Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the open letter entitled Statement on AI Training, published on 23 October 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism and I held roundtables with the creative, media and AI sectors last month and our departments continue to engage with those stakeholders to inform our approach. The Statement on AI Training provides the views of individual creators and performers from across the sector and will also inform our approach alongside our engagement with the AI and broader creative industries sectors.
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the creative industries and AI sectors while recognising the value of human-centred creativity. Whilst clarity is needed, this is a complex topic, and we must take the time to hear stakeholder views and give them careful consideration.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2023, published on 11 September 2024, what steps he plans to take to (a) increase funding for the further development and uptake of human-specific methods that can replace the use of animals in medical research and testing and (b) support scientists to transition to these approaches.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to partnering with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the requirements for phasing out of animal testing and we are currently engaging with the sector as to how to take this commitment forward.
The Government invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of non-animal approaches. The NC3Rs receives additional funding from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for specific programmes and substantial in-kind support from companies for their CRACK IT innovation programme.