Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether her Department permits (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials to use (i) Chat GPT, (ii) Google Gemini, (iii) Claude, (iv) Deepseek and (v) Grok as part of their official duties.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government is committed to harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence to improve the productivity of the Civil Service and the quality of public services.
Departments provide officials, Ministers and special advisers with access to secure, enterprise-grade generative AI tools that have been assured to the appropriate security standards and approved for official use. Ministers, special advisers and officials may only use generative AI tools that their department has approved for official use. The use of publicly available or consumer versions of generative AI tools, including those named in the Question, for official business is not permitted unless a department has specifically assured and approved that tool.
The Wales Office is not currently using the AI tools listed above.
Approved enterprise tools are configured so that departmental data is held securely and is not used to train publicly available AI models. The use of generative AI across government is governed by the cross-government Generative AI Framework for HMG and the AI Playbook for the UK Government, which set out the principles for the safe, responsible and effective use of these tools.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much her Department has spent on advertising on podcasts in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Nothing. The Wales Office has not spent any money on advertising on podcasts in the last three years.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussion she had with the Welsh Government on the potential devolution of decision making on UK Government funded R&D grants in Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I am committed to working closely with the Welsh Government on innovation and economic growth. On 20 May, I held my first call with the new First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth. I made clear the benefit of both the UK and Welsh Governments working together on shared priorities around the cost of living and poverty as well as public services and economic growth, including the delivery of clean energy infrastructure in Wales.
R&D funding is partially devolved; Devolved Governments receive funding in their block grants which includes consequentials arising from UKRI allocations made through Research England. Devolved Governments can allocate block grant funding as they choose within devolved policy areas, which include higher education and economic development. This includes the ability to allocate funding to R&D according to their priorities. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, in 2024/25, £150 million R&D funding was invested through the Welsh Government and Medr.
In addition, through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF), we are also empowering local leaders in 17 regions across the UK to target R&D investment and unleash their full innovation potential. The Government is investing up to £50 million through the LIPF in Wales between 2026 and 2031, this includes £30 million for Cardiff Capital Region and £20 million for South West Wales. The Government is also considering the future of LIPF in the nations.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on the devolution of decision making on UK Government funded R&D grants in Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
My department works closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and UKRI on our shared priorities, including the distribution of R&D funding to Wales where we have seen an increase of £31 million in UKRI investment between 2021/22 and 2023/24. The Government is investing up to £50 million through the Local Innovation Partnership Fund in Wales between 2026 and 2031, this includes £30 million for Cardiff Capital Region and £20 million for South West Wales. The Government is also considering the future of LIPF in the nations.
R&D funding is partially devolved; Devolved Governments receive funding in their block grants which includes consequentials arising from UKRI allocations made through Research England. Devolved Governments can allocate block grant funding as they choose within devolved policy areas, which include higher education and economic development. This includes the ability to allocate funding to R&D according to their priorities. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, in 2024/25, £150 million R&D funding was invested through the Welsh Government and Medr.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443), what steps the Wales Office has taken in the last year to meet its legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation that falls within its area of responsibility should be brought into force.
Answered by Lord Katz - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Wales Office works closely with other government departments to keep the status of uncommenced legislation falling within areas of its responsibility under review. Decisions on commencement are taken in the normal course of policy making.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many civil servants in her Department undertook work relating to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The Wales Office routinely assesses the implications for Wales of UK Parliament Bills, including Private Members Bills. As a result, a small proportion of three officials’ time was spent in relation to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the ‘Future of TV Distribution’ stakeholder forum and the potential impact of its decision making on Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of matters. The lead department on this matter, DCMS, established the Future of TV Distribution stakeholder forum which took views from a range of broadcasters active in Wales, including S4C, the BBC and ITV. The forum also benefitted from the perspectives of a number of groups representing the interests of Welsh and UK-wide audiences, such as Voice of the Listener and Viewer, Digital Poverty Alliance and Silver Voices. Before any decisions are made, including in relation to Wales, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on digital terrestrial television as their primary means of watching television.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The drafting of policy and both primary and secondary legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used for research and to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices.
Whilst AI can be used to assist with the drafting of policy and legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of Government.
It is Parliament's responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary.
Asked by: Melanie Ward (Labour - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in defence spending on Wales.
Answered by Anna McMorrin - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
This UK Labour Government promised a Defence Growth Deal for Wales and we have delivered on that commitment.
Wales is central to the security of the United Kingdom and I’m proud that our Defence Growth Deal, backed by £50 million of UK Government investment, will transform the nation into a centre for innovation, creating highly-skilled jobs and driving growth across the country.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether she has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the planned visitor levy on the Welsh economy.
Answered by Anna McMorrin - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Welsh tourism industry is thriving. The Welsh Government’s Visitor Levy could raise up to £33 million a year to reinvest in local communities and support tourism. In 2024, British residents alone took over 7 million overnight trips in Wales.
I’m pleased to see the UK Government recognising the Welsh Labour Government’s pioneering work on this issue, with a similar overnight levy being introduced in England, enabling mayors to invest in transport, infrastructure, and the visitor economy.