Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) proposals in the "Guidance published for the People, Culture and Environment Pilot" published by UK Research and Innovation on 14 January; and what assessment they have made of the effect on scientific excellence, innovation and economic growth of introducing a 25 per cent weighting to EDI initiatives when allocating research funding.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The People, Culture, and Environment (PCE) pilot aims to assess the feasibility of integrating PCE elements, to guide the development of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029. Government acknowledges the important role of a positive research culture in attracting and retaining diverse talent, which is essential for maintaining the UK's global competitiveness in research. Final decisions on REF 2029's structure, including any potential PCE weighting, will follow the pilot’s conclusion and further sector consultation. While the proposed weighting for PCE is 25%, EDI initiatives only form a small proportion of this.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to encourage firms to develop and incorporate AI technologies into their daily procedures.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The adoption of trustworthy AI across the UK public and private sectors will drive productivity and growth across the whole economy. To capture the full potential of AI in the private sector, we are targeting high-growth Industrial Strategy sectors and appointing AI Sector Champions in key industries to support diffusion across the whole economy. The cross-government Technology Adoption Review announced at the Autumn Budget will set out additional recommendations in Spring 2025 as to how government should work with industry to support businesses to adopt and innovate with AI.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 30737 on AstraZeneca: Merseyside, if he will publish the feedback his Department has received from AstraZeneca on their Merseyside investment withdrawal.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Company feedback on Government grant process continually informs improvements in grant delivery. However, to maintain confidentiality between companies and Government, we do not publish company specific feedback.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made on establishing AI growth zones in the devolved nations.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government will partner with local and regional authorities and Devolved Governments to establish AI Growth Zones (AIGZs), ensuring substantial regional and national benefits, such as upskilling and employment opportunities, are felt across the country.
In February, Devolved Governments, along with local authorities and industry, were invited to come forward with potential sites suitable for hosting AI infrastructure as an early expression of interest. DSIT regularly engages with the Devolved Governments on a range of issues and there was significant interest in AIGZs from across the UK.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of the UK’s commercial spaceflight programme on the South West of England.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The South West of England is an important part of the UK's spaceflight ecosystem, being home to the UK's first licensed and operational spaceport, Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay. The establishment of the spaceport has been instrumental in catalysing the growth of the Cornwall Space Cluster, which has created high-skilled jobs and facilitated collaboration and innovation in the UK’s space ecosystem.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of technical solutions put forward by AI developers to allow individual rightsholders in the creative industries to effectively and efficiently opt-out their work from AI training, without placing additional burdens on rightsholders.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI closed on 25th February.
It sought views from both AI developers and rights holders on creating an effective rights reservation system. We will not move forward with any option until we are confident that it will be effective, proportionate, and accessible to both individual creators and larger rights holders.
The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that visual artists and creators (a) nationally and (b) in Leigh and Atherton can access licensing deals with AI developers.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation sought views on creating an effective rights reservation system. This would provide rights holders across the UK, including those in Leigh and Atherton, with the ability to prevent AI developers from using their copyright works in AI training, and/or negotiate licences for their use.
The consultation closed on 25 February. The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress has been made on revising the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Under the existing regulations telecommunications operators are responsible for the guidelines governing the deployment of above ground infrastructure. In response to my concerns about the installation of unnecessarily intrusive telecommunications infrastructure, the industry convened a working group to examine the existing Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice, and to issue new guidelines for the deployment of telegraph poles.
Whilst this work is entirely for industry to undertake, I understand that industry trade bodies expect to publish the guidelines this spring and urge them to do so as soon as possible.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many staff his Department has seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Secondments are one way of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and has been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and data is held at Business Unit Level.
Since July 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has had no secondees from Hakluyt.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of rejoining the Galileo scheme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is implementing the October 2023 Government Policy Framework for Greater Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Resilience, which will provide greater resilience for the PNT services that the UK relies upon in the event of any disruption to Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS and Galileo. The UK public and businesses still have access to the Galileo Open Service, though the UK no longer participates in Galileo, and the UK armed forces have access to the US GPS secure service. The Government will consider participation in EU programmes on a case by case basis where participation would meet the UK’s interests.