Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of automation on jobs in Scotland.

Automation is one of the global trends which will transform our future, changing jobs and businesses across the country, and we want people to be able to capitalise on these opportunities.

Addressing this, Artificial Intelligence and data is one of the first 4 Grand Challenges set out in our Industrial Strategy to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future, ensuring that we take advantage of major global changes, improving people’s lives and the country’s productivity.

Embedding AI across the UK will create thousands of good quality jobs and drive economic growth in all four nations. By one estimate, AI could add £232bn to the UK economy by 2030.

The Life Sciences sector is a particular strength for Scotland, where there are over 400 health life sciences sites, with 15,000 jobs generating £3.2bn in turnover. The Artificial Intelligence and data mission under the Grand Challenge will transform the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases by 2030, and give opportunities for collaboration between the third sector, academia and industry to harness the power of AI and data technologies, building on the £210 million of funding announced for the Data to Early Diagnostics and Precision Medicine Industrial Strategy Fund.

Industrial development and Life Sciences are devolved responsibilities, but we have committed in the Life Sciences Sector Deal to a regional approach to implementing the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, by working closely with the devolved administrations and cluster organisations.