Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department taking to promote the sustainable development of AI capacity.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will achieve our AI ambitions by laying the foundations for growth, driving adoption and building UK capabilities. We recognise that data centres face sustainability challenges, from energy demands to water use.
Through the AI Energy Council, we will be exploring bold, clean energy solutions from next-generation renewables to small modular reactors to ensure our AI ambitions align with the UK’s net zero goals. This builds on DSIT’s contribution to make Britain a clean energy superpower by investing in relevant research on clean energy and climate change.
Additionally, we recently signed agreements on sustainability at the French AI Action Summit and joined the Coalition for Sustainable AI.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 Cabinet colleagues to ensure that workforce skills adapt to the role of AI in the economy.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Lifelong learning and adaptability are key to ensuring everyone can prosper in an increasingly technology-driven world. The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines the steps the UK will take to build a strong, diverse talent pipeline, realising AI benefits across the economy.
Working with DSIT and the Industrial Strategy Council, Skills England will bring together businesses, training partners, and unions with national and local government to assess the country’s skills need – including AI and digital skills – and map pathways to fill them.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 smaller platforms are adequately regulated to protect children from online harms.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government’s priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023 so that children can benefit from its wide-reaching protections. The Act’s illegal content duties and, where relevant, child safety duties, will apply to services of all sizes.
All companies in scope of the Act, regardless of their size, will have duties to prevent users from encountering illegal content and activity. Additionally, all services which are likely to be accessed by children are required to protect children from harmful content. This includes content such as pornography, or content that promote, encourages or provides instructions for self-harm, eating disorders or suicide.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 regulate Artificial Intelligence.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, and the UK's existing expert regulators are best placed to do this. The government is committed to ensuring that regulators have the right expertise and resources to make proportionate and effective decisions about AI.
The Government also intends to introduce targeted requirements on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems. These proposals will build on the voluntary commitments secured at the Seoul and Bletchley AI Summits and will strengthen the role of the AI Safety Institute.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of artificial intelligence on intellectual property rights.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is central to the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth. The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will lay the foundations for AI growth, driving adoption and building UK capability.
The Intellectual Property Office identified copyright, digital replicas, and computer-generated works as potential high-impact areas. The Government is consulting to gather evidence of the impact of AI to inform future policy development.
We are looking at the broader IP system to ensure it supports the AI sector, while continuing to protect the UK’s strengths in traditional innovation and creativity.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 Cabinet colleagues to help SMEs adopt digital technology.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce led by Phil Smith and reporting to DBT is looking specifically at SMEs adopting technology. They are working towards their interim report. The National Technology Adviser and Government Chief Scientific Adviser are running an official Government review reporting to the Chancellor, DBT SoS and DSIT SoS that identifies barriers that businesses within the Industrial Strategy’s 8 growth sectors face when adopting established and novel technologies. This is then related to productivity and growth of the economy. It is building on existing analysis, industry insights and other government reviews and workstreams. Recommendations will feed directly into Industrial Strategy work.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of visa restrictions on the research sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK’s immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come to the UK through a number of visa routes such as the Global Talent visa, the High Potential Individual visa and the Skilled Worker visa, and we continually keep our policies under review.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has regular discussions with the Home Office, and with other Government Departments, to ensure that the UK’s world-class science, research, technology and innovation sectors are supported.
UKRI allows researchers coming to the UK who are working at least 50% of their time on a UKRI grant to claim the cost of their visa from the grant. Many other research funders operate a similar policy. Researchers in receipt of Horizon Europe grants are also allowed to claim the cost of their visa from their grant.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 rural broadband coverage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to Ofcom’s December 2024 Connected Nations report, just 0.1% of properties are unable to get decent broadband coverage (defined as at least 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed), with 89% of rural UK residential properties having superfast broadband coverage (>=30 Mbps). Clearly this still leaves a significant number of rural properties with inadequate broadband coverage.
Through Project Gigabit, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband (>1000 Mbps). These premises predominantly fall in rural areas.
For those premises still unable to get a decent broadband connection, the Broadband USO provides consumers the right to request a decent broadband connection.