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Written Question
Cabinet Office: Artificial Intelligence
Friday 16th June 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in their Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period for which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on those issues in the latest period for which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The AI White Paper emphasised the importance of ensuring that UK regulators and public bodies have the capacity, expertise, and capabilities to implement government’s pro-innovation approach whilst recognising and understanding the risks. This is particularly true for those regulators for which AI falls squarely within their regulatory remit, but also applies to a much wider range of public and regulatory bodies considering the implications AI has across the economy.

The Cabinet Office ALBs include 3 bodies that are either formally or informally classified as regulators:

  1. The Civil Service Commission: The CSC are often referred to as a ‘regulator’ of recruitment into the Civil Service but undertake assurance/compliance work in respect of civil service recruitment only and are out of scope.

  1. The UK Statistics Authority includes the Office of Statistics Regulation who set the statutory Code of Practice for Statistics and assess compliance with the Code. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) utilises a regulator on a 0.33 FTE basis for their work providing guidance on how the principles in the Code of Practice for Statistics can help in designing, developing and using models to improve their trustworthiness, quality and value. Their guidance covers both traditional statistical techniques, such as linear regressions, and newer techniques, like machine learning, when they are used to create outputs that inform decision making or public policy. The OSR also regularly engages with other regulators on this topic through the attendance of workshops and working groups to ensure they remain aware and responsive to any developments in this space. The OSR does not plan to increase the time allocated to these issues. The promotion of the Code of Practice for Statistics into new areas of statistical analysis and data use has been a long-standing area of focus for the next year, and will continue to be, including in relation to AI (e.g. large language models).

  1. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission: the Equalities Hub have provided a separate response on this PQ (188555) via the Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, Minister for Equalities.

As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, we are engaging closely with regulators across the wider landscape and their sponsoring government departments to understand the organisational capacity they need to regulate AI effectively, across technical, regulatory, and market-specific expertise. This will inform our work to develop policy options with a view to addressing any gaps that emerge.


Written Question
Counter Disinformation Unit: Staff
Tuesday 19th April 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department are working in the Counter Disinformation Unit.

Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg

Addressing the challenges of disinformation and misinformation is a whole of Government effort, and the Cabinet Office works closely with all relevant Departments including the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The CDU is a standing unit which draws on a range of expertise from across government, social media platforms and disinformation specialists in academia and civil society to lead the fight against misinformation and disinformation.

It would not be appropriate to comment on operational details such as staffing levels publicly as doing so would give malign actors insight into our capabilities. However, staffing requirements are continually reviewed to ensure appropriate levels of resourcing, including surge capacity where needed.


Written Question
Government Departments: Newspaper Press
Thursday 10th March 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government advertising spend has been in regional newspapers in each of the last five years, by newspaper.

Answered by Nigel Adams

The Evening Standard is classified as a regional title. However, due to the coverage and reach that the publication has with the general public and businesses, it is sometimes added to national titles if an upweight is required in the London area.

Spend data for the whole of government is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. However, the Cabinet Office publishes expenditure for its own department, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.


Written Question
Evening Standard: Advertising
Thursday 10th March 2022

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Communications Agency classified the Evening Standard as a regional or national newspaper for the purposes of advertising spend in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021 and (e) 2022.

Answered by Nigel Adams

The Evening Standard is classified as a regional title. However, due to the coverage and reach that the publication has with the general public and businesses, it is sometimes added to national titles if an upweight is required in the London area.

Spend data for the whole of government is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. However, the Cabinet Office publishes expenditure for its own department, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.


Written Question
Prime Minister: Iron and Steel
Tuesday 30th March 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by the Prime Minister's office and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

There have been no estimates made of the level of UK produced steel procured by GPA on behalf of the Cabinet Office Estates in 2019-20 or 2020-21. At present most steel GPA sources is part of the construction base build of properties under leases and outside of the scope of the procurement rules.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Iron and Steel
Tuesday 30th March 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

There have been no estimates made of the level of UK produced steel procured by GPA on behalf of the Cabinet Office Estates in 2019-20 or 2020-21. At present most steel GPA sources is part of the construction base build of properties under leases and outside of the scope of the procurement rules.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 10 Feb 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 06 Jan 2021
Covid-19

Speech Link

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 02 Nov 2020
Covid-19 Update

Speech Link

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19 Update

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 12 Oct 2020
Covid-19 Update

Speech Link

View all Lucy Powell (LAB - Manchester Central) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19 Update