Oral Answers to Questions

David Jones Excerpts

Thursday 23rd May 2024 Commons Chamber

The hon. Member for South Norfolk, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission was asked—

[Mr David Jones (Clwyd West) (Con)]

1. If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of National Audit Office resources to scrutinise the cost of AI in Government.

[Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk)]

The National Audit Office does have adequate resources to scrutinise the cost of artificial intelligence and, indeed, produced a report in March that found that AI presents Government with significant opportunities to transform public services and that the Government have identified that artificial intelligence could deliver substantial productivity gains, potentially worth billions.

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend has identified the report in which I am interested. That report, as he rightly says, noted the importance of artificial intelligence in delivering transformational public services, but also noted a number of challenges. In the dying embers of this Parliament, would he be willing to leave a message for the next Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, urging that an inquiry be carried out into that report, as I believe its findings are of considerable importance?

[Mr Bacon]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that it is an important subject, and the Public Accounts Committee was due to take oral evidence on it on 17 June. I will certainly draw his concerns to the attention of the new Chair of the Public Accounts Committee when I know who he or she is.