Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems currently in use by the Ministry of Justice are used (even partially) to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those have publicly available equality impact assessments and/or data protection impact assessments.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to PQ 194023: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-07-13/194023.
However, none of the systems used in that response are used to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements.
The Ministry of Justice has well established processes for completing Equality Impact Assessments and Data Protection Impact Assessments to ensure data processing is lawful, necessary, and proportionate.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department for Transport, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Various analytical systems are used in the Department for Transport to inform decisions that are ultimately made by Ministers. These systems are, however, designed to provide insight at an aggregate level; they do not pertain to any particular individuals and are not based on any personal data. They therefore do not inform any decisions that have an effect on specific individual’s legal rights or entitlements. Consequently, no Data Protection Impact Assessments or Equality Impact Assessments have been published in relation to these systems.
The department publishes a list of business-critical models that provides details of their purposes.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department for Education, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 24 July 2023 to Question 194009.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department’s analysts use machine learning techniques as part of analytical support to policy development. However, there is no use of such algorithms for automated decision making.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department of Health and Social Care, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not use automated decision-making in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 194013 on 18 July 2023.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the factors contributing to the decline in life sciences foreign direct investment to the UK between 2021 and 2022 and of the associated fall from second to ninth of 18 comparator countries for inward life sciences direct investment since 2021.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to making the UK an attractive place for investment in Life Sciences. Recent changes to R&D tax relief and to capital allowances announced in the Spring budget have significantly improved the UK offer to foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI data – including both the Life Sciences Competitiveness Indicators and the inward investment results from the Department for Business and Trade – can display large year-on-year variations that are not representative of broader trends. Between 2012 and 2022 inward investment into the sector increased by 193%.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the link between the increase in rebate rates in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and the decline in life sciences foreign direct investment to the UK from £1.9 billion in 2021 to £1 billion in 2022.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No direct assessment has been made. However, payment rates in the 2019 VPAS have been below those forecast when the scheme was agreed with industry. The Government remains firmly committed to negotiating a mutually beneficial scheme that supports better patient outcomes, a strong UK life sciences industry, and the sustainability of NHS spend on branded medicines.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered re-instating the reports to Parliament on the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to re-instate the reports to parliament, which were a requirement under the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. This requirement was not included in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access. The governance of any future voluntary scheme is subject to ongoing negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether any disinvestment decisions have been taken in the UK because of the rebates imposed on companies through the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has considered in broad terms the link between volume-based rebate payments in our medicine pricing schemes and various kinds of investment in our impact assessment of recent updates to the statutory scheme for branded medicines pricing, which operates alongside the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS).
There are several factors which influence company investment decisions in any particular country or region. Available evidence suggests that supply side factors, such as availability of expert scientific labour and favourable tax conditions are of greatest significance in the decision on future investment. However, we understand that price regulation schemes such as VPAS may be a consideration in the decision to locate some investments, which is why we are committed to agreeing a successor voluntary scheme to VPAS that supports a strong United Kingdom life sciences sector.