Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 assessment of the potential merits of replacing experiments on animals with non-animal methods.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements, we support the development and application of approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research (the 3Rs). Work to support this transition must be science-led and in lock step with partners.
The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which of the recommendations from the 2019 Online Harms White Paper his Department has implemented.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Harms White Paper set out a vision for a new regulatory framework for online services to tackle online harm, which would be overseen by an independent regulator with a suite of enforcement powers.
The Online Safety Act realises this vision. On 17 March 2025, illegal harms codes of practice came into effect, enabling Ofcom to take robust enforcement action against platforms failing to protect users from illegal content. Services are also required to conduct risk assessments for content harmful to children later this month, with the child safety duties expected to be enforceable by Summer 2025.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 prevent children from being exposed to (a) violent and (b) sexual content online.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, all in-scope services need to tackle illegal content and criminal behaviour, including illegal violent and sexual offences. These duties are in force now.
From Summer, in-scope user-to-user services likely to be accessed by children have a duty to prevent all children from encountering the most harmful content, which includes pornography. Additionally, services will need to provide age-appropriate access for other types of harmful content, including content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for an act of serious violence against a person.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology if he will ensure that (a) digital access is classified as a basic utility and (b) suppliers connect broadband in a timely manner.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that access to the internet is essential for participation in society. There is no single definition of a utility; gas, water, electricity and telecoms are regulated differently. Unlike other sectors, the UK telecoms market is competitive at wholesale and retail levels.
The broadband Universal Service Obligation provides consumers with the right to request a decent broadband service. The government continues to work closely with Ofcom on the affordability of telecoms services, including on social tariffs.
The Department continues to consider ways to remove barriers and speed up deployment; for example, exploring more flexible permitting for street works.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 an opt-out for AI and copyright on (a) visual artists sharing their works online and (b) museums and galleries displaying artists’ works.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, which sought views on proposals to support the development and use of AI technology while continuing to reward human creators, has just closed
The Government published an assessment of options alongside the consultation. Further information and evidence on the economic impact of the use of AI models on visual artists and the wider creative and cultural heritage sector was welcomed as part of the consultation.
Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that visual artists can identify (a) when and (b) from where their work has been ingested by operators of web crawlers and general-purpose artificial intelligence models.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI has just closed. This included a proposal to require AI model developers to be more transparent about how they obtain their training material, whether from web crawlers or other forms of training for AI models.
The proposals would enable right holders to reserve their rights, so they can prevent the use of their content to train AI models in the UK.
Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that visual artists with limited financial means and technical know-how can determine (a) whether and (b) how their works have been used by AI firms.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI has just closed. This included a proposal to require AI model developers to be more transparent about how they obtain their training material, whether from web crawlers and other forms of training for AI models.
Any new framework would need to work effectively for both individual creators, such as visual artists with limited financial means and technical know-how, and larger rights holders, as well as AI developers.
Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the UK copyright framework in tackling AI-generated content that infringes upon copyright protections.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
AI generated content will infringe copyright in the UK if it reproduces a substantial part of a protected work unless a copyright exception applies.
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, which closed on 25th February, covered a range of topics including copyright enforcement for infringing AI outputs.
Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to ensure that the responsibility for preventing intellectual property infringement by AI systems falls to AI companies rather than creators.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, which sought views on proposals for a new regulatory model for text and data mining, has closed. Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response.
Copying material protected by copyright in the UK remains an infringement unless it is licensed or an exception to copyright applies.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 support research and innovation campuses in the West Midlands.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government remains committed to delivering economic growth across all regions of the UK. We are working with local leaders in the West Midlands to develop their local growth plans, through which we will seek to make research and innovation the foundation of future growth in the region.
DSIT’s Innovation Accelerator programme is empowering local businesses, universities, and civic leaders in the West Midlands to work together to catalyse innovation-led local growth, supported by around £33 million of public funding that is supporting projects in health and clean technology such as the Biochar Clean Tech Accelerator.