Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken for the AI and Copyright consultation on the media and creative industries.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI). We have carefully analysed the responses and continue to engage extensively on this issue, including through technical working groups.
The government published a progress update on 16 December 2025 and will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems, and economic impact assessment, by 18 March 2026.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many permanent civil servants in his Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Feryal Clark
At any point in time, there is likely to be a small number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within their business units or, for example, have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a day-to-day basis.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible.
It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks, with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Department has spent no money on (a) media or (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.