Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many times he has met with organisations working to tackle antisemitism since taking office.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers and officials have regular meetings about tackling racism, prejudice and discrimination online. For example, we have engaged a range of stakeholders and held roundtables to understand the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act in tackling antisemitism. Ministerial meetings and engagements are published through quarterly transparency reports on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on exempting Category 1 services from their associated obligations under the Online Safety Act.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to determine which services fall into Category 1. Ofcom’s current roadmap estimates publishing the register of categorised services this summer, with the additional duties for Category 1 services becoming enforceable once the relevant codes of practice are in force.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report entitled Detecting Deep Fakes: Artificial Intelligence and Anti-Jewish hate: A Case for regulating Generative AI published by INACH, Decoding Antisemitism, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Antisemitism Policy Trust.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Antisemitic content can have a chilling effect on Jewish users online. The government is working to ensure that all users feel confident engaging online without fear of harassment or abuse. The Online Safety Act regulates AI-generated content in the same way as ‘real’ content - where it is shared on an in-scope service and is either illegal content or harmful to children. The Act also gives online platforms duties where there are risks of their services being used to carry out certain priority offences – this includes illegal antisemitic content which stirs up hatred.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the number of specialist rheumatology nurses in the workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The training of nurses is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and coordinating all stages of education to ensure that nursing students and newly qualified nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate training for nurses to specialise as a specialist rheumatology nurse is set by the Royal College of Nursing, and has to meet the standards set by the NMC.
We will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis times and (b) access to care for people with inflammatory arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support people living with rheumatoid arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the differential economic impact of the proposed copyright exceptions for AI training in each creative sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government published a summary assessment of options alongside the consultation on copyright and AI.
The Government recognises that this is a complex area and welcomes further evidence on the economic impacts of its proposals on creative sectors as part of the consultation.
The Government’s priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform its response.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) mitigate pollution from historic landfills and (b) facilitate the remediation of landfill sites in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibility typically lies with the landowner to maintain systems that prevent pollution. Under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities are primarily responsible for managing contaminated land, including designating historic landfills. If a historic landfill site is designated as a ‘special site,’ the Environment Agency (EA) can require remediation and continues to support local authorities in fulfilling their duties.
The EA regulates two permitted landfill facilities in Knowsley, in line with issued permits:
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with authors whose work has been used without (a) permission or (b) remuneration to train generative AI models.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has engaged extensively with the creative sector, including through a roundtable meeting held by the Secretary of State in March.
The consultation on copyright and AI, which closed on 25 February, specifically sought views on giving rights holders greater control over uses of their material in AI training and supporting their ability to be remunerated when used.
The Government will continue to engage with the sector, as it carefully analyses the responses received to the consultation.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many responses there were to the consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence which closed on 25 February 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government received 11,587 responses to the consultation on copyright and AI. This total includes online survey responses and email submissions.
A small number of the email submissions received were associated with online survey responses (providing supporting evidence, for example), so the total number of distinct responses will be slightly lower than 11,587.