes to increase the take-up of maths, such as the Advanced Maths Premium, and physics, through the Stimulating Physics Network, which has a specific strand focusing on increasing the number of girls in physics A level.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting better teaching of maths, science and computing in schools, including a new £84 million programme for computing teaching and participation. As part of this investment, we also launched the Gender Balance in Computing pilot programme this year, which aims to identify practical interventions that schools (at all stages, excluding post-16) can implement to improve girls’ participation in computing.</p><p> </p><p>We have committed to improving STEM careers advice in schools in the Careers Strategy, including making sure that STEM encounters, such as with employers and apprenticeships, are built into school career programmes by updating school and college statutory guidance. We are also raising awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer, through programmes such as STEM ambassadors. 44% of these ambassadors are women.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, we are taking steps to work with the sector through apprenticeships and using the employer Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network, now employing 70 members, to champion gender representation in industries where improvement is needed.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 05/07/2019 09:25:47 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1679771

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Banks: Livestock Industry
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to prevent banks from providing (a) financial and (b) investment support to industrial livestock companies that contribute to deforestation.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	8174
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to working with UK financial institutions to further tackle deforestation-linked finance. As we set out in the updated Green Finance Strategy, we have begun this work with Government-convened roundtables having commenced in Summer 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The global approach on disclosure standards, such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) or the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a vital condition for success in improving nature-related disclosure.</p><p> </p><p>Following the making of the first relevant regulations under paragraph 1 of Schedule 17 of the Environment Act and as set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, HM Treasury will conduct a review to assess the extent to which regulation of the UK financial system is adequate for the purpose of eliminating the financing of illegal deforestation, and to consider what, if any, changes to the regulatory framework may be appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami question first answered 15/01/2024 14:23:52 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1353187

	registered interest
	date	31/08/2021
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Rail Review
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to implement the policies set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	903280
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2021 answer text <p>Transformation of our railways has begun, and passengers are already benefiting, including through the introduction of new flexi season tickets.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 09/09/2021 10:22:30 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1467490

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Arts: Artificial Intelligence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made regarding the impact of artificial intelligence developments on employment opportunities for performers and creative workers.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	11862
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2022 answer text <p>Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the global trends which will transform our future, changing jobs across the economy, including those working in the arts and creative industries.</p><p>The creative industries’ growing interdependence with the digital sector is inspiring business growth, invention and investment. The sector already makes ingenious use of AI in many ways: to recommend content on streaming platforms, to create Luke Skywalker’s voice in The Mandalorian, and to govern the behaviour of non-playable characters in video games. However adoption of AI is not uniform across the sub sectors, which risks us missing prime opportunities to improve productivity and growth.</p><p>We want our creative workers to be able to build further on these technological opportunities, which will play an increasingly vital part in the sectors’ success, whilst safeguarding against risks associated with increasing automation. Our Creative Industries Sector Vision will set out a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth, with a section dedicated to the exciting future of this dynamic workforce, including the impact of AI.</p><p>In the National AI Strategy, the government set out a number of steps it is taking to develop the brightest, most diverse workforce: from bolstering the provision of higher level skills at PhD and Masters level to developing research that helps employees, from across sectors, to understand what skills are needed for them to effectively use AI in a business setting.</p><p>Additionally, UK Research &amp; Innovation (UKRI) is developing a programme to help accelerate the adoption of AI in certain low AI maturity sectors which are key to the UK economy, with the creative industries being a potential priority sector to explore, which will help to improve the sector’s productivity.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 13/06/2022 12:16:56 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1134960

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of investment in carbon capture usage and storage to help reach the Government's net zero by 2050.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	269797
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>On 27 June, a new, legally binding, target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy, and carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) is likely to play a vital role. Our CCUS Action Plan sets out that we will move to deploying CCUS in the 2020s, working in partnership with industry to achieve this.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing over £50 million in CCUS innovation programmes, supporting innovative technologies across the UK between 2017 and 2021. As part of this investment we announced on 27 June that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action Plan.</p><p> </p><p>One company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars. When fully operational in 2021 it will be the largest carbon capture plant in the UK, removing 100 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the country’s current largest facility.</p><p> </p><p>Our Clean Growth Grand Challenge Mission sets an ambition to establish at least one low-carbon industrial cluster by 2030, and the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040. The Mission is technology neutral but is focussed on technologies that can be delivered cost-effectively through the use of shared networks, and CCUS is one of the key technologies that could help to deliver the mission. The mission is backed by £170 million public investment through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.</p><p> </p><p>Also supporting the mission, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is a £315 million fund aimed at helping industry to transition to a low-carbon future. The fund will help companies cut their energy bills and carbon emissions through investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. This could include supporting technologies that are strategically important to long-term emissions reductions such as CCUS and Hydrogen.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 03/07/2019 15:41:36 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1136367

	registered interest
	date	02/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Renewable Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will (a) review and (b) increase the 6GW capacity cap in the Contracts for Difference auctions to support the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	272288
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We set the the 6-gigawatt capacity cap for the third Contracts for Difference allocation round based on our understanding of the pipeline of projects. It aims to promote competitive tension, whilst delivering significant capacity, and ensure smooth delivery of low carbon generation through the 2020s.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 09/07/2019 15:19:41 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1136368

	registered interest
	date	02/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Wind Power: Seas and Oceans
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the finding of the Committee on Climate Change that the UK will require up to 75GW by 2050, if he will review the 30GW by 2030 target for offshore wind.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	272289
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The Offshore Wind Sector Deal foresees up to 30GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, provided costs continue to fall. This level of certainty, unmatched by any other major European market, sets a firm foundation for offshore wind to play its role in reaching net zero emissions by 2050.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 09/07/2019 15:19:53 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling

1136369

	registered interest
	date	02/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Electricity: Heating and Transport
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to accelerate the electrification of (a) heat and (b) transport.
	tabling member constituency	Clacton
	tabling member printed	Giles Watling
	uin	272290
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The electrification of heat, notably through heat pumps, can play a key role in decarbonizing heat, which is an essential step in meeting our carbon budgets. The Government is committed to supporting the deployment of heat pumps. Through the Renewable Heat Incentive we are spending £2.8bn between 2018/19 and 2020/21 to support innovative low carbon heat technologies in homes and businesses, including heat pumps.</p><p>The Government is currently developing the future policy framework for supporting low carbon heat, including through the Future Homes Standard announced by my. rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 2019. This will set standards through building regulations to drive uptake in low carbon heating.</p><p>Low consumer awareness and confidence in heat pumps also remain key issues. BEIS will launch a demonstration project on the electrification of heat in 2019, which will help demonstrate the feasibility of a possible large-scale transition to heat pumps and develop innovative solutions that work for a wide range of homes and consumers.</p><p>The Government is working to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission electric vehicles, and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040.</p><p>To achieve this, we are investing nearly £1.5bn‎ between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in cars, vans, lorries, buses, taxis and motorcycles, and schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces and on residential streets.</p><p>The Road to Zero Strategy was published last year, it sets out a clear pathway to zero emissions, to give clarity and certainty to both industry and motorists.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 09/07/2019 15:20:03 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4677 label Biography information for Giles Watling