Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department plans to publish guidance on the installation of solar technology on the (a) central Government and (b) wider public sector estate.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office plans to issue high-level guidance to central government, specifically covering the central government estate and published for an internal-to-government audience, in the coming months. Further guidance, for the wider public sector, may follow.
The Office of Government Property has published the Net Zero Estate Playbook on gov.uk, providing guidance to support government property organisations to decarbonise their estates. This includes recommendations of how to reduce operational energy use, such as through improving renewable energy generation where appropriate through multiple channels, including solar technology.
Government is committed to driving forward the renewable energy agenda, both on its own estate and beyond, and the UK has halved its emissions ahead of every other major economy.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the use of e-mail to communicate with his Department's customers.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP utilises technology which allows encryption with most providers of personal email services, such as Gmail or Outlook, helping this stay secure. As such, email communication with customers is currently permitted in certain circumstances, for example, where the customer has a reasonable adjustment in place.
The Department is keen to utilise the benefits provided by email communication, as part of its work in modernising customer contact channels to deliver modernised services. The department is currently exploring a number of specific possibilities to expand its use of outbound email to communicate with customers, recently testing sending of notifications via email to overseas customers in areas where the postal system is unreliable.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the press notice entitled PM announces turning point in European security as UK set to increase defence spending to 2.5% by 2030, published on 23 April 2024, whether the 5% of the defence budget to be committed to research and development will be counted as science spend; and which Department will be responsible for that expenditure.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is delivering a record £20 billion public investment in R&D this year, which will increase to £22 billion by the end of the next Parliament. £1.6 billion of this £2 billion increase will be allocated to higher defence R&D by 2028-29. The Ministry of Defence will be responsible for this expenditure and further details will be confirmed at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universities in England have small nuclear reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently no universities in England that have small nuclear fission reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
It is critical that the UK continues to maintain access to the nuclear medicines it needs. In the 2024 Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the government committed to considering a research reactor and an accelerator in the next Spending Review to address the UK’s supply needs.
No decisions have yet been taken by the government to select one or more technology options.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of malign actors imitating the interfaces of reputable sources on public trust in digital content.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is a key priority of this government to preserve the integrity of our democratic processes and safeguard the public from interference by malign state and non-state actors, including through AI-enabled threats and manipulated media.
The Online Safety Act will tackle illegal disinformation and misinformation including state-sponsored disinformation via the Foreign Interference Offence, including deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media. This means that companies will have a legal duty to take preventative action to identify and minimise their users’ exposure to state-linked interference with UK society. Such content will need to be swiftly removed, requiring tangible action against state-backed attempts to undermine our democratic, political and legal processes.
In addition to our regulatory approach, the DSIT National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses attempts by foreign states to artificially manipulate the online information environment. The NSOIT works with social media platforms to support and encourage them to put in place policies that are fit for purpose, consistently enforced, and which respect freedom of expression.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the UK Standard Essential Patents regulatory regime on the ability of SMEs to innovate on (a) artificial intelligence and (b) the Internet of Things.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the growing importance of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) to the UK economy. Following a Call for Views, an SME questionnaire, and additional evidence-gathering, the Government published its key objectives on SEPs in February 2024. Those objectives, which are cross-sectoral, and so encompass our approach to Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, include helping implementers, especially SMEs, to navigate and better understand the SEPs ecosystem. Delivering against those objectives, the Government is now focussed on the introduction of key non-regulatory interventions. These include the launch of a Resource Hub in May 2024, which would be a repository of tools, guidance and other material designed to help SMEs navigate the SEPs ecosystem.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with her Australian counterpart on the proposed Misinformation and Disinformation Bill in that country.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers and officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology meet regularly with counterparts from other countries to share our experience and expertise and to develop common approaches to online safety. We work closely with the Government of Australia and recently signed a memorandum of understanding setting out our intention to promote regulatory coordination and jointly deliver online safety and security policy to support our citizens.
The UK government has already delivered world-leading legislation via the Online Safety Act, which captures misinformation and disinformation where it constitutes illegal content or content which is harmful to children, and which forces the largest platforms to remove misinformation and disinformation prohibited under their Terms of Service.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 encourage investment in the UK artificial intelligence sector.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK’s AI market is valued at over $21 billion and is estimated to grow to over 1 trillion by 2035. Recently we have seen the largest investment ($1 billion) into a UK AI start-up (Wayve), with several AI companies opening their European headquarters here. Google and Microsoft have recently announced plans to invest $4.2 billion in the UK, demonstrating confidence in the UK’s approach to AI. To encourage further investment, we host the annual Global Investment Summit, we have tax incentives available for AI companies, and we are delivering £1.5bn of investment into compute, all of which will strengthen our position as an attractive place to invest.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Action Plan: HMP Parc following the July 2022 HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, published on 11 October 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the review of the current suite of available technology to detect drugs and mobile phones at HMP Parc.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice continues to focus on the use technology to disrupt the supply of drugs, mobile phones and other illicit items into prisons, including through assessing the provision of equipment across the prison estate.
Following His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons report published on 11 October 2022, HMP/YOI Parc have worked towards implementing the recommendations identified in the action plan, with a successful bid submitted via G4S for an additional itemiser and X-Ray body scanner.
Across the wider estate our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, completed in March 2022. It included funding to reduce smuggling of illicit items, including drugs, and our measures are producing results.
This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we had recorded over 46,900 positive indications, helping tackle the supply of drugs into prisons.
Furthermore, in January of this year we introduced new 400 metre Restricted Fly Zones around all closed prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales. This makes it easier for prison staff and the police to identify illicit drones and take action to disrupt them, intercept any contraband and pursue prosecution.
Since 2016, HMPPS has helped the police secure more than 75 convictions from criminal drone activity around prisons. Those convicted have been sentenced to a combined total of over 265 years behind bars.
HMPPS is working hard to conduct assessments all across the prison estate to implement a range of physical upgrades and countermeasures to prevent drones from reaching their target destinations.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will commission a report on the potential impact of AI on (a) democracy and (b) elections.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the threat disinformation and AI digitally manipulated content poses very seriously.
We have already seen examples of AI-driven election interference across the globe targeting elected leaders and seeking to influence democratic debate. To mitigate these risks, as part of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, DSIT is working across government to ensure we are ready to respond to risks to the UK’s democratic processes.