Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding to the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods; what assessment he has made of the role of industry co-investment in supporting the Centre's aims; and whether his Department plans to develop a long-term funding mechanism for the Centre.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is supporting the establishment of the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods through funding secured as part of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, with costs informed by analysis of validation requirements and comparable organisations such as the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). The Government recognises the potential role of industry co‑investment and will work closely with partners across the life sciences sector to develop appropriate approaches as the Centre becomes operational. Long‑term support will be kept under review through delivery of the strategy and the multi‑year funding secured at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle harmful platform features that put children at risk online.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Protecting children online is a priority for the Secretary of State. Through our recent consultation, which included parents and children's consultations and nationally representative polls, we heard from over 116,000 people.
Following this, on 15 June the government published a progress statement announcing a ban on social media services from providing their services to under 16s as well as targeted functionality restrictions on a wider range of online services. This includes restrictions on creating livestreams and communicating with strangers. These functionalities will also be off by default for 16 and 17 year olds.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to extend proposed restrictions to livestreaming and communication with strangers for child users to other high-risk functionalities including disappearing messages, the visibility of children's accounts to unknown users and in-app gifting.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The government recently announced restrictions on social media services offering their services to under-16s and wider services offering livestreaming or stranger communication to under-16s.
Combined with requiring more device level protections for children preventing the taking, sharing or viewing of nude images, this will make a difference tackling the key risks of disappearing messages.
Ofcom’s codes of practice also include recommendations regarding children’s account visibility, to support compliance with existing illegal harm and child safety duties. The government has committed to provide an update on any further restrictions in July.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles is exploring the adequacy of compensation arrangements for victims of accidents involving uninsured vehicles in the context of the Automated Vehicles Act implementation programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the Automated Vehicles Act Implementation Programme, officials from the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are working with the Motor Insurers' Bureau on insurance for automated vehicles. This includes assessing the adequacy of the insurance and compensation framework to ensure that victims of collisions with uninsured automated vehicles have a clear route to compensation.