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 assessment they have made of the role of AI tools integrated in e-commerce platforms in supporting productivity growth of small and medium-sized enterprises; and what impact that assessment has on their strategy for digital adoption by UK businesses.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
AI tools integrated into e-commerce platforms can help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become more productive by automating routine tasks and improving data-based decision-making, for example on marketing, customer service and stock management.
The Department for Business and Trade is committed to increasing SME digital capability and AI confidence and is implementing the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce recommendations to address barriers such as lack of information, resources and skills. This includes convening industry roundtables to partner on delivering more, running local digital adoption pilots to test what support works best as well as linking up with the Business Growth Service to improve SME access to existing support.
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 assessment they have made of the impact of digitalisation and automation on recruitment patterns in the UK financial services sector; and what steps they are taking to ensure that higher education and professional training pathways meet changing skills demand in this regard.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Setting the UK’s financial services sector up with the skills and talent it needs is an important pillar of the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.
The Economic Secretary commissioned the Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC) to produce a report on how the skills system can drive growth and productivity by supporting more effective adoption and innovation of AI and other disruptive technologies. The FSSC have committed to reporting back by the end of the year.
We work closely with employers, sector bodies and providers to ensure training aligns with labour‑market demand, including through Local Skills Improvement Plans. Our reforms to higher technical education, including the rollout of Higher Technical Qualifications and the expansion of degree apprenticeships and modular learning through the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, are improving the quality and flexibility of skills pathways.
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 assessment they have made of the impact of AI adoption on the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and what steps they are taking to support the responsible uptake of AI tools by SMEs.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Adoption of Artificial Intelligence by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) can unlock significant productivity gains. An OECD paper published last year estimates that AI could increase UK annual labour productivity growth by 1.4 to 2.7 percentage points over 10 years. This has been estimated by DSIT analysts to be equivalent to £55 billion to £140 billion economic (GVA) growth.
It is important for government to support with this, in partnership with industry. That is why the Department for Business and Trade created the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce and are working to deliver on their ten recommendations, including a series of industry roundtables and local-level pilots to tackle barriers SMEs face when adopting digital technologies including AI.
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 assessment they have made of the role of financial services firms in promoting the adoption of AI tools among UK small and medium-sized enterprises; and how this is being considered in government policy on SME digitalisation.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Adoption of Artificial Intelligence can unlock significant productivity gains. It is important for government to work in partnership with industry, including financial services firms, to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with this.
The Department for Business and Trade created the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce and are leading a series of roundtables to tackle barriers SMEs face when adopting digital technologies. Members include Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Mastercard and Visa.
Innovate UK’s Next Generation Professional and Financial Services programme supports digital innovation and adoption across financial services. Within this, the Future Finance strand accelerates uptake by providing targeted support to Financial Services firms.
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 Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Information Commissioner's Office's decision to issue a reprimand rather than a fine to the Post Office following the disclosure of the personal information of postmasters involved in the Horizon IT scandal.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Post Office has rightly apologised for the data breach to which the noble Lord refers, which added to the injustice which this group of postmasters had already experienced. I understand that the Post Office has paid compensation for the breach. It is for the Information Commissioner, as an independent regulator, to decide what penalties are appropriate.
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 assessment they have made of the impact of tax and regulatory changes for businesses on employment levels.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Delivering on our plan to Make Work Pay is a core part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards and create opportunities for all. We are committed to working in partnership with businesses to realise that ambition, enabling businesses and workers to thrive.
My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments
The OBR judged that none of the tax measures in this Budget will have a material impact to justify adjusting their employment forecast and have not yet made a judgement on the Employment Rights Bill given ongoing policy development.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the regulatory requirements applying to AI-enabled toys for children.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government has committed to reviewing product regulations including the Toys (Safety) Regulations. These reviews will examine whether changes are needed to detailed safety requirements to reflect modern challenges, such as the use of AI in toys.
Following an appropriate consultation as required under The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, Government will decide whether to implement any changes to the Toy (Safety) Regulations to ensure they address modern safety issues and technological developments, harness opportunities to create economic growth, and continue to protect people and places from product-related harm.
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 steps they are taking to develop a regulatory framework to ensure that workplace use of artificial intelligence tools complies with UK employment and data protection law.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Information Commissioner’s Office has committed to developing a statutory code of practice on artificial intelligence, so organisations have certainty on how to deploy AI in ways that uphold people’s rights and build public confidence.
Artificial Intelligence is a general-purpose technology with many applications, which is why the government believes most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use by our existing regulators.
The Plan to Make Work Pay set out the Government’s commitment to work with workers, trade unions, employers and experts to ensure rights and protections keep pace with technological change.
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 assessment they have made of the findings of SumUp's UK Business Confidence Report 2025, and of the implications of those findings for policies relating to the cost pressures faced by small and independent retailers.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We recognise the challenges facing businesses at the moment. This is why we are taking action – including through creating a fairer business rates system which includes introducing permanently lower rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties.
We're protecting the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all this year.
We also recognise the challenge in accessing the right skills which is why we've created Skills England, the new Growth and Skills Levy, the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, as well as qualifications reform and the Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, this Government is ensuring employers will be better supported to recruit and train the domestic workforce with the skills they need.
Finally, our Plan for small and medium-sized businesses aims to tackle late payments, boost access to finance, and remove red tape to enable SMEs across the country to grow and thrive.