ARIA: Scoping Our Planet Programme

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I will not get into whether it was or was not that, but I say again that we have no plans to bring ARIA under the Freedom of Information Act, which I think is important. If we go back to the origins of ARPA—the organisation in the US that led to DARPA, IARPA and many other such organisations on which ARIA is based—its originators in the 1950s and 1960s said that the reason no other country had managed to emulate that successful programme was because they kept everything on too short a leash. We should not make that mistake.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

Second Oral Question.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I am sorry; I have been told the clocks are not working. There has been a little bit of a mix-up but we will get there.

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

I have a question for the Minister; I am pretty sure that the answer will be that he has no idea, and that will not be any reflection on him because I do not have any idea either. What has been the total cost to the public purse of the implementation of freedom of information legislation for all the numerous organisations, large and small, across the public sector?

Combating Disinformation: Freedom of Expression

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Tuesday 13th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strasburger]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect freedom of expression in the course of their work on combating disinformation.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Strasburger, is participating remotely.

[Lord Strasburger (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I draw the attention of the House to my role as chair of Big Brother Watch and beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

Advanced Research and Innovation Agency

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 29th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

Indeed. As far as the timing goes, ARIA was legally established on 25 January. The focus has been on recruiting the right people. It is a small organisation, designed to be lean and agile. That means it is absolutely dependent on the quality of the small team it has working for it. That is the focus for now. We look forward to the first announcements of programme directors. I hope that will be in the autumn.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, is participating remotely.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, will this organisation, with its £800 million potential budget, much of it public money, be subject to fully accountable FoI applications? If not, why not? The public interest is best served in conditions of transparency.