Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the article published on 25 March 2019 by the Office of National Statistics entitled Which occupations are at highest risk of being automated?, what steps she is taking to help ensure that automation does not increase (a) gender pay inequality and (b) unemployment among women.

The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s vision to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation, alongside measures to ensure our people are equipped to capitalise on those opportunities.

Many of the 1.5 million jobs identified by Office for National Statistics (ONS) will be transformed, rather than destroyed. Automation can have beneficial impacts for the existing workforce; enabling workers to upskill, achieve better-quality work and become more productive. The ONS estimate also overlooks the considerable opportunity for creation of new, highly-skilled employment opportunities. World Economic Forum estimate that robots will displace 75 million jobs globally by 2022, but create 133 million new ones.

We are committed to ensure that the labour market continues to work for everyone. That is why we are improving the UK's system for training in digital skills and lifelong learning to ensure that working people have the support they need to navigate the challenge of automation to a higher-wage future. Through the Industrial Strategy we have delivered:

• 16 New Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country, delivering 1,000 new PhDs over the next 5 years;
• New prestigious AI fellowships to attract and retain the top AI talent, underpinned by up to £50m of funding agreed at Autumn Budget
• Industry-funding for new AI Masters places;
• Invested £406m in maths, digital and technical education; and
• Committed £100m for the first phase of developing the National Retraining Scheme to support people vulnerable to technological change.

The apprenticeships programme delivers upskilling and retraining throughout the economy. Since 2010, 45% of the apprenticeship starts have been by over-25s; two thirds of those have been at higher levels, and 84 per cent of over-25 apprentices were already working for their employer prior to starting the apprenticeship.

In December 2018, the Government published the Good Work Plan​, which commits to a wide range of policy and legislative changes to ensure that workers can access fair and decent work, that both employers and workers have the clarity they need to understand their employment relationships, and that the enforcement system is fair and fit for purpose.

The Government will be publishing a strategy later in the Spring that sets out its vision and action to promote gender equality and economic empowerment. Supporting working mothers and promoting increased flexible working will be core to this.