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, whether her Department has had discussions with X on the potential impact of the output of its Grok AI on child safety.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is clear that no one should have to go through the ordeal of seeing intimate images of themselves online.
There are no excuses not to act, and services must deal with this urgently. Ofcom are looking into this as a matter of urgency, and they have the government’s full backing to take any necessary enforcement action.
Services and operators have a clear obligation to act appropriately. This is not about restricting freedom of speech but upholding the law.
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 her Department is taking to ensure that pricing mechanisms for infrastructure access do not adversely impact private investment in rural gigabit rollout.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.
In July, we published our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices.
In the draft Statement we also set out the importance of continued investment, competition and fair pricing. The government is considering consultation responses, market development and the economic context before the final version is published.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October to Question 82973 on Broadband: Rural Areas, if she will make her policy to include direction to Ofcom on revising the Physical Infrastructure Access pricing model to ensure consistent competitive conditions in the forthcoming Statement of Strategic Priorities.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In July, DSIT published a consultation on the draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector. The draft Statement sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas.
We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.
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 her Department has made of the potential merits of reforming physical infrastructure access pricing for Project Gigabit to reduce rural build costs for alternative network operators.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.
For this reason, while my officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made a formal assessment of the merits of reforming physical infrastructure access pricing for Project Gigabit to reduce rural build costs for alternative network operators.
My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK.
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 hold discussions with Ofcom on revising the Physical Infrastructure Access pricing model to ensure consistent competitive conditions between (a) national ISPs and (b) alternative network operators building gigabit-capable broadband in rural areas.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.
For this reason, while my officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made any specific assessment of the merits of introducing fiscal incentives to reduce how much rural operators pay for PIA.
My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out.
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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing fiscal incentives to support private investment in rural broadband networks, in the context of the Physical Infrastructure Access pricing structure.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.
For this reason, while my officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made any specific assessment of the merits of introducing fiscal incentives to reduce how much rural operators pay for PIA.
My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out.
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 to ensure that public subsidies provided to data centre partnerships are not used to support Drax Power Station.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) were announced in January as part of the Prime Minister's AI Opportunities Action Plan.
In April, following an informal call for interest where we received over 200 proposals, we launched the application process to identify AIGZs. We have received 56 applications from across the UK, which we are currently reviewing.
We will continue to follow due process, led by our public criteria, as we take any proposals forward.
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 his Department is taking to ensure that the National Telecare Campaign is delivered bilingually in (a) English and (b) Welsh across all platforms.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government supports the industry-led National Telecare Campaign. The objective of this campaign is to identify telecare users so that they can receive additional support when their landlines are upgraded from analogue to digital.
It is important for the campaign to reach vulnerable customers across the UK, which is why the campaign is being delivered bilingually. In Wales, a TV advert is being broadcast on ITV Wales in English with Welsh subtitles, as well as in Welsh on Welsh community radio. A combination of English and Welsh, as well as Welsh-only content, is being used for printed adverts and video on demand.
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 with (a) scientists, (b) industry and (c) civil society to phase out testing on animals.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. Work to support this transition must be science-led and in lock step with partners and the government has been consulting scientists, industry and civil society as this process unfolds.
The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year and has engaged with scientists, industry and civil society to draft this strategy.
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, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofcom on increasing the four-hour minimum time requirement for power backup during power outages in the broadband phone network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Communication providers have statutory responsibilities to take appropriate and proportionate steps to provide resilient networks and services. Ofcom published guidance in September 2024 on the measures that providers can take to meet those responsibilities, which sets out that power backup of at least four hours is good practice for active fixed access equipment in cabinets at the point of installation.
Ofcom also requires providers to ensure customers making calls over broadband are able to make emergency calls in the event of a power cut at their premises for a minimum of one hour. On 14 March, Vodafone, BT, KCOM and Zen Internet announced that they will introduce a Broadband Battery Backup capable of powering routers for four-to-seven hours. This follows the agreement of the Checklist for Non-Voluntary Migrations agreed by providers in November 2024.
Ofcom are reviewing the power resilience of mobile networks, and on 10 February announced work they may complete to review power outages affect broadband networks in the UK.