Department for Science, Information and Technology: Abolition

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

Tuesday 21st July 2026 Lords Chamber

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

The noble Lord raises a very important point. We are seeing technology move faster than at any point over the last 100 years, never mind in my lifetime. It is incredibly important that we keep up, which is why we will now have a dedicated Minister attending Cabinet to make sure these issues are reflected. Some noble Lords will not have had the opportunity to read the WMS that has been placed in front of your Lordships’ House but, just to reassure them, the AI Security Institute will be part of the Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The UK Research and Innovation fund is moving to DBIST, the new business department, and its £9.22 billion budget for R&D will continue. The Government Digital Service is moving to DCMS and the sovereign AI fund is also moving to DBIST.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, if the House will allow me, I pay my own tribute to my noble friend Lord Vallance of Balham, whose record of public service, both as Government Chief Scientific Adviser and as Minister for Science, has been exemplary. As the noble Lord said, he will be missed. Does my noble friend agree that this reorganisation shows that the new Prime Minister has some understanding of the transformative power of science, innovation and technology, and that this new department can, in turn, have a transformative effect? Although the points made by the noble Lords, Lord Waldegrave and Lord Tarassenko, have merit, and I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for giving some more detail, I hope that this will achieve the aim of making science apply across all of government for the benefit of this country.

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

My noble friend is absolutely right. The new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade will focus on new and emerging sectors as part of our reindustrialisation agenda. This is about building on the foundations that we have already made so that we can move further and faster to deliver for the people of the United Kingdom, which is our responsibility.

Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update

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

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Lords Chamber

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

I am going to thank the noble Lord for the question; maybe I should not. He will have to bear with me, because he, like I, will have watched some of the hearings as they were happening. I will write to him with the detail about who, what, when and where.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for reassuring the House that the next tranche of documents will be provided to Parliament as soon as practicable after State Opening. In addition to the 300 documents which have already been released to the Intelligence and Security Committee, chaired by my noble friend Lord Beamish, may I ask her whether there has been any divergence of view between the Government and the Metropolitan Police as to which documents should not be released because they would prejudice the ongoing investigation?

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

I thank my noble friend. Obviously, these are all live matters, and some of those conversations I simply cannot discuss in your Lordships’ House. We have a very constructive relationship with the Metropolitan Police and want to make sure that it has everything it needs as part of its investigations if it is seeking to make any future prosecutions.

Ministerial Code

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

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Lords Chamber

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

My Lords, there is a system in place. The Commissioner for Public Appointments undertook a report to find out what has happened in this case and found that the Secretary of State acted in good faith. However, the processes have since been strengthened.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend the Minister referred to the establishment of the Ethics and Integrity Commission, which was indeed a manifesto commitment. Can she tell the House when she expects it, having been set up, to operate fully?

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

I thank my noble friend for his question. Obviously, we are in the process of ensuring that it is fully staffed and set up. I will write to him with the timescale.

Data Centres: Energy and Water Consumption

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

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, there is time to hear from both noble Lords. We will start with the Labour Party.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I for one am very grateful to the right reverend Prelate for raising this issue. I think the House is only beginning to realise just how staggering big tech’s energy usage is. I understand that Google has doubled its CO₂ emissions since 2020 and signed a contract with Commonwealth Fusion Systems for 200 megawatts of power, using a power plant that does not even exist yet. Can my noble friend say whether more can be done to enable big tech companies to reveal how much energy usage and water is going to be involved in the use of AI? We ought to have an honest discussion about the costs involved in both those areas.

UK Extreme Heat

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

Thursday 26th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I do not know whether my noble friend the Minister has had a chance to read the report by the Physiological Society entitled Red Alert: Developing a Human-centred National Heat Resilience Strategy. As the House may appreciate, there is growing scientific interest in the effect of heat on human beings, which makes this Question so well timed. The report recommends that the Cabinet Office lead a task force, so my original question was going to be about whether that is happening. But, in the light of the earlier Answer, am I right in thinking that there is now a proper task force established in the Cabinet Office to tackle these issues government-wide?

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

I hate to disappoint my noble friend by saying that I have not read the report he references, but I will make sure I get a copy this afternoon—it is my birthday this weekend, so that will give me something to do. I referenced the summer resilience network, which is convened by COBRA as a cross-government network that brings together all relevant agencies and our devolved Governments to make sure that we are ready. With regard to this period of extreme heat, the first guidance was issued before Easter to make sure that local resilience forums were getting ready. The Cabinet Office takes this extraordinarily seriously and it will be part of our resilience strategy, which we will publish soon. As we are about to discuss the national security strategy, I reassure noble Lords that climate change and its impact as a security feature are referenced 12 times. This is something that the Government take seriously.