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 strengthen trade relations with the United States of America, particularly in the technology and digital sectors.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK-US relationship is already very strong, with trade worth £315 billion in 2024, and shared investment of over £1.2 trillion at the end of 2023.
As you will be aware, on Tuesday 18 March, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and the Special Envoy to the UK Mark Burnett in Washington DC. The meeting followed last month’s agreement between the Prime Minister and President Trump that teams would start working together on an Economic Prosperity Deal, building on our shared strengths and commitment to economic security.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of high street bank branches on consumers, particularly older people.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefiting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. While branch closures are commercial decisions for banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly.
The FCA requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient, and fair service to all of their customers. This includes special considerations for vulnerable customers, such as the elderly and disabled. Additionally, under the Equality Act 2010, banks must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all.
Where a branch closure is announced, LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) assesses a community’s access to cash withdrawal and deposit facilities on behalf of the UK’s largest high street banks. LINK takes into consideration a wide range of criteria, such as the size and vulnerability of the population, existing and remaining cash access facilities, the number of shops and how many older people live nearby. Following this independent assessment, LINK will decide whether to recommend any additional services, such as a banking hub.
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 135 are already open.
Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are used beneficially in education, and in particular to ensure that students from lower-income backgrounds have equal access to such technologies.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Effective use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can power the future of learning by improving access to education and outcomes, reducing staff workload and running operations more efficiently.
Important developments in AI education policy in England include our updated policy paper on the use of generative AI in education, which sets out this government’s core messages on AI use in education. The paper reinforces key messages on safety and provides updated information on intellectual property and data protection considerations as well as regulator approaches.
In January 2025, to ensure the safety of our children, the department announced that leading global tech firms had jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use.
To support a clear ask from teachers and leaders, the department is developing online resources and guidance to help teachers and leaders use AI safely in their setting. This will be published in spring.
The department will also be appointing a task and finish group to advise on digital, AI and technology in order to increase the future pipeline of talent with digital and AI specific skills and prepare children and young people to be ready for an AI and tech-enabled world, as well as making the most of opportunities to use AI and educational technology (EdTech) to drive better teaching and learning.
In addition to this work with schools and colleges, the government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the skills, access, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society and economy, whatever their circumstances. That is why we are working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), who recently published an action plan on digital inclusion. The full publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-inclusion-action-plan-first-steps/digital-inclusion-action-plan-first-steps.
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 the significance of data intermediaries for the digital economy, and of the potential for cyber attacks to disrupt their services.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As the government outlined in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, there is significant potential for data to support economic growth. Our evidence indicates that improved data access and use could contribute to UK productivity growth by 0.23% to 1.26% annually.
Achieving these productivity gains requires greater data maturity across the economy. Data intermediaries are likely to play an important role in enabling individuals to get more out of data they generate and stimulate growth through increasing access to data in trusted and secure ways.
The government is currently inviting evidence on the activities of Data Intermediaries to understand this potential and any risks.
Cyber security is a priority for the government, which is why we are taking a range of action to protect organisations and services against cyber attacks, including through the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce regulation to ensure the safe use of artificial intelligence technologies in healthcare.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring technologies are safe is a top priority. To ensure the regulatory pathway is clear for both developers and adopters, the Department has supported the launch of numerous regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock.
The AIDRS collaborates between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. The service, by providing a collaborative ‘one stop shop’ of information, advice, and guidance, allows adopters and developers of artificial intelligence (AI) to easily understand what regulatory and evaluation pathways need to be followed before an AI tool can be safety deployed across health and care.
The AI Airlock is an MHRA-led initiative, supported by the NHS AI Lab, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet National Health Service standards for safety, efficacy, and integration into existing healthcare workflows. The AI Airlock fosters collaboration between developers, regulators, and healthcare providers, and reduces the risks associated with early-stage implementation while providing valuable feedback for developers to refine their products.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of autonomous maritime mine-hunting vessels; and what plans they have to use similar technology to patrol the English Channel.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy has been using a range of unmanned underwater vehicles to detect sea mines since 2005 and is investing in several autonomous mine-hunting capabilities. The Royal Navy does not routinely comment on future operational plans due to operational security reasons.
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 the level of racial abuse directed at Premier League footballers on social media and whether it is increasing or decreasing; and what steps they are taking to ensure repercussions for such behaviour.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Although the government does not hold this specific information centrally, we remain extremely concerned by online racism and will continue working with the sports sector to tackle this.
The Online Safety Act offers better protections for public figures online. Public order offences including harassment are priority offences under the Act, requiring companies to proactively search for, remove and limit people’s exposure to such content and activity. The Act also introduced a threatening communications offence, capturing communications conveying a serious threat of harm or death, with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they expect their proposed changes to welfare payments in England to encourage more people into the workforce; and what is their estimate of the number of individuals who will enter the workforce as a result of those changes.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The reform proposals set out in the Pathways to Work Green paper on 18 March 2025, mean that people will get more support into work. We will rebalance payments in Universal Credit, offer help for people to get into work as quickly as possible and deliver the first ever permanent, above inflation rise to the standard allowance of UC. As part of rebalancing spending towards work over welfare, we will invest an additional £1 billion a year by 2029/30 to shape a new package of employment, health and skills support to make the system pro-work and reduce perverse incentives.
The changes we are consulting on are intended to galvanise a cultural shift towards more inclusive and accessible workplaces. We want to ensure that we target Government support to maximise the number of people we support. Together with the wider range of measures announced in Get Britain Working, we aim to increase the overall number of people in work. As we develop the reform proposals, we want to ensure that we are maximising existing opportunities in Government and the Department to create accessible and inclusive workplaces. We will consider how any new model would work alongside existing schemes.
All our plans are based on strong evidence of how support can make a real difference to individuals and have enough of an employment impact to provide a healthy return on the investment. Crucially, there is now strong evidence about the types of support that are effective in improving employment outcomes – Work Choice, which provided intensive employment support to disabled people, had a significant and enduring impact with participants 40% more likely to still be in work after eight years had passed. More detail will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the Old Trafford Regeneration Project will impact the surrounding area, and how they intend to support the project.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is significant economic and growth potential around Old Trafford. The development has the potential to make a strong contribution to Greater Manchester’s economy as well as the Government’s growth mission. Making the most of this potential will require co-ordinated and long-term leadership by the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), working in partnership with Government and private sector interests. GMCA will receive an integrated funding settlement worth over £600m per annum, starting from 2025-26, and empowering them to drive local growth and invest in local priorities.
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 whether the use of artificial intelligence in road cameras will make roads safer; and whether they plan to encourage its use.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions on enforcement cameras, including artificial intelligence cameras, used to enforce road traffic legislation is an operational matter for Police and Crime Commissioners in conjunction with Chief Constables and local policing plans.