Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of cross-government coordination on Artificial Intelligence assurance and governance.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
AI governance and assurance are central to the Government’s AI agenda, providing the principles and standards needed to ensure that AI development and deployment is safe and responsible, as well as the mechanisms for how this can be realised in practice.
That is why the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade is coordinating across government on a series of targeted actions to strengthen the UK’s AI assurance sector.
This includes convening the AI Assurance Stakeholder Consortium, led by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, which brings together representatives from across the AI assurance ecosystem, including various government departments, to support the development of a recognised AI assurance profession.
Asked by: Lara Bird (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what rights individual creditors have to (a) scrutinise and (b) challenge administrator fees and expenditure where those costs may materially reduce the amount available for distribution to creditors.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Creditors have statutory rights to consider and challenge an administrator’s remuneration and expenses.
Administrators must provide creditors with the relevant information about their remuneration and expenses, and creditors may request further information about the costs incurred.
Where a creditor considers that an administrator’s remuneration or expenses are excessive, insolvency legislation provides mechanisms for those costs to be challenged, including through the courts.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of limiting the use of fireworks to specific times and days.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Existing legislation already restricts the use of fireworks between 11pm and 7am, with later cut-off times for Bonfire Night, New Year, Diwali and Chinese New Year. The Government recently concluded a public consultation on targeted reforms to fireworks and pyrotechnics legislation, launched in response to public and parliamentary concerns about noise, safety and misuse. The consultation closed on 7 October 2026 and the Government is reviewing responses, which will help inform decisions on any future legislative or policy changes.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many cases of alleged fraudulent voluntary insolvency of companies have been the subject of investigation in the last three years where the Department, agencies or regulators have been aware that potential victims of the alleged fraud were being pursued by administrators or insolvency practitioners.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fraudulent voluntary insolvency is not an investigation criterion used by the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service holds data on insolvency practitioner appointments and the directors of insolvent companies. However, its case management systems cannot match these datasets to identify insolvent companies that have both the same directors and the same insolvency practitioner
Insolvency practitioners must report to the Insolvency Service on directors’ conduct. These reports do not record whether an insolvency practitioner is pursuing potential victims of alleged fraud. The requested figures are not held centrally and only could be produced through a manual review which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many companies currently being investigated for alleged fraudulent voluntary insolvency have been declared insolvent by the same directors and involve appointment of the same administrators.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fraudulent voluntary insolvency is not an investigation criterion used by the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service holds data on insolvency practitioner appointments and the directors of insolvent companies. However, its case management systems cannot match these datasets to identify insolvent companies that have both the same directors and the same insolvency practitioner
Insolvency practitioners must report to the Insolvency Service on directors’ conduct. These reports do not record whether an insolvency practitioner is pursuing potential victims of alleged fraud. The requested figures are not held centrally and only could be produced through a manual review which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many individual companies have received investment from the Sovereign AI Fund.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025, published in July 2026, what steps he is taking to replace the use of dogs in science with human-specific technologies.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 7 September 2026 in response to Question 27845, which refers to the answer provided on 30 June 2026 in response to Question 11617.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what progress his Department has made on implementing the commitments in the Replacing animals in science strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published the Replacing Animals in Science strategy in November 2025, setting out a cross-government programme to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. Delivery is underway across Government and partner organisations, supported by £75 million of investment. Progress includes the establishment of the £20 million Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub, guidance on the establishment of an alternative methods expert committee, new MHRA measures supporting the regulatory use of non-animal data, and £2 million funding for innovative human-relevant technologies to replace dogs in drug development. A delivery update and key performance indicators will be published later in 2026.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how academic-industry partnerships are being managed to protect intellectual property from foreign misappropriation.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that collaboration between academia and industry can support innovation. As such, the Government’s Economic Security Advisory Service was launched last year to support UK business in navigating economic security challenges, including protecting their intellectual property. The Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) also provides advice to research institutions on the national security risks linked to international research, helping to safeguard valuable UK research, knowledge and intellectual property from loss, misuse or exploitation. This includes where universities are engaging in industry partnerships.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing legislation in holding online platforms and search engines accountable for fraudulent locksmith business advertisements published through their services.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The government is aware of concerns about fraudulent locksmiths advertising and the harm it causes consumers and legitimate locksmith businesses. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading actions and omissions, and clarifies that online platforms must exercise professional diligence in relation to consumer transactions promoted or made on their platforms.
The department is engaging with relevant stakeholders (including the Master Locksmiths Association) and enforcement bodies to better understand the issue and consider how fraudulent practices can best be addressed.