Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking with international partners (1) to combat antisemitism within (a) the United Nations, and (b) other international organisations; and (2) to ensure that allegations of antisemitism by UN officials and mandate holders are appropriately addressed.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

The UK continues to value the role of UN agencies, mandate holders, special rapporteurs, and others who provide expertise, coordination and leadership in support of international-agreed objectives and issues of concern. However, it is vital that they do so in a way that is independent, objective, and maintains the confidence of Member States. For example, along with several other countries, the UK has raised concerns about a series of comments made by the Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and we have asked that the comments of the Special Rapporteur be urgently investigated against the Code of Conduct for her post, and for action to be taken to restore the confidence of the international community in the independence and objectivity of the Special Rapporteur system.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the time-criticality of enabling sovereign AI access.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

For Britain, AI sovereignty is about reducing over-dependencies and increasing resilience in key national strategic priorities, so we secure greater control and greater leverage over the issues that matter most. We will continue to use the best technology and welcome inward investment because that is what our public services and economy demand.

We have moved quickly to strengthen the UK's sovereign AI capabilities, including launching the £500m Sovereign AI Fund, which since April has already taken equity stakes in three promising British frontier AI companies and supported six more with access to national compute.

We recently announced a £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan to back British firms developing the chips and computing power behind AI. This includes our Advance Market Commitment to buy novel inference chips, which will equip the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) with powerful next generation chips. Dedicated AIRR capacity supports the AI Security Institute and the Sovereign AI Unit, including guaranteed resource for mission-critical AI safety research, and strategically selected UK AI startups. Over 500 UK projects have already been supported through AIRR infrastructure, and we are further investing £2 billion to expand our public compute offering.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that access by users in the UK to (1) computing services, (2) software, or (3) artificial intelligence models, could be withdrawn or restricted as a result of export controls imposed by a government outside the UK.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

HMG recognises the importance of compute to the UK’s digital economy and national security. HMG takes a balanced approach to cloud services, ensuring security and resilience while benefiting from global innovation. This is underpinned by UK security standards, data protection law and established commercial frameworks.

Domestically, HMG is accelerating UK data centre delivery through AI Growth Zones. The UK has a range of economic security tools to manage risk, including the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

HMG keeps risks under review, adapting its approach as needed, as is the case with the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the risk that computing capacity relied upon in the UK could be remotely disabled, restricted, or otherwise rendered unavailable by an entity based outside the UK.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

HMG recognises the importance of compute to the UK’s digital economy and national security. HMG takes a balanced approach to cloud services, ensuring security and resilience while benefiting from global innovation. This is underpinned by UK security standards, data protection law and established commercial frameworks.

Domestically, HMG is accelerating UK data centre delivery through AI Growth Zones. The UK has a range of economic security tools to manage risk, including the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

HMG keeps risks under review, adapting its approach as needed, as is the case with the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect upholsterers and furniture sector workers from sustained exposure to chemical flame retardants.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) outline specific duties on employers to protect workers from harmful substances, such as foams and flame retardants, which may be contained in soft furnishings such as mattresses and sofas. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides practical advice and guidance on the basics of COSHH, completing COSHH assessments and links to industry specific information and guidance to prevent and control workplace exposure to harmful substances at Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) - HSE.

Guidance which covers both the initial manufacture and any secondary processing of finished fabrics (such as upholstery) can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/fabric-finishes.htm.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the health risks to upholsterers and furniture sector workers from the handling of flame retardant treated materials.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recognised the risks to textile workers who routinely handle finished fabrics, including those treated with fire-resistant finishes. HSE has produced a specific guidance page on its website which covers both the initial manufacture and any secondary processing of finished fabrics (such as upholstery). The guidance page can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/fabric-finishes.htm.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports in The Times on 4 April that domestic chemical flame‑retardant requirements increase the cost of UK sofas compared with EU and global markets by up to 30 per cent.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.

This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the 5,793 upholsterers who called for an end to chemical flame-retardant treatments in response to their 2023 consultation, Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.

This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with furniture manufacturers over the past two years regarding the costs of adding chemical flame retardants to products sold in the UK.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.

This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of computing capacity located in the UK that could not be remotely disabled, restricted, or otherwise rendered unavailable by a supplier, government, or other entity based outside the UK.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government works closely with industry partners to strengthen the resilience of critical digital infrastructure and to reduce vulnerabilities that could arise from supply chain dependencies, cyber risks or single points of failure. This includes promoting robust cybersecurity practices, business continuity planning and risk management measures across critical sectors.

Through the National Cyber Security Centre and other relevant authorities, the Government continues to assess risks to the UK's digital infrastructure and, where necessary, takes action to protect national security and the continuity of essential services.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks posed by volatile chemical flame retardants that off-gas from upholstered furniture into household dust.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Furniture manufacturers must ensure they only place safe products on the UK market. Any chemical flame retardants used in furniture must comply with all relevant UK chemical regulations, including UK REACH.

While the evidence of negative health impacts from chemical flame retardants in furniture is limited, the Government recognises concern about their widespread use. The consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ proposes reforming the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, which set flammability requirements for upholstered furniture, to maintain a high level of fire safety while meaningfully reducing the use of chemical flame retardants.