Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether artificial intelligence is being used to make decisions on individual caseworks (a) across government departments, (b) in the Home Office and (c) in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Individual departments have responsibility for their specific adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) supports their adoption by providing frameworks, guidance and a community of practice. DSIT is currently implementing the mandatory rollout of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) which establishes a standardised way for public sector organisations to publish information about how and why they are using algorithmic tools.
Artificial Intelligence is not being used within the Home Office to make caseworking decisions. DWP does not use artificial intelligence to make decisions in relation to fraud and error. All decisions that impact payments involve human intervention.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 potential impact of the cost of energy required to power AI capabilities on the feasibility of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, published on 13 January 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will achieve our AI ambitions by laying the foundations for AI growth, driving adoption and building UK capability at the frontier.
We recognise that data centres face sustainability challenges, from energy demands to water use. Through the AI Energy Council, we will be exploring bold, clean energy solutions — from next-generation renewables to small modular reactors — to ensure our AI ambitions align with the UK’s net zero goals.
This builds on DSIT’s contribution to make Britain a clean energy superpower by investing in relevant research on clean energy and climate change.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 banning social media for under-16s.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We continue to consider all options in the pursuit of online safety for children. We live in a digital age and it is important we strike the right balance. Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so children can benefit from its wide-reaching protections as quickly as possible. We are building the evidence base to inform any future action and have launched a research project looking at the links between social media and children’s wellbeing.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect young people from (a) misogynistic behaviour and (b) unrealistic expectations of young women on social media platforms.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to protect users from harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. Services must also employ age-appropriate measures to protect children from legal abusive and hateful misogynistic content. User-to-user services and publishers of pornography must also prevent children from encountering online pornography.
Services over the designated threshold will need to remove misogynistic content where it is prohibited in their terms of service. Companies will need to have effective, accessible mechanisms in place for users to be able to report abuse and receive an appropriate response from the platform.
Media literacy helps address online safety issues by raising awareness that online actions have offline consequences, encouraging critical engagement with content and fostering a respectful online environment. Since 2022, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has provided almost £3 million in grant funding for a range of media literacy projects. This covered funding for the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ programme which includes delivering media literacy education with a focus on women and girls’ online experiences to students aged 11-16.