Asked by: Baroness Moyo (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to conduct an assessment of the impact of artificial intelligence on the UK workforce, and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want to ensure that people have access to good, meaningful work. Changes to the labour market are to be expected and we remain mindful of them and their effect on the UK workforce.
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out how we will address key labour market challenges and spread opportunity in order to fix the foundations of our economy so we can make the most of the opportunities AI presents. This includes launching Skills England to create a shared national plan to boost the nation’s skills, creating more good jobs through our modern Industrial Strategy, and strengthening employment rights through our Plan to Make Work Pay.
We also recognise the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on economic growth, job creation and productivity. We are working across government to understand the challenges and opportunities that AI presents and will continue to monitor this rapidly developing area.
Asked by: Baroness Moyo (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's call for a public sector productivity review, and findings in the recent report by Mario Draghi on The future of European competitiveness, what plans they have for a wider assessment of productivity across the UK economy, including the impact of AI.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government will establish a new approach to public service reform to drive greater productivity in the public sector. Over the coming months the Treasury will continue to work with departments to improve productivity and efficiency. More detail on this work will be provided in the upcoming Autumn Budget and the next multi-year Spending Review, due to conclude in Spring 2025.
The Government engages regularly with key organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to understand key structural factors and barriers affecting UK productivity growth.
Estimates from the IMF show that while the exact economic impact hinges on the wider development and adoption of AI, and realisation could be gradual, the UK could ultimately see productivity gains of up to 1.5 percent annually.
Asked by: Baroness Moyo (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage more British companies to list in the UK instead of abroad.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The UK’s vibrant and dynamic capital markets are some of the strongest and deepest globally and the UK remains Europe’s leading hub for investment. Despite market turbulence globally in 2023, companies raised more capital in the UK than the next two highest European exchanges – Frankfurt and Amsterdam – combined.
The government is building on this, with an ambitious programme of reforms to boost IPOs and improve the competitiveness of UK markets. This includes delivering on the recommendations of Lord Hill’s UK Listing Review, and the commitments in the Chancellor’s Mansion House and Edinburgh reforms.
These reforms will make it easier for firms to list and raise more capital quickly in the UK. These reforms have been welcomed by industry and will ensure that the UK continues to support innovative firms to list and grow on UK markets.
Asked by: Baroness Moyo (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of jobs that will be replaced by artificial intelligence between 2024 and 2030.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
AI has the potential to be a net creator of jobs and have a positive impact on economic growth: there are currently over 200,000 vacancies in the UK demanding AI skills and the jobs created by the AI economy are 7% more productive than the average UK job (CBI, 2023).
Rather than replacing jobs, AI is currently changing them, and the skills needed to carry them out. It has the potential to free workers from monotonous tasks like inputting data or filling out paperwork, allowing them to spend more time on creative and meaningful activities. Around 2.5% of overall tasks on average could be performed by generative AI, with 40% of jobs seeing some impact from the technology (KMPG, Generative AI and the UK labour market, 2023). While some tasks within jobs might be augmented by AI, humans are necessary to apply judgement, empathy and creativity to AI tools. We continue to monitor and research the impacts of AI on the labour market.
Asked by: Baroness Moyo (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic and societal risks of generative AI, including a potential increase in unemployment as a result of automation of work, the prospect of increased need for public support to individuals and welfare payments.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
DWP is aware that the increased use of Artificial Intelligence may impact the labour market, affecting the nature and types of jobs available to workers in different sectors and regions in a way that is difficult to accurately forecast.
The UK labour market is fluid and dynamic, and an average of 900,000 employed people per quarter moved from one job to another over the last year. As yet, we have yet to see any evidence of significant job displacement that can be directly attributed to AI.
However, we are mindful of the potential risk of job displacement and our Jobcentre offer is designed to support claimants who need to transition to new roles by providing them with tailored, flexible advice.