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 energy costs on factory activity in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that high energy costs impact factory activity and undermine investment in manufacturing. Therefore, we announced in the Industrial Strategy the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, to reduce industrial electricity prices by around 20-25% from 2027. This new scheme could benefit over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, including those in automotive and defence sectors. We will consult on precise eligibility shortly.
For existing Supercharger recipients, we will also increase Network Charging Compensation from 60% to 90%, saving eligible energy intensive industries a further £10 per megawatt-hour.
We are also continuing compensation of indirect carbon costs from electricity generation for eligible sectors.
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 emerging cybersecurity risks as a result of public use of artificial intelligence technologies such as automated vehicles.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As AI adoption increases and cyber threats evolve, we must ensure systems are being developed securely and avoid putting personal safety or data at risk. The government’s approach is to ensure technology is ‘secure by design’ with minimum standards of cyber security built in to reduce the security burden on users. The new AI Cyber Security Code of Practice, produced by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), is part of this approach and helps organisations develop and deploy AI systems securely.
The NCSC has also produced advice and guidance to help individuals understand the cyber security risks of using AI tools. The AI Security Institute builds on the expertise of our NCSC to understand how AI could be used to help malicious actors commit cyber attacks.
Cyber security is at the heart of the government’s priorities for the roll-out of automated vehicles. The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 places obligations on vehicle manufacturers to maintain vehicle software and ensure there are appropriate cyber security measures in place throughout its service life.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of international conflicts on the oil market, and whether they intend to implement measures to reduce the effect of such external shocks on the UK economy.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Oil and gas markets are well supplied and functioning normally. Though they have responded to events in the Middle East, prices remain within the bounds we have seen over the last year.
The Government's Clean Energy Superpower Mission, supported by the largest investment in home-grown clean energy in British history, will enhance energy security by boosting our energy independence, protecting billpayers, and reducing exposure to global supply shocks.
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 encourage more workers and small businesses to adopt artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we are committed to the widespread diffusion of AI across the UK. To ensure workers feel confident using AI in their day-to-day operations, we are partnering with 11 companies to train 7.5 million UK workers with essential AI skills by the end of the decade, ensuring the UK workforce can thrive in an AI-enabled economy. We have also recently announced an AI Adoption Fund alongside regional business support. These measures will provide businesses with the targeted expertise and skills they need to integrate AI into their business models, fuelling growth.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the growth of artificial intelligence technologies on future water demand; and what steps they are taking to mitigate the risk of water shortages as a result.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency published its second National Framework for Water Resources in June 2025 and continues to engage with the sector to improve understanding of future water needs. A questionnaire recently completed by the sector will aid modelling. Further data and more refined modelling will be needed to fully understand future needs.
Water companies also factor in future supplies required for non-household demand in their areas. Meeting increased demand will also require water using sectors, such as artificial intelligence technology, to forecast and plan their water consumption, look to water efficiency measures, and their own sources of water to support their operational resilience.
The Water Delivery Taskforce will hold water companies to account to deliver their PR24 plans; ensuring the additional water, wastewater and drainage capacity needed for longer-term growth is understood and suitable plans are in place for delivery both within and beyond the Price Review 2024 (PR24) programme.
Ofwat published their PR24 final determinations in December 2024, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. This will deliver substantial and enduring improvements through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to limit the rise in public borrowing while maintaining a balanced budget, particularly in regard to debt interest payments and public sector spending commitments.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s approach to borrowing is set out in its fiscal rules: to move the current budget into balance, so day-to-day spending is met by revenues, meaning that the Government will only borrow for investment, and to reduce net financial debt as a share of the economy by the end of this parliament.
The Government has recently delivered a Spending Review which set multi-year spending plans, delivering this Government’s priorities whilst living within the envelopes set at Spring Statement 2025. While balancing the current budget, the Chancellor has increased day-to-day spending by £190 billion in real terms, and capital investment by over £120 billion over the Parliament compared to the plans set at Spring Budget 2024 by the previous government.
This Government has made difficult decisions on tax, spending and welfare to ensure we are living within our means. This is the responsible choice to reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead, so we can spend more on our public services, more on the priorities of working people and less on servicing debt. In its Spring forecast, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast borrowing to fall in every year - from 4.8% GDP this year to 2.1% in 2029-30.
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 number of non-domiciled individuals who have left the UK since the Autumn Budget 2024, and what estimate they have made of any reductions in tax revenue as a result.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Official Statistics around non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK [1] will be published in July 2025, and this will include information about taxpayers who claim non-domiciled status in the UK for the tax year 2023-24.
A supplementary forecast information release around the costings of reforms to the non-domicile regime was published by the Office for Budget Responsibility in January 2025 [2]. This costing outlines the certified impact of ending the non-domiciled tax status on revenues to the Exchequer.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk
[2] https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Non-doms-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf
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 proportion of the funding for the AI Opportunities Action Plan will be allocated for improving infrastructure in the UK that AI technologies rely on, such as data centres.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government agreed to take forward all the AI infrastructure related recommendations in the AI Opportunities Action Plan.
As part of this we’re enabling the build out of AI data centres by: establishing AI Growth Zones; classifying data centres as critical national infrastructure; and supporting delivery through planning and power reforms. These initiatives have already resulted in £45 billion in private-sector investment announced since July 2024.
In addition, at the Spending Review, we committed £1 billion to expand the UK's public compute capacity through the AI Research Resource.
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 whether there are skills gaps in the artificial intelligence workforce; and what steps they are taking to increase AI-related skills across the UK workforce.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Reducing the AI skills gap is critical for increasing the UK’s productivity and delivering long-term growth. DSIT regularly reviews the status of the UK’s AI labour market and has commissioned a survey of the labour market, which will be published later this year. We are also working with DfE and Skills England to assess the AI skills gap and map pathways to fill it and recently announced a joint commitment with industry to upskill 7.5 million workers with vital AI skills.
As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan and reaffirmed at the Spending Review, we have also confirmed that we will be expanding AI education in universities, launching Pioneer Fellowships for cross-disciplinary upskilling, and introducing the Sparck AI Scholarships to attract and nurture top talent in UK institutions.
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 number of UK companies seeking to be based and listed in the United States of America; and what steps they intend to take to encourage UK businesses to remain.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to reinvigorating our capital markets to deliver growth, supporting firms to start, scale, list and stay in the UK.
We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms including overhauling the Prospectus regime and Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets.
The Government's recently published Industrial Strategy sets out how we are supporting favourable conditions to drive investment in our highest growth sectors, and spur domestic businesses to scale up - supporting high-quality jobs across the UK. This includes increasing the British Business Bank’s total financial capacity to £25.6 billion – which will result in a two-thirds increase in support for innovative UK businesses.