Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if her Department will convene a cross-government summit with key tech companies and trade unions to discuss the future impact of AI and ASI on jobs, the economy and society.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are starting to witness AI’s impact within the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and augmenting old ones. But there is uncertainty over the future scale of AI’s impact on the labour market, particularly over the next few years. Given the recent rapid pace of AI development, government is planning against a range of plausible future outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help track if we are heading towards any of these outcomes.
The Government routinely brings together departments, industry, academics, and trade unions to discuss AI’s impact on the labour market and wider economy—including DSIT‑hosted roundtables – to inform Government’s approach to policy and analysis.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department has taken to identify sectors of the economy in which AI should not replace human productivity or experience.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are starting to witness AI’s impact within the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and augmenting old ones. But there is uncertainty over the future scale of AI’s impact on the labour market, particularly over the next few years. Given the recent rapid pace of AI development, government is planning against a range of plausible future outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help track if we are heading towards any of these outcomes. This includes identifying the contexts in which AI will complement and augment human activity—helping people work more efficiently.
Furthermore, to ensure that AI benefits everyone, the UK is investing in responsible AI to boost productivity, improve public services, advance healthcare innovation, and drive economic growth. AI Growth Zones, and expanded compute will support workers and industry, ensuring AI adoption strengthens national renewal and broadens opportunity.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to create a cross-department, nation-wide AI strategy in the next 12 months.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes a coordinated, cross‑departmental approach to the opportunities and risks presented by AI. The UK‑commissioned AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we can harness AI to boost economic growth, improve public services and create new job opportunities, and our cross‑HMG response outlines the steps we are taking forward across the UK. My Department works closely with colleagues across Whitehall to ensure our approach remains aligned and responsive to developments.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, if she will meet with animal welfare organisations to discuss that strategy.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Officials engaged with animal welfare organisations during the development of the strategy, and Minister Vallance has met with animal welfare organisation representatives, including RSCPA on 26.11.24, Animal Free Research on 01.04.25, Lush UK on 15.05.25, the Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research on 01.04.2025, and hosted a roundtable for wider representatives on 14.05.25.
The Government discussed the strategy with animal welfare organisations on the day it was published as part of regular engagement with the Home Office.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what her timetable is for establishing the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 11th November 2025 the government published “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods) which sets out our plans to establish a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM). The location of and timeline for the creation of the UKCVAM is under development and the Government will update on this in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) list of animal tests and (b) methods for replacement are underpinned by law.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s new strategy sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances, achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods to using animals in science. Recognising that the legal framework in the UK already requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no validated alternatives available, the government currently has no plans to legislate further on this matter.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring internet service providers to carry out age verification checks rather than individual websites.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act makes online services responsible for protecting all users from illegal content and activity, and children from harmful content. Under the Act, services must use age assurance to prevent children encountering the most harmful content. We recognise that there may be benefits to internet service provider-level interventions. We have recently brought into effect the new measures and wish to allow time to assess the Act’s effectiveness before introducing additional measures. Where evidence demonstrates that further action is necessary to protect children and the wider public, we will not hesitate to act.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that households that have no (a) mobile and (b) broadband internet are not excluded from accessing (i) government services and (ii) benefits.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Digital inclusion is a priority for this government and in February 2025, we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan. One of the actions in the plan is ensuring accessible digital public services. As part of this industry partners have committed to provide free mobile data to individuals in need and support community hubs to provide free Wi-Fi.
In addition, households in receipt of means-tested benefits can access social tariffs for broadband and mobile services from a wide range of providers.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure individual personal data is secure.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All organisations in the UK that process personal data have to comply with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Amongst other things, the legislation requires organisations to have appropriate technical and security measures in place to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage.
Under the Data (Use and Access) Act, the Information Commissioner, the UK’s independent regulator for data protection, will have strengthened enforcement powers to hold organisations accountable in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the evidential basis is that MBR Acres is critical to pandemic preparedness.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK government’s approach to pandemic preparedness is contained in the Health and Care Research and Development Framework for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention and Response which includes the need for a resilient pre-clinical research infrastructure. The necessity for the use of animals in pre-clinical research, where no validated alternative exists, is a product of the Human Medicine Regulations 2012. MBR Acres is the only UK supplier of research dogs, which are currently essential for pre-clinical safety testing, and as such is a critical part of national pre-clinical research infrastructure.