Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State fo Health and Social Care on the potential merits of funding a research hub to (a) coordinate research and (b) support early-career researchers working on ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) work closely together to coordinate research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Extensive support is provided to early-career researchers through the NIHR Academy and NIHR Infrastructure.
ME/CFS is a priority area for UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and it has committed over £4,460,000 to ME/CFS research since 2020. NIHR has also committed approximately £3.7 million to this area across the 2019/20-2023/24 financial years.
MRC recently awarded funding to PRIME, a £800,000 partnership to build new research infrastructure for ME/CFS research. PRIME will establish new research collaborations, bringing together researchers and private sector partners, to investigate the genetics, biomarkers and disease mechanisms of ME/CFS.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of technical solutions put forward by AI developers to allow individual rightsholders in the creative industries to effectively and efficiently opt-out their work from AI training, without placing additional burdens on rightsholders.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI closed on 25th February.
It sought views from both AI developers and rights holders on creating an effective rights reservation system. We will not move forward with any option until we are confident that it will be effective, proportionate, and accessible to both individual creators and larger rights holders.
The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 visual artists and creators (a) nationally and (b) in Leigh and Atherton can access licensing deals with AI developers.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation sought views on creating an effective rights reservation system. This would provide rights holders across the UK, including those in Leigh and Atherton, with the ability to prevent AI developers from using their copyright works in AI training, and/or negotiate licences for their use.
The consultation closed on 25 February. The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to meet with representatives from civil society to discuss the Government’s strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to the use of animals in science prior to it being published later this year.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to supporting the use of alternative methods to the use of animals in science and the Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year. The government has been and will continue to consult civil society as this process unfolds.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from civil society on phasing out of animal testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government has been consulting civil society as this process unfolds. This includes attending meetings with animal protection organisations and considering documentation sent by such organisations to the Government.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to develop technical standards to enable rightsholders to reserve rights if they opt-out of training generative artificial intelligence models.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation proposes a new regulatory model for text and data mining, and seeks views on creating an effective rights reservation system.
The implementation of any text and data mining exception is contingent upon having workable technical solutions in place for rights reservation. Some standards already exist and more are in development. If there is a role for Government to play, it is to ensure that standards work for right holders as well as developers, and to facilitate convergence on a manageable set of standards.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 effectiveness of EU rights reservation mechanisms for Artificial intelligence and copyright.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation is seeking views on a similar approach to the EU’s, which many AI firms and right holders are already familiar with. However, we recognise that there is more work to do on technical standards and transparency before a rights reservation model can be considered workable for right holders and AI developers alike. We will use responses to the consultation to inform work on this detail and bring forward firm proposals.
The consultation closes on 25 February
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 proposed copyright exemptions for Artificial intelligence training will lead to inward investment.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation is seeking views on how to promote growth and investment in both the creative industries and AI sector - both of which are essential parts of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
This will help the Government develop an approach which will accelerate growth in the UK for both sectors.
The consultation closes on 25 February.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will introduce transparency obligations on Artificial intelligence firms to disclose material used to train models.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.
This consultation seeks views on a number of issues relating to copyright and AI. It sets a clear objective of achieving proportionate transparency from AI developers over the creative content that is used to train their models.
The consultation closes on 25 February.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans he has to work with regional upper tier authorities to coordinate public-private initiatives for development in the sustainable biomanufacturing sector; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of trialling support hub initiatives for sustainable biotechnology in the North West.
Answered by Feryal Clark
DSIT is considering how Engineering Biology could play a role in driving sustainable growth through the Industrial Strategy, which will be published in Spring 2025 by HMT and DBT. Regional growth is a key objective of the Industrial Strategy, and DSIT will engage with a range of local authorities through that process to consider opportunities across the UK.