Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 AI tools are safe by design to prevent the creation of child sexual abuse material.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of General Practices are signed up to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD); and what steps his Department is taking to help address (a) technical and (b) contractual barriers preventing further practices from joining.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) receives data from Optum, Vision, and TPP SystmOne practices, which represent the three largest clinical system providers to general practices (GPs). 32% of practices across all four nations currently participate in CPRD. As of 22 April, there are 7,660 practices in total, 2,428 of which currently have requested to contribute data to CPRD. The following table shows the number of practices in each nation:
Nation | Number of contributing practices | Total number of practices |
England | 2,148 | 6,112 |
Wales | 38 | 368 |
Scotland | 216 | 874 |
Northern Ireland | 26 | 306 |
CPRD is mandated to operate on a cost-recovery basis and holds contracts with all three of the main data providers. CPRD’s current data licence and service fees are only able to support a maximum of 35% population coverage across the United Kingdom. The focus is therefore on a representative practice and patient sample rather than 100% coverage.
For Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, previous IT system limitations restricting participation are currently being lifted which will allow for further participation across the three devolved nations.
CPRD currently has 402 TPP practices signed up in England. However, due to technical issues, CPRD is unable to use TPP patient data and continues to work with the supplier to find a solution.
If a patient registers for a type 1 opt-out with their GP, or registers for the National Data Opt-out, then CPRD will not receive any new data for that patient.
The number of type 1 opt-outs are not recorded centrally, as it is not possible to specify how many people who registered for a National Data Opt-out did so to opt-out of the sharing of their data via the CPRD, as the opt-out covers a range of research. Information on the numbers of National Data Opt-outs is published at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/national-data-opt-out-open-data
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients in England have exercised their right to opt out of sharing their data for research purposes via the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) receives data from Optum, Vision, and TPP SystmOne practices, which represent the three largest clinical system providers to general practices (GPs). 32% of practices across all four nations currently participate in CPRD. As of 22 April, there are 7,660 practices in total, 2,428 of which currently have requested to contribute data to CPRD. The following table shows the number of practices in each nation:
Nation | Number of contributing practices | Total number of practices |
England | 2,148 | 6,112 |
Wales | 38 | 368 |
Scotland | 216 | 874 |
Northern Ireland | 26 | 306 |
CPRD is mandated to operate on a cost-recovery basis and holds contracts with all three of the main data providers. CPRD’s current data licence and service fees are only able to support a maximum of 35% population coverage across the United Kingdom. The focus is therefore on a representative practice and patient sample rather than 100% coverage.
For Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, previous IT system limitations restricting participation are currently being lifted which will allow for further participation across the three devolved nations.
CPRD currently has 402 TPP practices signed up in England. However, due to technical issues, CPRD is unable to use TPP patient data and continues to work with the supplier to find a solution.
If a patient registers for a type 1 opt-out with their GP, or registers for the National Data Opt-out, then CPRD will not receive any new data for that patient.
The number of type 1 opt-outs are not recorded centrally, as it is not possible to specify how many people who registered for a National Data Opt-out did so to opt-out of the sharing of their data via the CPRD, as the opt-out covers a range of research. Information on the numbers of National Data Opt-outs is published at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/national-data-opt-out-open-data
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department will take to prevent further withdrawal of planned AI investment from the UK, in the context of OpenAI’s decision to pause its Stargate UK project.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Decisions on investment are a matter for private companies. The Government has been clear that it will encourage and support investments that will enable UK firms and people to benefit. Many of the large-scale AI infrastructure projects in the UK have been publicly announced, with most of these having press releases available on Gov.uk. The Government continues to engage across the board on these investments to ensure that they deliver the best outcomes for the UK.
Our focus is on continuing to create the right conditions for investment in the UK’s AI data centre infrastructure. We are continuing to work with OpenAI and other leading AI companies to strengthen UK compute capacity.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the potential merits of proposals in the ABPI report published in March 2026.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has considered the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s (ABPI) March 2026 report, Globally competitive United Kingdom wide data-enabled clinical trials: the time is now, and its proposals on improving clinical trial set‑up and recruitment through use of healthcare data. The report raises issues that align with the Government’s ongoing work to improve the UK’s clinical research environment, including delivery of faster trial set‑up and development of the Health Data Research Service (HDRS).
The HDRS will be a UK-wide service to bring new treatments and cures to patients by safely enabling the use of patient data to super-charge research, and is currently being set up. It will be for the HDRS leadership team to decide whether to take forward the recommendations of the ABPI report.
The Department continues to work with industry and research system partners through the UK Clinical Research Delivery Programme to consider how such proposals could support these objectives, while ensuring high standards of data protection and public trust.
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will integrate the Be Part of Research registry tool with the NHS App to allow people to find and sign up to research relevant to them.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to WPQ 126560, whether Nscale will still be investing in the North East AI growth zone.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government continues to work closely with the Combined Authority and commercial partners regarding the delivery of the North East AI Growth Zone. Discussions with individual companies are commercially sensitive, and we will provide further updates in due course.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 encourage (a) UK and (b) international technology firms to invest in AI and digital innovation clusters in the North East of England.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to driving regional growth by attracting AI and digital investment across the UK, including in the North East of England. The North East AI Growth Zone will provide secure, dedicated compute infrastructure, supporting innovation and productivity and helping to unlock significant long‑term economic growth. The Zone has already attracted substantial private investment, including £10 billion from Blackstone.
Alongside this, we are investing up to £500 million through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund to grow high‑potential innovation clusters in 17 regions across the UK. This includes £30 million for the North East, empowering local leaders to target R&D investment, attract private funding and create jobs.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how combined authorities are being supported to develop world‑class industrial clusters as part of local growth plans.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Growth Plans are central to delivering growth and boosting living standards in every corner of the country. Government has worked directly in partnership with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to co-agree regional growth priorities, including ensuring this supports the growth of priority sectors in places to help inform and deliver the National Industrial Strategy alongside supporting local ambitions.
MHCLG is giving Mayoral Strategic Authorities the tools to support these clusters in a variety of ways with £2.6 billion of Investment Zone funding, new integrated settlements, £902 million Local Growth Funding, £500 million Mayoral Revolving Growth Funding, and £800 million City Densification Funding.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the electricity demand of large‑scale data centres, in (1) the UK and (2) those located in the North East; and what plans exist to ensure adequate grid capacity to support future digital growth.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department’s energy and emissions projections include growth in power demand from computing services like data centres. To ensure a comprehensive view of the system, the methodology projects at a broader sector level, not disaggregating specific estimates for data centres.
The Government is committed to ensuring electricity networks can meet rising electricity demand, including from data centres, by deploying new renewable and low-carbon generation in line with the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. The Capacity Market ensures supply continuously meets demand, balancing cost and reliability to maintain adequate electricity security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that new offshore wind developments deliver long‑term skilled jobs and supply‑chain opportunities for communities in the North East.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has set out a package of support for offshore wind supply chains and infrastructure of up to £1bn, including £300m from Great British Energy, £400m from The Crown Estate and £300m from industry. Allocation Round 7 secured a record 8.4GW of offshore wind capacity, supporting investment across the UK. This is already translating into local jobs and investment, including the recent offshore foundation fabrication contract at Smulders worth more than £60 million. The Crown Estate recently announced that their next seabed leasing round (Round 6) will be launched in 2027 and will focus on sites off the coast of the North East of England.