Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have awarded two contracts for the total value of £97,848.94 since 2023 on translating documents into languages other than English and other native UK languages.
These languages were: French, Korean, Arabic and Mandarin
These translation services related to research on AI and Large Language Models and the material was not published.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of jobs that could be lost as a result of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working to harness the benefits that AI can bring in terms of economic growth, rising living standards, and improved worker wellbeing; while mitigating the risks. Government is planning for a range of plausible outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help us track and prepare for these. We will continue to work closely with other government departments through the AI Opportunities Action Plan to ensure we shape AI to deliver economic prosperity for the UK.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 level of preparedness in the event of a coordinated cyber-attack on public service infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working tirelessly to improve the cyber resilience of the public sector, which includes some of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Cyber risks are kept under review, through the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), and the external facing version, the National Risk Register (NRR), to ensure that we effectively plan at the national and local levels. The NSRA assesses a number of cyber risks, including the impact of a cyber-attack against government systems on the delivery of public services.
We face a persistent and evolving threat landscape, the intent and capability of both state and non-state threat actors is increasing, and the pace of this change has accelerated considerably over the last 24 months. Public service infrastructure and systems remain an attractive target for our adversaries and criminals, with recent incidents clearly highlighting the risk posed by cyber attacks on both private and public sector organisations.
Responding to a cyber incident is a cross-government responsibility with roles and responsibilities identified in the National Cyber Incident Management Framework. As well as developing a more sophisticated understanding of cyber risk across UK CNI, the Government is focussed on ensuring that CNI operators are prepared to respond to and recover from incidents through better planning and regular exercises across Government and as part of the National Exercising Programme. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also works with partners to help public and private CNI operators detect and respond to attacks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 potential risk of a coordinated cyber-attack on public service infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working tirelessly to improve the cyber resilience of the public sector, which includes some of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Cyber risks are kept under review, through the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), and the external facing version, the National Risk Register (NRR), to ensure that we effectively plan at the national and local levels. The NSRA assesses a number of cyber risks, including the impact of a cyber-attack against government systems on the delivery of public services.
We face a persistent and evolving threat landscape, the intent and capability of both state and non-state threat actors is increasing, and the pace of this change has accelerated considerably over the last 24 months. Public service infrastructure and systems remain an attractive target for our adversaries and criminals, with recent incidents clearly highlighting the risk posed by cyber attacks on both private and public sector organisations.
Responding to a cyber incident is a cross-government responsibility with roles and responsibilities identified in the National Cyber Incident Management Framework. As well as developing a more sophisticated understanding of cyber risk across UK CNI, the Government is focussed on ensuring that CNI operators are prepared to respond to and recover from incidents through better planning and regular exercises across Government and as part of the National Exercising Programme. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also works with partners to help public and private CNI operators detect and respond to attacks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not currently have DEI recruitment targets.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The total for procured translation services for DSIT Commercial last year was £97848.94.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with social media companies on online safety for children.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This year, as platforms start to comply with the duties under the Online Safety Act, the Government has high expectations that there will be a significant change in online experiences for children and Ofcom stands ready to act against services who fall short in protecting users online.
Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a range of stakeholders, including social media companies, to discuss how we can continue to protect children online. Details of ministerial meetings, including the purpose of meetings, are published quarterly on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 ensure the accountability of social media companies on online safety.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act puts new duties on social media companies and search services, making them responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms.
The duties are now coming into effect, with platforms now being required by law to implement measures to reduce the risk of illegal content and activity on their services, with additional protections for children coming this Summer.
Ofcom has a range of strong enforcement powers to use if services fail to comply with the Act, including the ability to issue fines, and implement business disruption measures.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had recent discussions with the Office for Budget Responsibility on accounting for public sector funding for research and development in fiscal forecasts.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Engagement with the Office for Budget Responsibility is led by HM Treasury. The Department engages with HM Treasury on a regular basis to discuss a wide number of topics.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 adequacy of the rate of return to public investment in UK R&D.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public R&D generates significant benefits for the UK, with each pound of public R&D investment estimated to leverage, on average, £2 of private R&D investment in the long run. We know businesses grow faster because of public R&D. In the 6 years after receiving their first R&D grant funding, employment increases in the average business by 21% and turnover grows by 23%.
The measurable returns of R&D projects will vary, depending on the specific area of research. Returns for closer-to-market research are generally less challenging to quantify than those for fundamental, curiosity-driven research. To ensure that public R&D investments continue to have high impact all new significant DSIT investments are assessed for their value for money and the Department evaluates programmes’ impact.