Asked by: Lord Nagaraju (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Twycross on 7 September (HLWS321), what assessment they have made of recent warnings by leading AI researchers and developers about the risk of catastrophic harm, including loss of human control, from increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems; and whether, since that Statement, they have reviewed their assessment of the risks posed by frontier AI.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government takes these risks extremely seriously. It is a good thing that the companies developing the most advanced AI systems are now talking openly about the risks as well as the opportunities. The UK’s AI Security Institute is in daily conversation with industry partners on AI security and is working closely with allies and partners around the world on the risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems. We are strengthening our cyber and national security capabilities as the technology develops. Where further protections are needed, we will act.
Our approach is clear: the UK must build our own capability; independently test the most advanced systems; and strengthen the UK’s resilience as the risks evolve.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what grounds they refuse former Ministers access to the papers of the period when they were in office; and whether issues of concern to Buckingham Palace constitute grounds for such a refusal.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
By convention and at the Government’s discretion, former ministers are allowed reasonable access to the papers of the period when they were in office.
Asked by: Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government in which areas they plan to revoke statutory duties to consult; and what is the timeline for delivering this measure.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Departments are currently reviewing these duties. We will update Parliament on the progress of this work in due course.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department has made of whether domestic resilience measures can protect the UK from risks arising from loss of control of advanced AI systems in the absence of international agreement limiting the development of such systems.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Domestic resilience measures are an important part of the Government's approach, but a range of responses will be needed to address the risks from loss of control of advanced AI. The most capable AI systems are developed by a small number of companies, largely outside the UK, and the risks they pose cross borders.
That is why the Government works on these risks at source as well as at home. The AI Security Institute (AISI) works directly with frontier AI developers to test their most advanced systems, including for capabilities relevant to loss of control, and to strengthen the safeguards that protect against them. The UK also works with allies and international partners to build a shared scientific understanding of these risks and of the measures needed to manage them.
Domestically, the Government prepares for and monitors a wide range of national risks, including scenarios where AI could act as a catalyst or introduce novel risks, through the National Risk Register and the Chronic Risks Analysis. We keep this approach under review as the technology and the evidence develop.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service job vacancy, Senior Event Operations and Front of House Manager, No10 North, Reference 483705, how many jobs in total will be recruited for No10 North, on (a) the Civil Service jobs public website and (b) internal Civil Service and Departmental job websites.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Civil Service roles in No10 North are advertised in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2026 to Question 26934 on Cabinet Office: Reorganisation, if she will list the external members of the Community Renewal taskforce, who chairs the committee, and on what date did that non-cabinet committee taskforce last meet.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Place Regeneration taskforce has been established to improve people’s everyday experience of where they live, working closely with local governments to better serve their communities with locally-driven solutions. The Taskforce sits within the Office for the Prime Minister & Cabinet, and is being driven forward by the First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh. It is made up of internal civil servants and will draw on relevant expertise across central and local government, academia, and civil society.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether No10 North has its own press office.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No10 North is supported as appropriate by existing communications teams.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 3 March 2026 to question 107963, what progress she has made in discussions with Capita on outstanding issues and progress of the recovery plan.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Further to the answer of 3rd March 2026 to Question 107963, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and senior officials hold regular discussions with Capita's executive leadership regarding scheme administration and outstanding payments to existing and retired civil servants. Cabinet Office officials maintain daily operational contact with Capita to drive progress on the recovery plan, ensuring priority focus is given to processing payment arrears, bereavements, and urgent cases. While Capita reported meeting its 1st September milestone on workable stock across priority operational areas, overall performance remains unacceptable and does not constitute full service recovery.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the hacking of Hugging Face by collaborating agents, and what plans he has for the further development of AISI and other UK government AI structures.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Hugging Face incident represents a real-world example of why research to understand the risks posed by advanced AI is so important. The Government takes these risks extremely seriously. I am working closely with Ministerial colleagues to ensure that the lessons from recent incidents inform the continued development of the UK's cyber-security framework and the AI Security Institute will continue to work with model developers and other partners to better understand AI capabilities and improve safeguards and control.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has the Prime Minister made of the appropriateness of changing policies which have previously been endorsed through a nationwide referendum (a) with and (b) without a subsequent referendum.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers by my Hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, during the Oral Statement, International Update, on 12 October 2026, Official Report, Columns 23-57.