Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what equality impact assessment was carried out before awarding the Nexus AI contract to IBM; and what safeguards are in place to prevent algorithmic bias in those AI tools used in benefits administration.

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was not undertaken at the point of award of the Nexus contract. Nexus is a call-off contract with a broad scope which, of itself, does not directly introduce defined services or functionality into live operations. EIAs are undertaken at the appropriate point for individual projects delivered through the contract, prior to being deployed into live services.

The Department for Work and Pensions has a legal requirement to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, using tools such as Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and fairness assessments to highlight any potential bias or discrimination risks associated with AI and automation.