Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Obese-Jecty this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 2,441–2,460 of 4,341 · this parliament
With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, when he plans to make a decision on the implementation of zonal pricing.
As part of the REMA Summer Update on the 10th of July 2025, we announced that we will not implement zonal pricing.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, how many new planning officers will be recruited in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdonshire.
The government has committed to recruiting at least 300 additional planners as part of our Planning Capacity and Capability Programme. Recruitment is being delivered through national schemes such as the Local Government Association’s Pathways to Planning graduate programme and Public Practice, which place experienced built environment professionals into councils across England. It is up to individual local planning authorities to determine if they wish to take part in these schemes based on their own circumstances and need. We do not set specific targets for individual counties or districts, including Cambridgeshire or Huntingdonshire. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 67508 on 21 July 2025, which sets out our wider plans for supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop the skills they need.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what the scope is of the National Quantum Technologies Programme.
The UK's Industrial Strategy names quantum as one of six priority frontier technologies in the dedicated digital and technologies sector plan.The Plan commits to delivering an ambitious next phase of the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme to accelerate the development, scaling and adoption of quantum technologies.Priorities outlined in the plan include:Progressing the UK’s 5 National Quantum Missions.Enabling access to infrastructure, developing an innovative regulatory environment and delivering a series of deep international collaborations across research, industry and regulation.Developing a skills action plan with the sector.
With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, when she plans to implement the reduction in opportunities to challenge consent decisions.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill introduces changes to the way judicial reviews are handled for National Policy Statements and development consent orders relating to nationally significant infrastructure projects. It removes the paper permission stage, meaning applications will go directly to an oral permission hearing in the High Court. In addition, where the High Court decides at that hearing that a case is “totally without merit,” the claimant will not have a right of appeal.The Government intends to commence these provisions as soon as practicable after Royal Assent, once the necessary procedural changes are in place.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what discussions the Local Government Pension Scheme has had with the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is managed locally by its administering authorities. Discussions between Mayors and administering authorities are a matter for those parties.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on making the UK the third most important life sciences economy globally by 2030.
Since publishing the Life Sciences Sector Plan in July, we have moved rapidly into delivery. The Plan sets out 33 concrete commitments, each with clear metrics, milestones and a named Senior Responsible Officer to drive accountability. Robust assurance mechanisms are being established to track the delivery of the Plan, including progress reporting into the Life Sciences Delivery Board every four months, and a stakeholder engagement plan to ensure sector views on delivery are captured. Delivery is already underway – with recruitment going live for the Chair and CEO of the Health Data Research Service with the Wellcome Trust, and the recent launch of both Europe's first Biofoundry for mRNA manufacturing and the £85m Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme with Eli Lilly – all part of building the UK into Europe’s leading life sciences economy by 2030.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on developing a new network for Robotics Adoption Hubs.
As part of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, HMG committed £40 million to establish a new network of Robotics Adoption Hubs with the expertise, equipment and connections to help accelerate firms to take up robotics. DSIT is currently working to finalise programme design, including through engagement with wider Government and industry with an expected launch in 2026.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of prioritising frontier life sciences industries in pharmaceuticals on (a) developing non-animal methods of testing and (b) phasing out animal testing.
The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption.Frontier life science companies are pioneering innovative drug development, including via human-specific targets that require human-based models in their discovery and testing, and alternative technologies that can be used to support this, such as AI and machine learning. Supporting these industries will help advance alternative methods and contribute to the reduction of animal testing, in alignment with the forthcoming government strategy on alternatives.
How many jobs there are within the civil nuclear sector.
DESNZ do not produce their own figures on the number of jobs within the civil nuclear sector. Cogent Skills, who published their industry-led 2024 Nuclear Workforce Assessment, estimated that the civil nuclear sector supported over 51,000 jobs in 2024.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on streamlining (a) regulation and (b) market access by supporting the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers support to all regulators through its Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, which is used for initiatives which improve the regulatory environment for innovation and investment. DSIT is contributing further to the development of the regulatory framework through its funding, alongside the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council, of the Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation. Finally, the Regulatory Innovation Office has been working with DHSC, MHRA and other regulators to address the regulatory barriers to the development and adoption of AI and digital in healthcare.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the commitment to unleash the economic potential of the life sciences cluster in Cambridge on Huntingdonshire.
The Government is committed to working with local partners to unleash the economic potential of Cambridgeshire, helping to drive jobs and growth across the region, including Huntingdonshire. We have not specifically assessed the impact on Huntingdonshire, but through the Life Sciences Sector Plan and broader Industrial Strategy, we will continue to deliver for the region. This includes through investing in flagship infrastructure such as East West Rail, planning reform, and securing partnerships – such as the recent landmark BioNTech announcement, which will see a new R&D hub established in Cambridge as part of a £1 billion, 10-year UK investment programme, creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs in the region.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on making the UK the leading life sciences economy in Europe by 2030.
Since publishing the Life Sciences Sector Plan in July, we have moved rapidly into delivery. The Plan sets out 33 concrete commitments, each with clear metrics, milestones and a named Senior Responsible Officer to drive accountability. Robust assurance mechanisms are being established to track the delivery of the Plan, including progress reporting into the Life Sciences Delivery Board every four months, and a stakeholder engagement plan to ensure sector views on delivery are captured. Delivery is already underway – with recruitment going live for the Chair and CEO of the Health Data Research Service with the Wellcome Trust, and the recent launch of both Europe's first Biofoundry for mRNA manufacturing and the £85m Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme with Eli Lilly – all part of building the UK into Europe’s leading life sciences economy by 2030.
With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on the transition to Connected and Autonomous Mobility.
The Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan committed £150 million R&D grant funding to 2030 to support the transition to connected and automated mobility. £18 million of this funding has already been allocated to support supply chain, passenger and freight projects in Belfast, Sunderland, Cambridge, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, and others. £36.5 million will be open for competition this autumn.Complementing this work, Department for Transport is implementing the Automated Vehicles Act (2024) by 2027 and has recently closed consultations on Misleading Marketing and Safety Principles with another on Advanced Passenger Services closing 28 September.
With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on creating the world’s most (a) advanced, (b) secure and (c) AI-ready health data platform.
On 7 April 2025, the Prime Minister announced that the Government and the Wellcome Trust will invest up to £600 million to create a new Health Data Research Service (HDRS), co-designed through engagement with the public and patients, data users and stakeholder organisations.Significant progress has been made since then towards the creation of HDRS, as highlighted in the recent NHS England blog post from the senior officials responsible for the programme, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/health-data-research-service-unlocking-the-potential-of-health-and-care-data-to-transform-lives/Key achievements to date include: job adverts going live for CEO and Chair; stakeholder engagement forums established; and coordinated commitments in three major Government strategy publications, namely the Industrial Strategy, 10-Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan.Over the coming months, we will establish the independent organisation that will run HDRS and complete detailed discovery work. In autumn 2025, we will publish comprehensive policy principles developed with leading experts across healthcare, research, patients, ethics and data protection. Our first services will launch by the end of 2026, with core capabilities rolling out progressively.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what proportion of funding for preclinical infrastructure linked to translational research networks will be allocated to (a) developing non-animal methods of testing and (b) phasing out animal testing.
The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption. The majority of the £30 million for preclinical infrastructure linked to translational research networks announced in the Industrial Strategy is expected to support alternative methods, however exact allocations are yet to be completed and will be announced in due course.
With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on accelerating the uptake of robotics via expanding the Made Smarter Adoption programme for SMEs.
The Government is committed to accelerating the adoption of robotics and other advanced technologies among SME manufacturers by expanding the Made Smarter Adoption programme and establishing the Robotics Adoption Hubs.Over the past three years of the programme, more than 1,600 businesses have benefited from digital roadmaps, over 400 SME leaders have received digital adoption training and over £16 million in private investment has been leveraged. Since April 2025, the programme now covers all nine English regions and, from 2026/27, up to £99 million will support further programme growth and impact.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on developing a route for international reliance for (a) medicines and (b) medical devices.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched an International Recognition Procedure for medicines in January 2024. The MHRA, with the support of the Office for Life Sciences and Department of Health and Social Care, is continuing the development of an international reliance framework for medical devices. The MHRA published on 22 July the government response to the consultation on Medical Devices Regulations, which address international reliance for medical devices. The MHRA intends to implement three international reliance routes for medical devices and intends to consult further on the international reliance routes for CE-marked medical devices.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on establishing the new Sovereign AI Unit.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has established the Sovereign AI Unit, backed by up to £500million, to back promising UK-based AI companies operating in critical domains. The Unit will provide targeted support to enable high-potential start-ups and scale ups to become national AI champions, with investment via the British Business Bank, and other government tools such as procurement, regulatory pathways and access to data, talent, and compute. It is early days for the Unit ahead of its funding coming online from next April but already it has invested £8 million in the OpenBind consortium to accelerate drug discovery, and allocated compute via the UK’s AI Research Resource to high-quality research projects.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what the purpose is of the AI Energy Council.
The AI Energy Council was established to address the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence.Co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for DSIT and DESNZ, the Council brings together leaders from the AI and energy sectors to advise on preparing the UK’s energy system for the increasing energy demand of AI. It also explores how AI can support a modern, efficient, and sustainable energy system, aligned with Clean Power 2030 goals and the UK’s net zero ambitions.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what the projected expansion is of the AI Research Resource in each year from 2025.
The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy referenced the Government’s commitment to expand the Government’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) by at least 20x by 2030, accelerating AI innovation through significantly increased compute capacity and support for start-ups. The subsequent Compute Roadmap detailed how the Government intends to invest up to £2 billion to deliver a diverse, joined-up and user centered compute ecosystem. This includes over £1 billion to expand the AI Research Resource (AIRR) 20x by 2030 and up to £750 million for a new national supercomputer service in Edinburgh.