Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to guarantee that individuals have a right to opt out of digital ID schemes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has no plans to introduce legislation on the right to opt out of using digital identities. Nor has the Government taken any steps to make their use mandatory.
The digital verification services provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 are designed to give people choice. They help both people and organisations to realise the benefits of secure digital identities with greater confidence, if they choose to use them.
The Government also plans to introduce digital versions of existing government-issued documents through the GOV.UK Wallet, a secure digital service for storing government-issued credentials on users’ smartphones. However, people will still be able to prove their identity using physical documents if they prefer.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will allocate funding to research on the (a) reliability and (b) auditability of non-deterministic models of AI used in national security issues.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
AI offers the most powerful lever we have for national renewal; it underpins the Government’s plan to drive economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.
During the recent Spending Review, the Government showed its commitment to delivering the AI Opportunities Action Plan (AIOAP), with the Chancellor confirming over £2 billion to implement the Plan, and up to £750m for a new Edinburgh supercomputer, which will support our understanding of this emerging technology.
More widely, the government is investing record levels of investment in R&D, growing to £22.6 billion per year by 2029/30. Through UKRI, we are supporting science and innovation across the UK to better deliver on the government’s priorities, including national security.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the delay to the gigabit broadband target to 2032 in Newton Abbot constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract in the Newton Abbot constituency, that is expected to run until 2030. The first connections are expected to be made early next year.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 potential merits of introducing regulation to ensure consumers are aware if the legal advice they have sought is AI generated.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes that the vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use and that our existing expert regulators are best placed to do this. Oversight of this technology is distributed across several sectoral regulators and departments. Through delivery of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we are making sure regulation is well-designed and implemented, to fuel fast, wide and safe development and adoption of AI.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take legislative steps to require AI systems used by (a) government and (b) industry to disclose where their data searches are from.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Many existing rules apply to AI systems. When personal data is processed by AI systems, data protection law requires transparency from developers about how they collect and use personal data, and outline information in a privacy notice. The Online Safety Act regulates AI services which allow users to share content or search live websites to provide search results. They must assess and mitigate risks to users of illegal content and content harmful to children.
The Government will introduce AI legislation, delivering on its manifesto commitment and preparing for AI’s opportunities and risks. It will consult on proposals later this year
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate who is responsible in cases of defamation involving an AI model.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
A range of existing rules already apply to AI systems, such as data protection, competition, equality legislation and other forms of sector regulation. The UK has well established defamation laws, and our data protection laws also apply to personal data processed in the context of AI. We continue to monitor developments in the common law in this area.
The government is clear in its ambition to bring forward AI legislation which delivers on our manifesto commitment, making sure our statute book is ready for the age of AI. We will consult publicly on our wider legislative proposals later this year.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he has had recent discussions with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the potential risks of using foreign-owned companies to manage cloud-based data systems in the public sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State has not specifically discussed foreign-owned cloud-based data systems with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The ICO has discussed the compliance of cloud system rules on international transfers with government officials. The ICO will produce and update guidance during the implementation of the Data (Use and Access) Act, including around the use of processors and sub-processors which may be relevant to cloud based systems.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57480 on Broadband: Newton Abbot, what his planned timetable is for supplying (a) data speeds of over 30Mbps to the remaining 2% of (i) homes and (ii) businesses and (b) gigabit capable broadband to the remaining 17% of (A) homes and (B) businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The rollout of superfast and gigabit-capable broadband is primarily driven by the private sector, with government only intervening where commercial development will not suffice. The government plans for 99% of UK homes and businesses to have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032. In Newton Abbot, Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract to premises that are unlikely to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. This contract will disproportionately target premises currently without superfast speeds (>= 30Mbps).
The first connections under this contract are expected to be made early next year, and the contract is currently expected to run until 2030.
In the meantime, we expect superfast and gigabit-capable coverage to continue to steadily increase in Newton Abbot as a result of suppliers’ commercial rollout.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will publish guidance on the safe use of non-deterministic AI in public sector decision-making systems.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI playbook clearly describes the non-deterministic nature of probabilistic, AI-based predictive analysis and automated decision-making, while prescribing ten key principles for the safe and responsible use of AI. For example, it highlights the non-deterministic and probabilistic nature of AI models—specifically large language models (LLMs)—which can yield inaccurate or hallucinated outputs. Accordingly, it stresses legal and ethical duties, requiring departments to register AI-powered algorithms via the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. It also recommends and emphasises meaningful human oversight, including monitoring, assurance, and user feedback mechanisms, with a risk-aware approach from inception through the entire life cycle of the services.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take legislative steps to introduce a regulatory framework to set standards for (a) testing and (b) verification of non-deterministic AI systems.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is right that most AI systems are regulated at point of use by our existing expert regulators, who are best placed to do this. In response to the AI Action Plan, Government committed to building regulators’ capabilities to do this.
Additionally, the Government is developing legislative proposals which will allow us to securely realise the enormous benefits of the most powerful AI systems. We will launch a public consultation, and engage with a full range of stakeholders, on our legislative proposals in due course.