Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime; and what recent discussions she has had with South Wales Police on community-based interventions (a) Barry and (b) the wider Vale of Glamorgan.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to make our communities safe. We are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition.
We recently announced “Ronan’s Law”, a range of measures which will include stricter rules for online sellers of knives; increased penalties for illegal sales of knives; and consultation later this year on a registration scheme for online sellers of knives. We have also implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and created a new Young Futures programme, which will establish Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime.
On Monday 24 February, I met with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS CBE (MS for Vale of Glamorgan). At the meeting I set out our ambitions to keep communities safe and to take a preventative approach to tackling knife crime. On Monday 10 March, I met with Emma Wools, along with the other PCCs for Wales.
Over £1m has been made available in 24/25 to the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VRU), for violence prevention activity in South Wales. This funding is delivering a range of interventions to divert young people from a life of crime. In addition, we are providing up to £3.4m toward the Youth Endowment Fund’s Trauma-Informed Practice Grant Round – an innovative intervention to help frontline workers recognise and respond to trauma in the young people they work with. One of the projects participating in this important evaluation is the Relationship Building Together Project, run in Bridgend.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on strengthening international cooperation to tackle organised immigration crime; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such cooperation on communities in South Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Strengthened international cooperation is essential to tackle the gangs who facilitate organised immigration crime (OIC) and this Government is providing a step change in leading the international community’s approach.
We have signed a series of landmark agreements including with Iraq, Germany, Italy as well as deepening our relationship with France, and this week the UK hosted a landmark international summit to tackle the shared threat of OIC and protect our collective border security.
We expect this to have a positive impact on tackling organised immigration crime to the benefit of the whole of the UK, including South Wales.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill on the (a) development and (b) deployment of artificial intelligence models in the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Compliance, productivity and familiarisation costs savings of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning reforms in the Data (Use and Access) Bill have been considered and can be found in the indirect benefits and costs sections of the impact assessment (IA). The ethical assessment can also be found in the impact on individuals section.The assessment of the effect on different organisations by size and sector can be found in the small and micro business assessment section of the IA. here (particularly, Table 14, 24, 25, 26 & 34).
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
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 the respective compute requirements for AI training and inference; and whether he plans to reflect this distinction in future infrastructure planning.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan, DSIT is currently developing a long-term compute strategy. At the same time, DSIT and UKRI are taking forward the development of the AI Research Resource, a network of supercomputers, currently consisting of Isambard-AI, in Bristol, and Dawn, in Cambridge, which will increase the UK’s existing public compute capacity by thirty times.
The Government has also committed to expanding the AIRR a further 20 times by 2030 to ensure that the UK has the AI infrastructure and compute capacity it needs to deliver new scientific innovations and discoveries that will drive productivity and growth throughout the economy. This expansion, and the long-term compute strategy – will reflect the evolving demands for training and inference.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to establish AI Growth Zones close to major research centres; and what role compute infrastructure will play in their design.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Universities and research institutions are critical to the UK’s vision for AI. To build upon our strong R&D base and to ensure we’re at the forefront of AI innovation, AI Growth Zones will help secure the UK’s position as a global leader in AI, attracting significant investment and ensuring long-term economic growth.
In February, local authorities and industry, were invited to come forward with potential sites suitable for hosting AI infrastructure as an early expression of interest, and hundreds of responses were received. Further updates will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
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 the timely delivery of the national Compute Strategy; and whether she plans to publish an updated timeline ahead of Spring 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Expanding the UK’s compute capability is essential for the development and adoption of AI, scientific research, and improving public services. DSIT and UKRI are taking forward the development of the AI Research Resource, a network of supercomputers, currently consisting of Isambard-AI, in Bristol, and Dawn, in Cambridge, which will be fully operational by the summer. When this capacity is live, it will increase the UK’s existing public compute capacity by thirty times.
In response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we have also committed to expand the AI Research Resource (AIRR) by a further 20 times by 2030, and to publish a long-term compute strategy.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
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 support (a) universities and (b) research institutions to host compute infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Expanding the UK’s compute capability is essential for the development and adoption of AI, scientific research, and improving public services. DSIT and UKRI are taking forward the development of the AI Research Resource, a network of supercomputers, currently consisting of Isambard-AI, in Bristol, and Dawn, in Cambridge, which will be fully operational by the summer. When this capacity is live, it will increase the UK’s existing public compute capacity by thirty times.
In response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we have also committed to expand the AI Research Resource (AIRR) by a further 20 times by 2030, and to publish a long-term compute strategy.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
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 coordinate cross-Government compute-related (a) planning and (b) infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how the UK can lay the foundations for AI growth, by building the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment. To deliver this commitment, we are working closely across government, including on the creation of AI Growth Zones.
With MHCLG we have updated the National Planning Policy Framework to make it easier to build data infrastructure.
MHCLG will be introducing legislation this year to enable larger data centres to be directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting regime on request. As part of this work, DSIT will be producing a National Policy Statement (NPS) on data infrastructure to guide future planning decisions.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) energy and (b) grid access on the deployment of high-performance compute infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of continued innovation and improvements in the efficiency of compute infrastructure.
AI Growth Zones will help shift energy demand to areas with more capacity, reducing pressure on congested parts of the grid. DSIT are working closely with DESNZ and the National Energy System Operator to align AI energy demand with future energy planning and ensure long-term sustainability. The Government is working to reform the National Grid connections process, making it easier for data centres to secure a timely grid connection.
Through the AI Energy Council, we will be exploring bold clean energy solutions, from next-generation renewables to small modular reactors, to ensure our AI ambitions align with the UK’s net zero goals.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
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 the potential impact of the National Data Library on AI model training; and what steps he is taking to ensure that data access frameworks (a) enable innovation and (b) safeguard privacy.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The NDL will unlock the value of public data assets. It will provide simple, secure and ethical access to our key public data assets for researchers, policy makers and business – including those at the frontier of AI development – and make it easier to find, discover and make connections across different datasets.
Where data sharing involves personal data, it must comply with the UK’s data protection legislation. This will equally apply to the National Data Library.
We will set out further details on the National Data Library shortly.