Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the applicability of the Online Safety Act 2023 to artificial intelligence chatbot providers, including those that host user-generated chatbots; and what assessment they have made of whether further guidance or legislation is required in that area to ensure the protection of children.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Generative AI services that allow users to share content with one another or that search live websites to provide search results are regulated under the Online Safety Act. This includes services which allow users to generate their own chatbots which are then made available to other users. The Act also regulates online services publishing and the display of pornographic content, including where that pornography is AI-generated.
The Government is committed to keeping young people safe online. The Secretary of State has been clear that we will not hesitate to strengthen the law further to ensure the safety of our children and the British public.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make more affordable connectivity for people on very low incomes one of their priorities.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government aims to make online access affordable for everyone. The Digital Inclusion Action Plan, published in February 2025, targets the removal of affordability barriers by 2030, ensuring all citizens have affordable, reliable internet and suitable devices.
A range of social tariffs are available, including for those on very low incomes, provided for by the telecoms industry. We continue to urge the industry to raise awareness of these low cost deals for those on means tested benefits, and encourage them to maintain provision.
This is part of wider efforts to address digital exclusion, especially for low-income households, older people, disabled individuals, and the unemployed.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will finalise their priorities for action on digital inclusion under the Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps, published on 26 February.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is delivering on the commitments it made in the Digital Inclusion Action Plan published in February. Progress continues to be made on each of these. Future priorities will be informed by the Call for Evidence launched alongside the Action Plan; this closed on 9 April 2025 and a summary of responses was published on GOV.UK on 17 July 2025. Ongoing collaboration across government departments and with external partners, input from the Digital Inclusion Action Committee and DSIT’s longer-term spending plans, currently still being considered, will also contribute to the shaping of priorities.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding will be available for digital inclusion for the period of the Spending Review 2025 for 2026–29; and if no funding has been determined, when it will be.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to delivering digital inclusion for everyone across the UK, regardless of their circumstances. In the current financial year, we’ll back local digital inclusion initiatives up and down the country, including by launching a new £9.5mn Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund. The full detail of DSIT's longer-term spending plans is still being considered, and further information will be provided to stakeholders as allocations are decided later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the development of sovereign digital capabilities when procuring government digital services.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government’s blueprint for modern digital government published in January sets out a coordination approach to strengthening procurement of digital capabilities across the public sector, making use of governments' scale to unlock greater value and procure in a way that drives creation of responsible, inclusive and secure technologies.
While each department is responsible for creation of their own requirements and making procurement decisions based on their specific needs, the Government Digital Service will continue to support departments through guidance such as the Technology Code of Practice.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what priority they will give to the development of sovereign digital capabilities, excluding artificial intelligence, under their new industrial strategy.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy commits to supporting the digital and technologies sector as a high growth industry. As part of the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan we have prioritised six frontier technologies with the greatest growth potential and strategic importance. The Sector Plan commits to grow domestic capabilities in these technologies, including through programmes to boost our semiconductor chip design capability, targeted R&D investment in advanced connectivity technologies and a ten-year funding commitment for the National Quantum Computing Centre. We will develop a domestic skills base in these technologies through a new £187 million TechFirst programme to grow the UK’s digital talent pipeline.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for their use of Microsoft products of Microsoft's decision to suspend the email account of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are aware of media reports that Microsoft may have blocked the email account of Karim Khan, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in compliance with US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. It is our understanding that Microsoft has strongly denied this action, it would therefore be inappropriate for us to comment further at this point in time, other than to note that we constantly keep our commercial relationships under review.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of patterns of ownership of electronic communications networks since the introduction of the Electronic Communications Code; and what steps they are taking to ensure that cost savings from reduced land rents benefit end-users.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government has not carried out any formal assessment of electronic communications network ownership patterns. We continue to work closely with industry to understand the evolving market dynamics and, where issues present, will consider what government can do to support investment and competition for the benefit of all end-users.
The 2017 changes to the Electronic Communications Code, which included changes to the valuation regime, were intended to support network deployment and facilitate infrastructure sharing. Based on Ofcom reporting, 4G geographic coverage from at least one operator has increased from 89% in May 2018 to more than 95% in the 2025 Spring Connected Nations Update. In terms of fixed broadband, Thinkbroadband reports that over 87% of UK premises can access a gigabit capable connection, this is up from 3.4% in January 2018.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of land access disputes between access seekers and providers in relation to electronic communications networks since the introduction of the Electronic Communications Code; and what action they are taking in relation to increased costs or delays associated with tribunal referrals.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government is aware of an increase in applications to the tribunal following the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code. While Government understands most applications do not proceed to a full hearing, Government is keen that agreements are reached on a consensual basis wherever possible.
The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 introduced a requirement for operators to inform landowners of the availability of alternative dispute resolution and to consider using it before issuing legal proceedings. It is hoped that this will encourage more collaborative negotiations between operators and site providers, and reduce costs and litigation.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UK's mobile network performance and 5G roll-out compared to large European markets and the USA since 2017, specifically in relation to (1) network coverage, (2) download speeds, and (3) base station deployment.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our ambition is that all populated areas will have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030.
Our most recent assessment on network coverage is from August 2024 where the most recent data available showed that 5G was available outside 92% of premises in the UK, compared to the EU average 5G population coverage at 89% and the USA at 98%. Since this assessment UK coverage has increased to 96%.
According to user testing by Ookla (an independent analytics company) the UK median 5G standalone download speed in the 4th quarter of 2024 was 181.9 Mbps, the US 388.4 Mbps and tests in eight other European countries ranged from 132.1 - 547.5 Mbps.
Ofcom reports that there are 3,300 5G standalone base station deployments in the UK. This is not comparable across markets as it is dependent on factors including topology and spectrum availability.