Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of international approaches to copyright and AI training, including in the European Union and United States of America; and whether they have made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to UK copyright law on the UK's competitive position in AI and the creative industries.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has engaged bilaterally with many jurisdictions, such as the EU and the US, to discuss approaches to copyright and AI policy, share best practice and consider technical issues.
The government continues to seek views on how best to meet the UK’s objectives on AI and copyright, from stakeholders and experts, including through the technical working groups and Parliamentary working groups.
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This will set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering introducing a copyright exemption for commercial research, science and research or equivalent activities to permit the use of copyright works for artificial intelligence research and development without the consent of rightsholders; and if so, whether they will publish the scope of that exemption.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the reports required under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will examine an expansion of the existing text and data mining exemption to cover commercial uses; and whether the introduction of such an expansion is their current policy.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. The report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we gathered and outline our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what economic impact assessment they have undertaken, or commissioned, regarding the effect of a copyright exemption for AI training on (1) the creative industries, (2) licensing markets for training data, and (3) investment in AI development in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish an economic impact assessment by 18 March, as per Section 135 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
This will assess the impact of each of the policy options described in the consultation on copyright and AI, on copyright owners, and persons who develop or use AI systems.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce statutory transparency obligations requiring AI developers to maintain and disclose records of copyright works used in training models; and if so, whether those obligations are being considered independently of any copyright exemption.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps in areas such as transparency.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 17 February (HL14181), whether Office for National Statistics has assessed the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating multiple Standard Occupational Classification codes that individually fall below publication thresholds into higher-level sector groupings for publication purposes; and if so, what conclusions were reached.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
02 March 2026
Dear Lord Freyberg,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 17 February (HL14181), whether the Office for National Statistics has assessed the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating multiple Standard Occupational Classification codes that individually fall below publication thresholds into higher-level sector groupings for publication purposes; and if so, what conclusions were reached (HL14677); and b) what statistical disclosure control techniques, including aggregation, rounding, banding or noise adjustment, are available to the Office for National Statistics to enable publication of sectorlevel occupational data derived from low-count Standard Occupational Classification categories (HL14679).
The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes are routinely used for statistical outputs. SOC codes are designed with a hierarchical structure, ranging from 1-digit codes for the broadest categories, 2 = ‘Professional occupations’ for example, to 4-digit codes for the most detailed categories, 2451 = ‘Architects’ for example. The SOC ‘nested’ structure means multiple Standard Occupation Classification codes are aggregated into higher-level groupings by design. The use of these standard groupings allows for better comparisons over time and with other data sources. Statistical outputs that the ONS produces will use an appropriate level of detail of SOC codes, aiming to balance the need for detailed occupation information, with the possibility of smaller categories falling below the publication threshold. Further information about the SOC classification can be found on the ONS website. There is currently a consultation to update SOC2020 because of the continual evolution of occupations, and to ensure that SOC reflects significant changes in the labour market. Submissions to the consultation are live until 11 May 2026.
All the disclosure control techniques you reference in your question are available to use. Aggregation and banding are the most used methods to increase the number of contributors. The choice of disclosure method depends on the source of data, user needs, disclosure risk and other related factors. The disclosure control methods applied are always designed to maximise the usefulness of the data whilst protecting the confidentiality of the contributors.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/external-affairs/soc2020-revision-consultation/
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what statistical disclosure control techniques, including aggregation, rounding, banding or noise adjustment, are available to the Office for National Statistics to enable publication of sector-level occupational data derived from low-count Standard Occupational Classification categories.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
02 March 2026
Dear Lord Freyberg,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 17 February (HL14181), whether the Office for National Statistics has assessed the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating multiple Standard Occupational Classification codes that individually fall below publication thresholds into higher-level sector groupings for publication purposes; and if so, what conclusions were reached (HL14677); and b) what statistical disclosure control techniques, including aggregation, rounding, banding or noise adjustment, are available to the Office for National Statistics to enable publication of sectorlevel occupational data derived from low-count Standard Occupational Classification categories (HL14679).
The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes are routinely used for statistical outputs. SOC codes are designed with a hierarchical structure, ranging from 1-digit codes for the broadest categories, 2 = ‘Professional occupations’ for example, to 4-digit codes for the most detailed categories, 2451 = ‘Architects’ for example. The SOC ‘nested’ structure means multiple Standard Occupation Classification codes are aggregated into higher-level groupings by design. The use of these standard groupings allows for better comparisons over time and with other data sources. Statistical outputs that the ONS produces will use an appropriate level of detail of SOC codes, aiming to balance the need for detailed occupation information, with the possibility of smaller categories falling below the publication threshold. Further information about the SOC classification can be found on the ONS website. There is currently a consultation to update SOC2020 because of the continual evolution of occupations, and to ensure that SOC reflects significant changes in the labour market. Submissions to the consultation are live until 11 May 2026.
All the disclosure control techniques you reference in your question are available to use. Aggregation and banding are the most used methods to increase the number of contributors. The choice of disclosure method depends on the source of data, user needs, disclosure risk and other related factors. The disclosure control methods applied are always designed to maximise the usefulness of the data whilst protecting the confidentiality of the contributors.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/external-affairs/soc2020-revision-consultation/
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts and the visual arts.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
02 March 2026
Dear Lord Freyberg
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts and the visual arts (HL14678).
The TLFS does collect information on a respondent’s secondary occupation. Where the respondent has a portfolio career such as those mentioned, they can self-determine this as their main or second job. The data collected includes for example, whether this is in an employed or self-employed capacity, the hours usually and actually worked, the pay received and the industry and occupation code of the position. This data is used for a variety of statistical, legislative and policy purposes by a broad range of stakeholders.
Information is collected for up to two jobs. There has previously been a question as to whether information on more than two jobs should be collected. However, there must be a careful balance achieved between data users need, and the respondent burden caused by survey length. While we are not currently in a position to capture more than two jobs, this issue will be thoroughly explored within future developments of the TLFS.
The TLFS also collects data on casual working roles so that those in more informal situations are also captured.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to incorporate self-assessment income tax data into the inter-departmental business register; if so, when they expect that data to be incorporated; and what assessment they have made of the impact of including that data on the representation of sole traders and businesses operating below the VAT threshold in official economic statistics.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter below from the Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS):
Lord Freyberg
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
09 February 2026
Dear Lord Freyberg,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether there is a plan to incorporate self-assessment income tax data into the Inter-Departmental Business Register; if so, when to expect that data to be incorporated; and what assessment has been made of the impact of including that data on the representation of sole traders and businesses operating below the VAT threshold in official economic statistics (HL14179).
The ONS is currently developing a new Statistical Business Register (SBR), which will replace the Inter-Departmental Business Register. We are planning to incorporate self-assessment income tax into the new SBR and are working closely with HM Revenue and Customs with the current expectation that they will be able to share the data later this year. We will then assess the data with a plan to incorporate into the SBR and assess the impact of the self-assessment data on economic statistics of businesses operating below the VAT threshold.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating standard occupational classification and standard industrial classification codes data that falls below publication thresholds to enable publication of sector level data for fields with high levels of self-employment, including crafts and visual arts.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not ask for, and therefore does not hold, self-employment standard occupational classification information.
HMRC publishes breakdowns by Standard Industrial Classification.
Table 3.9 of HMRC’s Personal Incomes Statistics provides information on the number of self-employment sources by self-employment income, classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 2007 (SIC), including Arts, Entertainment and Recreation. [ 1 ]
The Personal Incomes Statistics series assigns income to an industry using the business text descriptions supplied on self-assessment form SA103. These descriptions are adapted into SIC codes through a long-established classification process. Where the description is missing or not sufficiently detailed to enable a reliable SIC assignment, the industry is recorded as unknown.
[ 1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-employment-income-assessable-to-tax-2010-to-2011