Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Employment Rights Act 2025’s provisions on access to the workplace will require changes to the guidance on trade union access to the building of the employer on strike days.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Employment Rights Act 2025’s provisions on access set out that trade union access cannot be used for the purposes of organising industrial action (70ZA(7) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992). Doing so would be considered a breach of the access agreement. However, the union could still be entitled to access a non-striking group of workers in the same workplace for any of the access purposes set out (section 70ZA (6) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992)), and in accordance with the access agreement.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Leong on 16 September, what requirements they are including in invitations to tender for public sector construction contracts relating to the provision of apprenticeship opportunities and adult skills training by contractors and subcontractors.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government is committed to ensuring that public procurement supports British businesses and helps to build a fairer economy, delivering jobs, skills and opportunities in every postcode.
The new Social Value Model will ensure that contracts valued at £1m and above, but less than £5m, apply a minimum 10% weighting (or equivalent measurement), and contracts valued at £5m or above, apply a minimum 20% weighting (or equivalent measurement), of the total score given to tenders. These will support apprenticeships and other forms of training in construction and other sectors.
Full details of the policy can be found here PPN 026: The Social Value Model (HTML) - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to ratify the Council of Europe framework convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK was proud to be among the first countries to sign the Council of Europe’s AI Convention, the world’s first legally binding agreement on AI grounded in human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We will implement the Convention in a way that safeguards rights while supporting growth. We are working through our options for ratification that best give effect to this, including taking stock of existing legislative and administrative measures that meet the Convention's provisions.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what methodology he uses to assess the employment impact of proposed data centres; whether published employment estimates distinguish between temporary construction roles and permanent operational jobs; and what estimate his Department has made of the average number of permanent jobs created per hectare of land occupied by new data-centre developments.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Data centres are an enabling industry that supports employment, investment and economic growth across the UK. Data centres have been designated CNI which reflects their importance to the secure operation of digital services relied upon by businesses, public services and households. TechUK estimates that the sector supports 43,500 jobs, contributes £4.7 billion in annual GVA and generates £640 million in tax revenue. Each operational job may support a further 1.4 to 2.5 jobs across the economy.
The Government continues to work with industry to maximise local employment, skills and community benefits from new data centre developments.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Leong on 15 September (HL2978) regarding animal experiments, how they intend to measure progress their objective, set out in the Replacing animals in science strategy (November 2025), of increasing and sustaining investment in animal replacement methods, if funding for such methods is not separately identified across Government; and whether they plan to establish a cross-government baseline against which future investment in human-specific research methods and technologies can be assessed.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Progress in delivering the objectives of the strategy will be measured against a set of KPIs developed in consultation with delivery partners. A KPI framework covering the strategy's commitments will be published later this year.
While a unified reporting format that captures investments made through all relevant government departments and regulatory bodies is not yet available, individual delivery partners are developing and refining their reporting methodologies.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Cambridge (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £184 million Engineering Biology Scale-up Infrastructure Programme announced as part of their Modern Industrial Strategy will be opened for applications before the end of 2026.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Innovate UK launched a £5m Engineering Biology Access to Infrastructure Pilot competition on September 7 as part of the £184m Engineering Biology Scale-up Infrastructure programme. This competition enables SMEs affordable access to specialised UK engineering biology scale-up facilities in the public and private sectors, such as catapults, bio-foundries and CMOs. BIST and UKRI are working closely together on the scope and design of the scale-up infrastructure fund to ensure that the necessary facilities are available to support SMEs to demonstrate the technical and economic commercial viability of their technology. This fund and further phases of the access fund will be launched in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of calls for a moratorium on planning approvals for data centres and battery energy storage systems outside designated AI Growth Zones.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Government has no plans to introduce a moratorium on data centres and battery storage systems. Data centres and battery energy storage systems, whether located inside or outside AI Growth Zones, are subject to established planning and regulatory requirements. Decision-makers must consider relevant impacts, including those on the environment, heritage, landscapes, ecology, agricultural land and local communities. Planning applications are generally determined by local planning authorities, while particularly large data infrastructure projects may enter the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime. These arrangements allow proposals to be assessed on their individual merits and development consent to be refused where significant adverse impacts cannot be appropriately managed or mitigated.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase UK manufacturing capacity for the hardware required for artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum technologies.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is backing UK manufacturing capacity across these frontier technologies. Our £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan will back British chip firms, support the scaling of hardware technologies in the UK, boost computing power and build the skills needed for long-term growth. We are backing advanced manufacturing with up to £4.3 billion over five years, including £38 million of grants to set up Robotics Adoption Hubs. For quantum technologies, we have committed up to £2 billion, including £140 million in infrastructure such as open-access pilot lines and cryogenics research and development.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in applications for data centres in the UK; and whether there is adequate provision for connection to the national grid.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises that the demand for data centres is growing, reflecting their critical importance to the economy, public services and national security. This is placing increasing demands on the national grid, and we are taking steps to ensure that development is supported by sufficient energy infrastructure. We have established the AI Energy Council where we work with industry to enable data centre growth and manage challenges to the energy system. We are working with Ofgem, NESO and DESNZ to manage speculative applications for data centre connections, and ensure that network infrastructure can be built in the right places to support demand.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution will the British steel sector, including Speciality Steel UK, play in (1) delivering their Industrial Strategy, and (2) supporting growth in key sectors across the UK.
Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
A strong British steel sector is fundamental to delivering the Industrial Strategy, strengthening national and economic security, and supporting growth in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, infrastructure and digital technologies. Through the Steel Strategy, backed by up to £2.5 billion, the Government is working to rebuild the sector, attract investment, increase demand for UK-made steel and support clean, modern production. It is a major employer in one of the UK’s most deprived areas, and it occupies a unique place in our steel ecosystem. Working towards public acquisition will preserve strategic control and enable the Government to assess all credible future opportunities, including how SSUK’s specialist capabilities can support growth, skilled employment and resilient domestic supply chains.