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 support workers to train in new sectors when facing unemployment due to artificial intelligence.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
At the recent Spending Review, the government announced substantial investment in skills in England with an additional £1.2 billion by 2028/29. This includes supporting targeted skills packages for key sectors such as construction, digital and technology, engineering, and defence.
The government will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund in the 2025/26 academic year. This includes funding the Free Courses for Jobs offer, which gives eligible adults the chance to access high value Level 3 qualifications for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job.
The government will also support adult learners to retrain through our technical education offer, including through a range of apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps. Our new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England.
From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for funding from the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will be the new student finance system for courses and modules starting from January 2027 onwards. The LLE will allow people to retrain, upskill and gain new qualifications across their working lives, at a time that is right for them, such as those returning from a career break.
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 public transparency measures concerning data access and supervision during the partnership with Google; and how they will report this to Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All government departments must comply with UK Data Protection legislation when partnering with technology companies, as they remain the data controllers for the personal data they hold. Departments are responsible for ensuring their technology partners meet high standards in line with UK GDPR principles. Each department must appoint an adequately resourced Data Protection Officer (DPO) to assess partner compliance and advise on Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) to identify and mitigate risks.
The Government Digital Service (GDS) has published principles for securing personal data in government services, including actions departments must take to ensure compliance. These include robust commercial agreements, assigned liabilities, risk assessments, audits, monitoring, and oversight of data processing terms, along with seeking assurance from suppliers.
Additionally, the Government Security Group and GDS have introduced the Security by Design Policy, which sets out how departments should manage security risks arising from third-party technology products.
Further engagement with Parliament will be through the existing committee structures.
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 there are sufficient supplies of water given the increasing number of data centres being constructed; and what plans they have to require that, for every data centre constructed, work is undertaken to increase the water supply.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the need to ensure data centre infrastructure does not compromise the resilience of public water supplies. We are taking steps to ensure that water availability is a key consideration in planning.
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that the planning system should take full account of water scarcity. Local plans and decisions should take account of the long-term implications for water supply. The Government encourages data centre developers to contact their proposed water and wastewater supplier early in the planning process. Water companies are not obliged to approve the supply of water for non-domestic uses, such as for data centres, if doing so would require unreasonable expenditure or risk their ability to meet domestic supply obligations.
Modern data centres can also employ cooling methods that use minimal water such as free cooling or advanced closed-loop systems, which only require minimal water top-up. Additionally, data centres can use non-potable or grey water for cooling purposes.
The forthcoming National Policy Statement for data centres will set out environmental criteria – including water supply considerations – for data centre proposals that are taken forward as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
With respect to the Government’s AI Growth Zone (AIGZ) plans, proposals for data centres are required to set out:
(1) the volume of water required;
(2) the availability of that volume and the timeline of delivery; and
(3) any wider infrastructure requirements or constraints
Applications should include a confirmation of the above from the relevant water supplier. This will ensure that AIGZs are delivered where there is sufficient water capacity.
DEFRA is undertaking work to examine how the efficiency of water use in data centres can be improved, as part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of public water supply by 20% by 2037/38.
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 steps they are taking to provide mental health support to patients with prostate cancer during and after treatment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. The Government will transform mental health services into 24 hour a day, seven day a week neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach and giving patients better access to support directly through the NHS App, including self-referral for talking therapies.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will seek to improve both the physical and mental health aspects of cancer care. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and earlier diagnosis to accessing treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including prostate cancer.
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 assessment they have made of the potential use of the supercomputer Isambard-AI in processing the medical scans of cancer patients.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan will help the National Health Service become the most artificial intelligence (AI) ready healthcare system in the world. While no assessment has yet been made of the potential use of Isambard-AI in processing the medical scans of cancer patients, the Government is fully committed to the ‘scan-pilot-scale’ approach set out in Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan published earlier this year, so that we can ensure AI is deployed in the critical areas where the technology can support better health outcomes.
The Government has already had success with the ‘scan-pilot-scale’ approach as part of the £113 million AI awards, which provided funding for a number of technologies that support cancer diagnosis. In addition, the £21 million AI diagnostic fund is supporting the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas such as chest x-ray and chest computed tomography scans to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England. Funding is being provided to 12 imaging networks, which cover 67 out of a total of 137 acute and specialist trusts across all seven regions of England.
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 assessment they have made of current eligibility guidelines of BRCA1 gene testing, and how testing allows early detection of heightened risk of prostate cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is delivered in line with the National Genomic Test Directory. The test directory outlines eligibility criteria and testing methods for over 200 cancer indications, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing for prostate cancer, and is regularly reviewed through an evidence-based process to ensure testing remains clinically relevant and cost-effective. Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 can help identify individuals at increased genetic risk of developing prostate cancer, enabling earlier and more targeted monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment. This supports timely clinical interventions and can improve outcomes for patients and their families. NHS England has also funded transformation projects through NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) alliances, including one led by the East GMS Alliance focused on improving the prostate cancer pathway. This project focused on the genetic testing of prostate tumour tissue samples to better understand the causes and inform treatment decisions, while also identifying whether relatives may be at increased risk of cancers such as breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer.
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 develop a campaign to encourage high-risk groups of men to be checked for prostate cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to supporting the National Health Service in raising the awareness of cancer symptoms and in diagnosing all cancer types earlier, including prostate cancer.
In January 2025, NHS England re-launched the Abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer phase of its Help Us Help You campaigns, to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, including for prostate cancer, and to remove barriers to people visiting their general practitioner.
This year, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how outcomes and experiences of cancer patients in England can be improved. It will cover earlier diagnosis and ensure that cancer patients have access to the latest treatments and technology and will ultimately bring this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.
The Government is investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK-led TRANSFORM screening trial, which is seeking to find ways to detect prostate cancer in men as early as possible. The TRANSFORM trial will aim to address health inequalities by ensuring that one in ten of the participants are black men.
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 sufficient protections are in place to keep the public’s data private and secure following the announcement of partnerships between the Civil Service and technology companies.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All government departments must comply with UK Data Protection legislation when partnering with technology companies, as they remain the data controllers for the personal data they hold. Departments are responsible for ensuring their technology partners meet high standards in line with UK GDPR principles. Each department must appoint an adequately resourced Data Protection Officer (DPO) to assess partner compliance and advise on Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) to identify and mitigate risks.
The Government Digital Service (GDS) has published principles for securing personal data in government services, including actions departments must take to ensure compliance. These include robust commercial agreements, assigned liabilities, risk assessments, audits, monitoring, and oversight of data processing terms, along with seeking assurance from suppliers.
Additionally, the Government Security Group and GDS have introduced the Security by Design Policy, which sets out how departments should manage security risks arising from third-party technology products.
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 Google's "Data Boundary" solution; and what steps they are taking to protect the privacy of their data held on Google Cloud.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty’s Government has not made a formal assessment of Google's "Data Boundary" solution. However, it remains committed to ensuring that public sector data is managed securely and in line with UK law and regulations, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
The responsibility of managing a department’s digital and IT infrastructure ultimately falls within each Department’s own purview. However, departments are mandated to follow the GDS Cloud First policy and multi-region guidance, using cloud services that provide flexibility, resilience, and robust data governance. Additionally, the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework and the Government Functional Standard for security set out the principles and baseline controls for managing security risks, particularly for critical systems and sensitive data.
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 training provided to civil servants through the Google partnership includes guidance on artificial intelligence bias, data ethics and accountability.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have not yet agreed with Google as to how this training will be delivered but HMG will expect Google to adhere to the principles and standards in the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government, published in February 2025.
Principles include: understanding AI and its limitations; and using AI lawfully, ethically, responsibly and securely. Specifically, the paper references training on ethical considerations, including bias mitigation and human oversight.
Additionally, the paper provides clear guidance on governance and oversight and that initiatives align with broader goals of societal benefit, ensuring that public trust is maintained and that AI contributes positively to public service.