Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many computing teachers (a) left teaching and (b) were recruited in (i) 2018, (ii) 2019, (iii) 2021 and (iv) 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has invested over £100 million to support the quality of computing teaching through the creation of the National Centre for Computing Education. This has provided a computing hub network and high quality training and resources for pre and in service teachers.
Information on the school workforce, including the number of subject teachers in state funded secondary schools and the overall number of teachers joining and leaving the state funded sector, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
As at November 2022, the latest data available, there were 7,529 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers teaching computer science, and 6,179 FTE teachers teaching information, computing and technology (ICT) in state funded secondary schools. It is important to note that it is possible for teachers to teach both subjects, therefore, some may be counted in both of these figures.
FTE teachers of computer science and ICT1 in statefunded secondary schools
2018/19 to 2021/222
Year | Computer Science | ICT |
2022/23 | 7,529 | 6,179 |
2021/22 | 6,573 | 6,691 |
2020/21 | 6,049 | 6,670 |
2019/20 | 4,305 | 8,069 |
2018/19 | 3,954 | 8,834 |
Source: School Workforce Census, published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8bcbf8de-57df-4ae4-8a65-08db7860a436.
1: Teachers were counted once against each subject. Therefore, teachers may be counted against both computer science and ICT
2: Computer science was introduced as a new code from 2017/18 to reflect reformed GCSEs.
The requested figures for leavers and joiners by subject taught are not available.
47,954 teachers joined the state funded school sector for 2022/23, up by 3,943 since last year.
43,997 teachers left the state funded sector in 2021/22, up by 7,818 since last year.
Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may later rejoin a state funded school in England.
Almost 9 in 10 (87.2%) teachers who qualified in 2021 are still teaching one year after qualification. Almost 8 in 10 (76.1%) teachers who qualified three years ago are still teaching, and almost 7 in 10 (68.7%) teachers who qualified five years ago are still teaching.
It is the Department’s priority to make sure that teachers not only stay in the profession, but thrive in it. The Department has taken action to improve teacher and leader workload, working with the profession to understand and address longstanding issues around marking, planning and data management. The Department continues to work proactively with the sector to understand the drivers behind workload and wellbeing issues and improve our policies and interventions.
The Department is supporting schools to act and remove unhelpful practice that creates unnecessary workload. The Department School Workload Reduction Toolkit, developed alongside headteachers, is a helpful resource for schools to review and reduce workload.
The Department also worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. The Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. So far, 2,600 schools have signed up to the Charter.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of valid claims for Theatre Tax Relief were paid within 28 days of receipt in each month since April 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC aims to pay claims for all tax reliefs as soon as possible. For information relating to valid claims for Theatre Tax Relief paid within 28 days of receipt, I would refer the hon Member to my answer of 30 January to PQ UIN 132309.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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 Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Artificial intelligence offers undoubted opportunities across a wide range of Defra sectors, and is increasingly being considered for practical use. AI is currently included within teams working on broader issues, such as technology and innovation. As future opportunities are identified we expect that the department will allocate further resources to support appropriate use of AI across our areas of policy responsibility.
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.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, 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 Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems become more powerful, and are put to different use, they will create new opportunities, challenges and risks. The UK Government recognises it will need to act and adapt the way we regulate technologies like AI that are playing an increasingly vital role in our economy and society. The FCDO does not oversee the work of any regulators. As a global leader in AI, the UK plays an important role in shaping the international AI governance debate and promoting the UK's regulatory framework and values in international fora, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Council of Europe, Global Partnership on AI and UNESCO.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 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 Will Quince
Through the NHS AI Lab programme, the Department has provided £11,774,263.82 of funding to regulatory and evaluator organisations to streamline regulation to make it easier for the health and care system to deploy safe AI technologies as well as improving the route for AI vendors into the system, including funding for:
- A regulatory taskforce of four people from the main regulators overseeing how AI products in health and are regulated;
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Health Regulation Authority (HRA) and Care Quality Commission to create an AI and Digital regulations service;
- The HRA to streamline data driven research to simplify the approach to accessing research consent and increasing awareness of where such consent is needed amongst researchers and innovators;
- The MHRA to explore the potential of synthetic data for the training and the validation of AI;
- The MHRA to enhance the ‘post-market surveillance’ of healthcare products, by transforming the Yellow Card system; and
- The MHRA for the AI Rigour project to develop a suite of guidance to help standard practices for the development of AI-driven technologies that will increase the safety and robustness of AI models.
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.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, 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 Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, the Government is engaging closely with regulators across the wider landscape to understand the organisation capacity they need to regulate AI effectively.
The Department for Business and Trade sponsors the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). CMA staff recorded approximately 2,300 hours on the CMA’s “AI Foundation Models: Initial Review” project from 27 March to 2 June 2023. This equates to approximately 7 FTE. In addition, given the CMA’s remit other work by CMA staff may have direct or indirect relevance to AI. Decisions on future allocation of CMA resources will depend on the findings of the CMA’s initial review and other demands at that time.
The Department directly includes or sponsors a number of other regulators and public bodies, such as the Office for Product Safety and Standards and the Financial Reporting Council. These regulators are not directly responsible for regulating AI but may consider its implications and effects across numerous parts of their work. It is not possible to accurately disaggregate resource working on AI issues for these bodies.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 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 Dehenna Davison
We do not have a regulator of artificial intelligence associated with this Department.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, 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 Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The AI Regulation White Paper sets out principles to guide responsible development and use of AI in all sectors of the economy, while highlighting the importance of regulators’ expertise to tailor their implementation to the specific context in which AI is used.
Due to difficulties in being able to disaggregate resource allocation specifically for ‘artificial intelligence’ work, we are not able to provide the figures requested on activity on AI regulation.
We will engage with regulators across the Home Office sector to understand the organisational capacity and resources needed for them to carry out this work effectively and in line with the approach set out in the White Paper.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, 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 Graham Stuart
As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, the Government is engaging with regulators to inform policy options. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero sponsors two regulators – the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). These organisations are not directly responsible for regulating AI and, to date, neither of these organisations has spent budget on the regulation of AI.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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 James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Safety Authority is an independent Regulator and Investigator for Health, Safety and Environmental Protection in Defence. At present there are no specific Defence regulations regarding AI, thereby mirroring the statutory position. However, Defence Regulators recognise the clear need for a cohesive, proportionate approach to AI regulation that enables the responsible application of this technology to flourish.. There are no dedicated posts regarding AI at this time, but preparatory activity is being undertaken within existing innovation and emerging technology work-strands across the organisation.