Digital ID

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and Lord Vallance of Balham

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that powerful and informed statement. I am sure that my noble friend’s offer for people to come and visit will be taken up, and I certainly would like to accept that offer myself at some point.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as I currently chair the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, which is, as it says on the tin, to prove the ages of young people who want to go out for a drink at night, engage in nighttime activity or go to the cinema. We are seeking to move from a purely physical card to a digital one, so I echo the confusion expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Vaux. Where are we with digital ID? If it is going to be for only one purpose—the right to work—you are excluding from activities those young people who currently are willing to buy either a physical card or a digital card for a very modest sum. They will be excluded from this free scheme because it is only for the right to work.

I can quite see where the Government are coming from, because there is a category of people who cannot prove their identity or their age because they do not drive, so do not have a driving licence, and do not travel so do not have a passport. But there is a bit of confusion at the moment in the Government’s thinking between proof of age, age verification and digital ID. If that could be clarified as soon as possible, it would be extremely helpful.

Data Centres: Energy and Water Consumption

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and Lord Vallance of Balham

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The right reverend Prelate is right that water is a very large issue for data centres, as they consume large amounts of it. There are now technologies that reduce that use, such as recirculation of water. The AI growth zone proposals are required to set out water use—the volume of water required, the availability of that volume, the timeline of delivery and any wider infrastructure requirements or constraints—and they must work with the water provider to do that. Applications must confirm the above from the relevant water supplier and include any other associated impacts. A working group on sustainability has also been set up under the AI Energy Council.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I am an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Water Group and follow these issues very closely. Does the Minister share my concern that data centres are being built and expanded very close to major new housing developments in areas of deep water stress? What is the Government’s policy to ensure that households, as well as the data centres concerned, will have sufficient drinking water and sufficient evacuation of wastewater sewage?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The proposal process for AI growth zones, which is where the big data centres will be placed, started in early February and ended at the end of February. Over 50 proposals have come forward, each of which needs to deal specifically with water in relation to the local environment and local plans, and to plan that with the water company.

AstraZeneca

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and Lord Vallance of Balham

Thursday 6th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I think it is undoubtedly a commercial decision. Having been head of R&D for a multinational pharmaceutical company, I know exactly how these decisions are made. It will have been a commercial decision as to where it needs to make the right investments for its vaccine manufacturing. I think the small change in the deal from the UK Government was probably a minor part in the overall decision-making.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

Given the fact that the project will not now go ahead and that we wish to be self-sufficient in the production of vaccines, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that we will be self-sufficient in producing vaccines going forward and not dependent on imports?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave earlier: the Moderna facility in Harwell is a massive new vaccine investment in this country; there is the BioNTech deal to bring that company here as well; and there are several other opportunities, including the life sciences innovation manufacturing fund of up to £520 million, which people are applying for at the moment. There is a lot more going on in vaccines now than there has been, but I am absolutely not complacent about this. It is an area we need to get right and an area where we need to make sure that the vaccine facilities are being used to produce vaccines on a daily basis—there is no good at all in having plants lying idle, waiting for something to happen.