Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that the car park of UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza sank in 2014 as a result of subterranean terror infrastructure, and (2) that UNRWA did not investigate this sinking.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any incidents related to UN installations. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that UNRWA did not remove the terror infrastructure beneath Zaitun Preparatory A Boys School in Gaza it discovered in 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any incidents related to UN installations. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for adoption of artificial intelligence in the public sector.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
AI and automation is a generational opportunity to drive public sector performance and productivity, with internal estimates suggesting adoption could generate £4.8bn in annual productivity gains in the Civil Service. Further savings are possible in wider public services such as Education, Health and Policing.
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office has convened external experts and digital leaders across government to rapidly respond to developments in this area.
As part of the Government Roadmap for Digital and Data, the Government published our commitment to systematically track opportunities arising from emerging technologies, with a special focus on enabling departments to make confident and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence to improve efficiency and services.
CDDO is also working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the new i.AI team, furthering knowledge sharing through cross-government communities of practice.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the risk of AI-generated misinformation in elections.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has in place established systems and processes, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK. We are working extensively across Government to ensure we are ready to rapidly respond to any threats to our democratic processes. The Government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference, by engaging across government and with Parliament, the UK’s intelligence community, the devolved administrations, local authorities, the Electoral Commission, the private sector, and civil society. The threat to democracy from AI was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.
The Government is working closely with social media platforms to ensure they are taking action to protect the integrity of the next election. Implementation of the Online Safety Act and the Foreign Interference Offence will make a significant difference here. For example, under the Online Safety Act, all companies subject to the safety duties will be required to take action against illegal content online, including misinformation and disinformation where it amounts to a criminal offence, and will be required to take steps to remove this content - including where it is produced by relevant AI bots - if they become aware of it on their services.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by Norway to become the first country in the world to commence commercial deep seabed mining and the impact on the UK.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK government notes the Norwegian government’s decision of 9 January 2024 to consider awarding licences for deep sea mining exploration and potentially in future extraction on its continental shelf. This area is within Norway’s jurisdiction and is not regulated by the International Seabed Authority.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent decision by Norway to allow deep seabed mining, what position they will take on the issue at the 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK government notes the Norwegian government's decision of 10 January 2024 to consider awarding licences for deep sea mining exploration and potentially in future extraction on its continental shelf. This area is within Norway's jurisdiction and is not regulated by the International Seabed Authority.
At the 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) the UK will be maintaining its support for a moratorium (announced on 30th October 2023) on the granting of exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects by the ISA. We recognise the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources and are concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. The UK will not sponsor or support the issuing of any such exploitation licences for deep sea mining by the ISA unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems.