Department for Science, Information and Technology: Abolition

Debate between Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent and Viscount Camrose

Tuesday 21st July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right about my commitment to and passion about Northern Ireland. I will of course take every opportunity to have a cup of coffee with her. I plan on being in Northern Ireland over the Recess, subject to events, and we will do so then.

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

My Lords, this appointment of an AI Minister to Cabinet indeed gives a timely prominence to AI policy-making, but does the Minister accept that it also removes a good deal of clarity? Who owns AI policy between DBIST, the Cabinet Office and the Minister himself? What will the AI taskforce do that these ministries will not, and is the purpose to develop new AI policies or to execute existing ones?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Viscount is more than aware that the role of the Cabinet Office is to co-ordinate policy across government, hence the establishment of an AI taskforce to make that sure and to support the work of the new Minister. The Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet is being overseen directly by both the Prime Minister and the new First Secretary in the Government, while operational matters will be overseen by the Cabinet Secretary. This is about making sure that the Minister, who will obviously have responsibility for the co-ordination and ownership of AI policy, has the support he needs at the top levels of government.

Social Media: Use of X by Government Departments

Debate between Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent and Viscount Camrose

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend. I had a fascinating conversation with a very young member of my private office. When I suggested to him that the Daily Express had once been in a Labour-leaning newspaper, he was a little surprised; that shows either my age or his.

There is an issue here around making sure that people have access to genuine information sources that are real and accurate. Like me, my noble friend will remember that, in the general election in 1997, more than 80% of people got their information from BBC sources—at least, I believe so; I should say that before I get myself in trouble again over statistics in this space—but that is not the case now. Most people get their news online, which is why we need to make sure that free and fair journalism is protected.

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

My Lords, does the Minister not agree that the real threat to reliable information is not news publishers but weaponised disinformation published by our enemies using bots? The scale of that is far in excess of anything that Mr Musk might promote or anything that any individual news provider here might promote.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Viscount is absolutely right. When Iran shut down its internet to try to stop proper, fair protests in that country, we saw how many cybernats and other accounts went down in the UK for people who were seeking to sow division and separation in the United Kingdom. We know that bad faith actors try every day to undermine the very values for which we stand. That is why we have the Government’s media literacy action plan and why we are working at every level of society to highlight these issues. It is also, from my perspective, one of the reasons why we need to work every day to make things clear and to ensure that platforms take their responsibilities seriously.

Emergency Communications

Debate between Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent and Viscount Camrose

Monday 26th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent]

To ask His Majesty’s Government (1) when they became aware of yesterday’s fault with the 999 emergency system and (2) what action they are taking to ensure the resilience of emergency communications.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Viscount Camrose) (Con)]

A technical issue with the 999 public emergency call system was reported to us at 9.20 am on Sunday 25 June 2023. This issue has now been fully resolved and the service is running as normal. A full investigation is under way to understand what caused this problem. Ofcom has formally requested information from BT, using its existing powers as the independent regulator. The Government are conducting a post-incident report to identify actions that will strengthen the resilience of the 999 public emergency call service.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, this is an incredibly disconcerting event. We all rely on the 999 emergency number as our ultimate safety net at times of distress and vulnerability. Any failure in the system will undermine faith in our emergency provision. We are seemingly very fortunate that there was no major incident yesterday morning. Can the Minister inform the House whether this eventuality—the loss of the main 999 capacity—has been tested in any training exercise for major incidents? Are the Government clear on what the potential risks associated with the use of the back-up system are, and what risk there might be to public safety as a result of the system’s failure?

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

Following the failure of the system, three strands of investigation have been put in place. First, BT is performing its own internal investigation. Secondly, Ofcom is engaging directly with BT, which it is required to regulate. Thirdly, based on the findings of those two, there will be the Government’s lessons learned approach. The combination of all those will allow us to learn lessons to improve future resilience of the system.