Computer Science Applications to English Universities

Debate between Lord Fox and Baroness Smith of Malvern

Wednesday 9th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right that we have seen an increase in those studying computer science at A-level and we have seen an increase in those going into higher education. However, having listened carefully to my noble friend, I have to say that we are a Government who have inherited the challenge of a £22 billion black hole and therefore we are having to make some extremely difficult decisions in government.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, further to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord West, I was speaking to a Congressional delegation earlier this week. They told me that in the United States they have a dedicated FBI unit that is touring universities and colleges across the United States warning them about the issues that have arisen from their relationship with China, both in students and in research arrangements. Would it not be a good idea if in the United Kingdom we had a similar unit doing a similar job?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes an important point, as did my noble friend. That is why I emphasised that through the Protect work we do, alongside our higher education providers, we already use the expertise of, for example, the National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre to work with our academic sector to make sure that we safeguard crucial intelligence and methods, even while we welcome international research collaborations, as well as the benefit that comes from international students. Any student who wanted to study, in this country, an area that could be exploited to support military programmes of concern would have to go through the vetting process outlined in the academic technology approval scheme. That does not mean that there is not more we can do, but we take this seriously, and we will continue to do that, to safeguard this country’s interests.