Oral Answers to Questions

Feryal Clark Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the life sciences sector in Stevenage constituency.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Feryal Clark)]

My hon. Friend takes every opportunity to raise this subject. He will be happy to learn that the Government have a clear plan for supporting the life sciences sector, as set out in our life sciences plan. Stevenage has a thriving life sciences community: it is home to GSK, Autolus and a growing number of biotech companies. We are continuing to encourage companies to expand their footprint in the area, supported by the cell and gene therapy catapult, which operates the manufacturing innovation centre, and the skills and training laboratories.

[Kevin Bonavia]

I am proud that my constituency is a top location for life sciences companies to develop cutting-edge technologies. One of them, BioOrbit, which is hosted by Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage through its small and medium-sized enterprises accelerator programme, is building a pharmaceuticals factory in space to leverage the benefits of microgravity for large-scale administration of cancer treatments. Another UK prime company, GSK, hosts more than 40 SMEs. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to do all we can to support innovative SMEs in the life sciences and space sectors?

[Feryal Clark]

My hon. Friend rightly acknowledges that Stevenage is a leading hub for life sciences companies to develop and commercialise cutting-edge therapeutics. GSK and Airbus are shining examples of UK innovation at work. Earlier this week we published the industrial strategy Green Paper to drive long-term, sustainable, inclusive and secure growth, and to secure investment in crucial sectors of the economy, including life sciences. There is an opportunity to renew the UK’s leadership in life sciences through bold innovation and collective partnerships with the sector, to build an NHS that is fit for the future and to drive economic growth across the regions of the UK.

[Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

Following the successful investment in Rolls-Royce’s technology and logistics centre, what is the Minister doing to get more investment into my Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency?

[Mr Speaker]

I am not sure that Rolls-Royce fits into a question on life sciences. Does the Minister have an answer?

[Feryal Clark]

I thank the hon. Member for her question. She will have seen from the investment summit earlier this week that there is huge interest from a number of companies in investing in the UK, and there is huge support from this Government for those companies that wish to invest.

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

3. What steps his Department is taking to enhance mobile phone reception in the Bridgwater constituency.

--- Later in debate ---

[Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)]

T4. I know that the Minister shares the delight that many of us felt when it was announced that researchers from the UK-based AI company Google DeepMind are to share a Nobel prize for their work on protein folding, a technology that will help shape economies of the future. As founder of Labour Women in Tech, I want this technological growth to be diverse, so what are the Government doing to ensure both that the UK remains a global leader in this tech space and that my constituents in South Derbyshire are able to trust that this technology can and will benefit everyone?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Feryal Clark)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for all the work that she does to encourage more women into tech. It is great to know that the tech world is full not just of “tech bros”, but quite a lot of tech sisters as well. We are committed to building on the UK’s success as a global AI leader, and the upcoming AI action plan demonstrates that commitment to ensure the safe development of AI models by introducing binding regulation on a handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems, fostering trust in those technologies. We will also continue—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are now moving to Prime Minister’s questions.

Technology in Public Services

Feryal Clark Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Feryal Clark)]

I am honoured to close the debate tonight, and not only because I am speaking from the Government Dispatch Box for the first time, but because I have heard so many truly wonderful maiden speeches. I particularly thank the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley (Chris Coghlan) for speaking so movingly about Christopher. I thank Fiona and her daughter for joining us in the Gallery, and I pay tribute to Fiona for her continuing work in Christopher’s memory.

Members of all parties have talked about safety, fairness and the economic opportunities offered by technology in public services. Members, especially those on the Government Benches, have spoken with passion and conviction about the need for change and to make true on our manifesto promises, which is what this Government will deliver.

We can all agree on the importance of ensuring that the technologies of tomorrow deliver benefits for people in communities across the country. The question, of course, is how. The Government must work with the incredible universities, of which we are so proud, and with the innovative start-ups that many hon. Members have spoken about this evening, but we must also lead by example by harnessing the power of technology in our public services to improve people’s lives.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

I congratulate those on the Front Bench on their speeches tonight. Does the Minister agree that councils are very important in this area? When I was the cabinet member for health, my council signed an agreement with the Open University to become the first dementia-friendly city, which involves not only medical technology, AI and the first robot that can identify when somebody with dementia has not drunk enough and bring them a bottle of water, but social innovation around using colours in wayfinding—whether it is in our shopping centres or play parks. Does the Minister agree that the partnership needs to expand to include business, start-ups, councils and the Government, as well as our other public sector partners, in order to create the behaviour changes, innovation and advancements that we are all looking for?

[Feryal Clark]

I thank my hon. Friend for her contribution. As someone who served in local government for a very long time, I recognise the innovation in our local authorities. The work we are doing within our Department includes working very closely with our local government partners, so I thank her for her intervention.

One of the first places I visited in my new brief was Hammersmith hospital, where I met doctors who are using a new AI tool that can spot signs of ageing in the heart that are invisible to the human eye. The tool promises to calculate a person’s “heart age” from an MRI scan and, for the first time, pinpoint the genes that could make the heart age faster. In the process, it could transform the way we diagnose and treat heart failure.

That is just one of the projects I saw in Hammersmith hospital that is focused on the safe, ethical and responsible development of AI. Such projects will be a crucial part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future—a mission to which this Government are completely committed. We want to seize every opportunity that technology offers to improve lives for our people—whether that means life-saving healthcare in our hospitals or a world-class education in our classrooms. If used rightly, technologies such as AI can transform the productivity of Britain’s broken services. With a £22 billion black hole in the public finances and taxes at a 70-year high, saving taxpayers’ money is more important than ever.

[Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that it is important to use AI to save taxpayers’ money by doing the basics, such as setting up an automated online booking system for hospital appointments rather than sending out letters that we all fail to respond to?

[Feryal Clark]

The hon. Member is absolutely right. That is why the digital centre for Government will be working with Departments across Government to ensure that we are putting those innovations and improvements in place.

Led by Matt Clifford, the AI opportunities action plan will identify the biggest opportunities to leverage AI to accelerate growth and deliver on the Government’s five missions. We will ensure that this is backed by funded commitments, including those on compute, which will be taken in the round. AI will be at the heart of DSIT as the new digital centre for Government. We have brought together data, digital and tech experts from across Government under one roof to drive forward the digital transformation of our public services. A key part of that is ensuring that the centre has the very best leaders, all appointed in line with civil service recruitment.

[Alison Griffiths]

Will the Minister give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Feryal Clark]

I am sorry, but I want to make some progress. We do not have very much time.

As the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) highlighted, we need to ensure that the civil service has the digital and data skills needed for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s. We are committed to reducing the Government’s reliance on contingent labour, reducing costs and growing capability for the long term. We have set standards for the digital and data skills that all senior civil servants will need to have and delivered a digital excellence programme that has upskilled more than 1,300 senior civil servants against the criteria. We have also launched a new at-scale digital apprenticeship programme, TechTrack, and rolled out training on AI for all civil servants to build their confidence.

Safety will be at the heart of this. Many hon. Members have rightly expressed their concern about the risk of discrimination and bias in AI systems. That is why data and AI practitioners across Government use tools such as the algorithmic transparency recording standard, which was developed by my officials to support the safe, fair and transparent use of algorithms in the public sector. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) has highlighted the importance of the safe development of AI. Safety will also be embedded in our new AI Bill, which I can assure the hon. Member for Meriden and Solihull East (Saqib Bhatti) will introduce binding regulations on the handful of companies that are developing the most powerful AI systems of tomorrow. It will also be the foundational principle behind the cyber security and resilience Bill, which will shore up Britain’s cyber-defences and protect our public services in the decades to come.

The digital revolution must be safe, and its benefits must also be accessible to everyone, including the vulnerable communities that my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) talked so movingly about in her speech. That is why we are committed to tackling the connectivity issues mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Chi Onwurah) and by the hon. Members for North East Hampshire (Alex Brewer) and for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) this evening. That includes the 5G innovation regions programme, which has invested over £36 million in 10 regions across the UK. My hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) has spoken about the importance of closing the digital divide.

We have spent the summer talking and listening to digital inclusion experts, local authorities and many others who are working on the frontline of digital inclusion, but this is just the start of the conversation. We want to tackle the important issues together, including through inclusive digital platforms such as gov.uk One Login, which offers a straightforward and secure way to access a range of Government digital services.

The Government programme will soon expand the routes for proving identity to include those without photo documentation. That will benefit pensioners, students and minors, who are too often excluded.