Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 help tackle cold calls; and whether he plans to introduce financial penalties on people conducting cold calls.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Unsolicited direct marketing calls are regulated by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), which are enforced by the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner has a range of investigatory and enforcement powers, including the ability to issue financial penalties. Details of enforcement actions are published at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/
Reforms introduced through the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will give the Commissioner new powers, including the ability to impose higher maximum fines for infringements. The Commissioner will also be able to take enforcement action based on the volume of unsolicited direct marketing calls made—regardless of whether those calls are answered by the intended recipient —reflecting the potential risk of harm to consumers.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support innovation in the gaming industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has recently published the Creative Industries Sector Plan which will make the UK the number one place for creativity and innovation by 2035.
The plan includes a commitment that UKRI will lead efforts to increase public funding for the creative industries.
The plan identifies video games as a priority growth sector, with a new Games Growth Package worth £30 million over three years.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to introduce transparency obligations on generative AI developers to disclose information on creative works used in AI training.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on copyright and AI, which closed on 25 February, specifically sought views on a proposal to require AI model developers to be more transparent about how they obtain and use copyright works in their training.
Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response, including any legislative proposals.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 increase online safety for children and young people.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible, so children can be protected from criminal behaviour and harmful content online.
The illegal content duties are now in force, so platforms already need to act to protect their users.
The child safety duties will be in force from the Summer, at which point companies will need to further protect children from harmful content such as pornography, suicide and self-harm material.