Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of copyright law to ensure that creators are remunerated for the use of their work in training AI tools.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
Through this consultation, the Government aims to ensure that right holders in the creative industries can control and be remunerated for the use of their work, while supporting the development of world-leading AI models in the UK.
The Government recognises that this is a complex area and welcomes all views and evidence to help shape its thinking.
The consultation closes on 25 February.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
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 the devolved Administrations on the AI Opportunity Action Plan.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale and win globally, ensuring global AI companies want to call the UK home, and boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy.
The plan sets out our intention to deliver growth across the entire UK via collaboration with devolved and local governments, regional businesses and trade bodies to devise strategies best suited to the context of these regions. I have spoken with ministers from all the Devolved Administrations about the Action Plan, emphasising how important it is for the whole of the UK to benefit.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussion he has had with (a) Skills England and (b) the equivalent agencies in the devolved nations on the AI Opportunity Action Plan.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan government response commits to working with Skills England, as well as devolved and local governments, to assess the country’s AI and digital skills. This will expand education pathways into AI, ensure lifelong skills programmes are prepared for AI, and identify AI adoption opportunities to drive growth.
The Secretary of State engaged with all devolved administrations and key departments on the Action Plan. Skills England will collaborate with devolved administrations to boost growth and spread opportunities across the UK, addressing challenges within the UK skills system and establishing cross-border linkages to facilitate investment in skills.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that that the skills needed for the implementation of the AI Opportunity Action Plan are developed across all four nations of the UK.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan will ensure the UK builds a strong and diverse talent pipeline, realising AI benefits across all UK nations.
Skills England will build highly trained workforces to meet national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. Skills England will collaborate with devolved administrations, regional partners, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education, aligning with devolution agreements and the Government’s commitment to simplify and devolve adult skills funding to Combined Authorities. Cross-UK collaboration will spread best practices and equip the four nations in boosting growth and spreading opportunity.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide university researchers with access to designated officials across government.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Most departments have a Chief Scientific Adviser responsible for delivering high-quality science advice. They directly advise ministers and colleagues and oversee mechanisms to ensure departments take account of, and commission, scientific and engineering evidence, including through Science Advisory Councils.
Government Office for Science (GOS) works with departments on Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) to improve access to academic advice in policy making. In September 2023 GOS, published a database of departmental ARIs, which includes contact information to enable researchers to engage with policy. GOS also work with learned societies and university policy teams to improve links between government and academia.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will meet with representatives of the Universities Policy Engagement Network to discuss the implications for Departments of the Ref 2028 requirement that universities demonstrate (a) impact and (b) engagement.
Answered by George Freeman
The design and implementation of the REF 2028 is being carried out by the devolved funding bodies of the UK nations, including Research England in England. During this process the funding bodies have engaged widely with stakeholders, including many of the members of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN), on the design of the next REF. This engagement, including a currently open opportunity to provide written comments, will continue through the autumn and the final design of the REF will take full account of stakeholders’ contributions to the engagement process.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's announcement of £8 million to fund new satellite connectivity in up to 35,000 of the hardest to reach premises, whether she plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of including premises in Ceredigion constituency as part of that scheme.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government expects less than 100,000 premises to be unable to access a gigabit- capable connection via either a commercial or government funded rollout and require government intervention. These premises are described as Very Hard to Reach. The Capital Grant Scheme announced in April, will provide up to 35,000 premises with help to access low Earth orbit satellite equipment to improve their connectivity. The scheme will be open to premises that the department has identified as being unlikely to benefit from an improved fixed line, or fixed wireless access connection. This could be for one of several reasons including being in a remote location far from neighbouring premises. We expect premises to be located across the UK, and the government will publish a full list of eligible postcodes prior to the launch of the scheme, along with detailed eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the UK’s global ranking in the (a) development and (b) use of human-specific technologies in medical research.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government has not made an assessment on the UK’s global ranking in the development and use of human-specific technologies in medical research as there is no specific ranking. The Government is actively supporting and funding the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). UK Research and Innovation provides the core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs, which drives the uptake of 3Rs technologies. Since it was established, the NC3Rs has invested £77 million in research and almost £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much and what proportion of the funding released for Project Gigabit has been spent on projects in Wales.
Answered by Julia Lopez
We are currently completing the market engagement that will enable us to develop the intervention areas for our Project Gigabit procurements in Wales, with the aim of launching these by the summer.
Projects under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme continue to deliver in Wales, and in February 2023, Building Digital UK contacted all suppliers to identify and propose potential voucher projects where delivery could be faster and provide better than procurements.
As reported in our most recent Project Gigabit quarterly update, almost 2,800 vouchers have already been used to deliver gigabit-capable connections to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas of Wales. The combined value of these vouchers amounts to £7 million in public subsidy.
Our earlier Superfast contract in Wales is also delivering gigabit-capable infrastructure in Wales. The project is nearing completion and will lead to up to a further 37,000 premises getting access to gigabit-capable broadband.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary for State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to launch the next round of Project Gigabit procurement projects in Wales.
Answered by Paul Scully
As part of our £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, we are delivering procurements across Wales to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.
We are working closely with the Welsh Government to deliver a number of procurements across Wales which are set to be launched in early summer this year.
Pre-Procurement Market Engagement will commence later this month for areas of North, South East and South West Wales. Pre-Procurement Market Engagement for Mid and North West Wales is already underway, as part of a wider exercise for a cross-regional procurement.
On top of this delivery, the earlier Superfast contract in Wales is currently providing gigabit-capable connections, with the project set to complete by the end of March. Approximately 32,500 premises have been reached to date, and by completion, up to 37,000 premises will be reached as part of the contract.