Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make additional funding available to strengthen cybersecurity in the light of the rise in "highly significant" cyber-attacks reported by the National Cyber Security Centre.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to strengthening cyber security across the UK, which is why the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides a range of tools, guidance and support to businesses to improve their cyber security. At this year's Spending Review, the government provided a real terms uplift of £0.6bn to the Single Intelligence Account, which funds the critical cybersecurity work conducted by the NCSC, in recognition of its importance.
The Security Minister was one of the ministers who wrote to chief executives and chairs of the FTSE 350 last month asking them to make cyber security a top priority, noting the need for a collective response to this threat. The CEO of NCSC warned that cyber security is now a matter of business survival and national resilience. He urged businesses to act with urgency and make cyber resilience a board-level responsibility to defend against the escalating threat.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings have taken place between ministers, special advisors and officials and representatives of the Resolution Foundation since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Details of ministers’ and certain senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Special Advisers are required to publish meetings with senior media figures. Meetings with other external individuals and organisations are not collected as part of routine Special Adviser Transparency publications.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for adoption of artificial intelligence in the public sector.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
AI and automation is a generational opportunity to drive public sector performance and productivity, with internal estimates suggesting adoption could generate £4.8bn in annual productivity gains in the Civil Service. Further savings are possible in wider public services such as Education, Health and Policing.
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office has convened external experts and digital leaders across government to rapidly respond to developments in this area.
As part of the Government Roadmap for Digital and Data, the Government published our commitment to systematically track opportunities arising from emerging technologies, with a special focus on enabling departments to make confident and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence to improve efficiency and services.
CDDO is also working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the new i.AI team, furthering knowledge sharing through cross-government communities of practice.