Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reported growth in demand for ethical AI and technology skills in UK financial services; and how this is informing (1) workforce policy, and (2) regulatory policy.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government is taking significant steps to expand skills and training in ethical and responsible AI. In January, further public and private sector partners joined the AI Skills Boost, increasing our ambition to upskill 10 million workers by 2030. More than 1 million AI upskilling courses have already been delivered since last summer, helping ensure UK workers - including those in financial services - have access to high‑quality training in the safe and ethical use of AI.
To complement this, the Government has established the cross‑government AI and Future of Work Unit to monitor how advanced AI tools are reshaping professional work, ensure innovation is supported responsibly, and coordinate policy so that workers and businesses can adopt these technologies safely.
We have also concluded a Call for Evidence on proposals for the AI Growth Lab, a cross‑economy AI sandbox that would allow responsible AI products and services to be tested under close supervision in live markets, building trust and supporting economic growth. Alongside this, the FCA’s Supercharged Sandbox and AI Live Testing service provide firms with enhanced access to computing, data and safe real‑world testing environments, enabling the responsible use of AI across UK financial markets.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to make nationally owned public-sector data available for ethical and secure use in AI development to support innovation and public service delivery.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Modern Industrial Strategy, the Government is committed to treating public sector data as a strategic national asset and unlocking high-impact public datasets for AI use.
The Government recently published an update outlining the significant progress made on the Action Plan with 38 of its 50 commitments delivered against in 12 months.
This update demonstrated that 6 of the 7 data recommendations have been delivered – this includes the publishing of best practice guidance on how to make public sector datasets ready for AI (R09), and details on the delivery of ‘kickstarter’ projects making high-impact datasets available to AI researchers and innovators (R07).
DSIT have also launched an open call to understand the opportunities for public sector data among businesses, researchers and public bodies.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent high-value acquisitions involving UK AI companies; and what policies they are pursuing to support domestic AI innovation, investment and the scaling of high-growth firms.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has a strong track record of high‑growth AI firms. This Government is taking a comprehensive approach to supporting our thriving AI ecosystem – ensuring that we back innovators with the data, compute, and talent they need to succeed.
Our AI Research Resource is providing free compute to British researchers and startups so that they can train new AI models and deliver scientific breakthroughs. We have established five new AI Growth Zones across the UK to deliver large, cutting-edge datacentre capacity. We are training the next generation of experts through Spärck AI Scholarships and the Global Talent taskforce, and we are upskilling 10 million workers in essential AI skills by 2030. Our Sovereign AI Unit, backed by £500 million, will support high-potential start-ups to start and scale, and our £100 million Advance Market Commitments will help UK AI hardware start‑ups compete globally.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that online platforms operating in the UK comply with data access and privacy requirements, in light of recent regulatory scrutiny of messaging services.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All organisations in the UK that provide online and messaging services to their customers have to comply with the requirements of UK’s data protection and privacy framework, as set out in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). The UK GDPR and the DPA also apply to online platforms based outside of the UK that are processing UK residents’ data for the purposes of providing goods and services or monitoring behaviour.
As such, the handling of people’s data by online platforms should be lawful, fair, transparent and secure. The data protection legislation gives people the right to be informed about the collection and use of their personal data, as well as rights to request access to their data, object to its processing or seek its erasure.
The Information Commissioner, the UK’s independent regulator for data protection, publishes a range of guidance to help organisations comply with the legislation and has the power to investigate and impose penalties for non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that future decisions on AI infrastructure development are supported by adequate environmental assessment and community engagement, in the light of recent legal challenges to major projects.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that AI‑related infrastructure, including data centres and associated energy systems, is developed responsibly, with full consideration of environmental impacts and meaningful engagement with local communities.
AI infrastructure will continue to be subject to the UK’s environmental and planning frameworks, which require assessment of impacts such as energy use, water consumption, land use, and local environmental factors, including those which will apply through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project route.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to support industrial competitiveness and manage price pressures.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are making it easier and simpler for companies to do business, giving them the stability to make long-term investments. We are proactively dealing with the challenges businesses face, expanding access to finance, supporting skills and access to talent, and transitioning to cheaper energy through our clean power mission.
We are reducing the administrative costs of regulation on businesses by 25% this Parliament, and we have already identified £1.5bn of administrative burden savings. To crowd in the private investment crucial for firms starting and scaling, we are providing the British Business Bank with £4bn additional capital to support investment into the Industrial Strategy’s eight growth-driving sectors. The new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) aims to reduce electricity costs by c.£35/MWh for over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, bringing prices closer to those in other major European economies. The consultation on BICS closed on 19 January and the Government will confirm details of scheme design and eligibility in due course, ahead of an April 2027 launch date.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support digital skills and technology investment to enable productivity improvements from AI.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State vowed this week to make Britain the fastest adopting AI country in the G7 and build a workforce that excels in developing, adopting and benefiting from AI.
We have committed £27m for the Government’s TechLocal scheme to connect at least 1,000 skilled people to tech jobs in local communities, create new academic courses integrating practical AI skills, and graduate traineeships and work experience.
Alongside this, thirteen additional private and public sector partners have signed on to join the AI Skills Boost, committing to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, with over 1 million AI upskilling courses having been delivered since last summer. We are also expanding Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme which will provide targeted support to businesses across the Industrial Strategy sectors, including through funding for tech investment.
These initiatives ensure we are facilitating the diffusion of AI across the whole of the UK by addressing the barriers to adoption faced by businesses and workers.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect jobseekers' personal data from being harvested by AI-led interview tools.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK’s data protection legislation applies to any processing of personal data regardless of the technology being used. As such, organisations that process personal data through the deployment of AI interview tools are required to ensure that the data is processed fairly, lawfully and transparently. Personal data should also be kept secure, its accuracy should be maintained, and it should not be processed for longer than is necessary.
Where individuals have been subject to decisions based solely on automated processing with legal or significant effects on them, including AI-driven decisions in recruitment processes, the legislation also requires organisations to provide the individual with information about the decision that has been taken, and the right for them to contest that decision and to obtain human intervention for it if they believe the decision is incorrect or unfair.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for monitoring and enforcing data protection laws and has published a range of guidance on how these laws apply to AI systems that process personal data: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/artificial-intelligence/. The ICO also has the power to investigate and impose penalties for non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to balance AI innovation with copyright protection for UK creators when reviewing copyright rules.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our copyright regime must deliver for British people and businesses. This means helping creative industries to thrive while unlocking the extraordinary potential of AI.
We have consulted on a set of options and continue to seek views on how best to meet our 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 copyright and artificial intelligence by 18 March. This report will set out the evidence and views we have gathered and our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for employers and workers of the removal of the mandatory element from their plans for digital identification.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The national digital ID will not be mandatory for individuals to obtain. However, digital right to work checks will be mandatory by the end of the Parliament
Currently, for British and Irish citizens, many right to work checks are paper based. This is vulnerable to fraud and does not create a clear record of when and where checks have been carried out
The digital ID will provide a modern, secure and trusted way for people to prove who they are and access services across the public and private sectors
We will issue the new digital ID, for free, to everybody who wants one and has the right to be in the UK, including the around 10% of UK citizens without traditional forms of ID
We will be consulting imminently - in a range of ways – to ensure the introduction of Digital ID is as effective and inclusive as possible.