Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of interactive AI technologies to support physical activity and wellbeing among children.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department is continuously monitoring the implications of digital technology in schools, in particular recognising the balance required for preparing pupils for a rapidly evolving digital world, whilst not displacing the role of the teacher, or compromising a young person’s face-to-face socialisation with peers, practical learning, or physical activity.

We have committed over £1 billion in funding for PE and school sport over three years, including £580 million for a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network alongside investment in facilities and transitional support for primary schools.

The network will provide practical, targeted support to increase participation, and will have scope to encourage innovative approaches, including the effective use of technology, where these can deliver meaningful improvements in children’s activity levels.

Provision will be informed by baseline and ongoing needs assessments led by a national delivery partner.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk posed to critical national infrastructure by artificial intelligence-enabled cyber attacks.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The government has been clear for some time that the accelerating capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) models presents both risks and opportunities for cyber security. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’s May 2025 report ”Impact of AI on cyber threat from now to 2027” assesses that AI will almost certainly continue to make elements of cyber intrusion operations more effective and efficient, leading to an increase in frequency and intensity of cyber threats. The NCSC’s latest assessment shows that by 2028, it is highly likely that AI-cyber capabilities will be used by attackers against known vulnerabilities in legacy technology in our critical national infrastructure.

The government takes these developments very seriously, which is why are taking robust action to improve cyber resilience across the public sector and wider economy. Our Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will improve the UK’s cyber defences and protect our essential and digital services, while the Government Cyber Action Plan sets out how we will rapidly improve the cyber security and resilience of public services. We will publish the National Cyber Action Plan setting out how we will continue to tackle the growing cyber threat.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of energy costs on investment in artificial intelligence data centres in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

DSIT is working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Business and Trade, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator to ensure that we can attract sufficient investment in AI infrastructure and deliver on our ambition of being a global leader in AI. While energy prices are a critical factor in the cost and competitiveness of operating AI infrastructure in the UK, they are one of several key considerations for investors.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the workforce skills requirements arising from the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies by UK businesses.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

HM Government (HMG) has undertaken an evidence-led programme to assess the workforce skills requirements arising from the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across UK businesses. This assessment is grounded in three complementary strands of work led by Skills England.

First, Skills England’s AI Skills for the UK workforce report (October 2025) provides a detailed assessment of AI skills demand across ten priority growth sectors, identifying the need for a broad spectrum of capabilities—from advanced technical expertise (such as machine learning and data engineering) to applied skills and foundational AI literacy for workers across occupations. It also highlights key barriers to meeting these needs, including limited training provision and uneven employer capability, particularly among SMEs, and introduces practical frameworks and tools to support workforce planning.

Secondly, Skills England has evaluated what constitutes effective AI upskilling in practice. The Skills for AI: What Works for AI Upskilling in the UK programme (June 2026) draws on extensive employer engagement, surveys, and case studies to demonstrate that AI is increasingly embedded in everyday work, but that organisations require support to build workforce capability. It identifies the importance of role-specific training, organisational readiness, leadership capability and responsible use, and provides a structured framework (PRIMES) to guide employers in implementing effective and inclusive AI training programmes. These findings are reinforced by wider government-commissioned research, including the AI Skills for Life and Work report (2026), which highlights that many employers report low levels of AI capability within their workforce, and that demand for AI-related skills is expected to grow significantly, with most roles requiring some level of interaction with AI.

Thirdly, these insights are integrated within HMG’s wider labour market intelligence. Skills England annual skills report and Sectoral Skills Needs Assessments 2026 provide a system-wide view of current and future skills demand across priority sectors, combining labour market projections with employer evidence. These assessments explicitly consider the impact of technological change, including AI, on occupational demand, identify skills shortages and gaps, and highlight the need for a more flexible, employer-led and evidence-driven skills system to respond to emerging requirements.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of artificial intelligence legal services on access to legal representation in lower-value civil claims.

Answered by Baroness Levitt

The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of artificial intelligence legal services on access to legal representation in lower-value civil claims. However, we recognise the potential for AI-enabled tools to improve access to legal information and support, including by helping individuals better understand legal processes and prepare documents.

The Ministry of Justice supports responsible innovation. In February we announced a further £4.5 million funding for the next 3 years for LawtechUK and the Government has also set up the new AI Growth Lab for legal services. These initiatives are designed to help legal technology develop in a way that supports affordable, accessible and high-quality services.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of energy and water infrastructure to support the development of artificial intelligence data centres in AI Growth Zones.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The expansion of AI infrastructure is critical to the UK's long-term economic growth, resilience, and global competitiveness. We are working closely with industry, the National Energy System Operator, DESNZ, Ofgem, DEFRA, and the Environment Agency to improve our understanding of the impacts of future demand.

AI Growth Zone applicants are required to detail their water plans and provide confirmation of feasibility from the relevant water supplier. Data Centre Developers progressing through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime must assess impacts on water resources as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment and supporting documentation, and national planning policy embeds consideration of sustainable water use and resource efficiency in decision making.

Through the AI Energy Council, co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, we are also exploring how to meet the future energy demands of AI and data centres in a way that is resilient, sustainable, and scalable.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks arising from the deployment by businesses of autonomous AI agents without human oversight.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government has undertaken significant research efforts to better understand the risks from AI. As AI systems become more capable, autonomous, and widely deployed, ensuring they remain under human control becomes critical. The Government’s world-leading AI Security Institute (AISI) is examining how to ensure advanced AI systems follow human goals, ensuring they remain under human oversight and control as their capabilities continue to advance.

Independent research published by the Centre for Long-Term Resilience – supported by an AISI grant – has highlighted public examples of AI systems behaving in unintended ways, circumventing instructions, or acting in ways developers did not intend.

In recently published research conducted with Grey Swan, AISI carried out the largest open AI Agent Red Teaming study ever, identifying 62,000 vulnerabilities across finance, healthcare, customer support, and more. We continue to work hand in hand with developers and with organisations like the National Cyber Security Centre to make AI protections stronger.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence systems to reduce administrative burdens in NHS hospitals.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the significant potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce administrative burdens across National Health Service hospitals and support frontline staff.

AI technologies, including tools that automate clinical documentation such as the summarisation and transcription of patient consultations, are already demonstrating how routine administrative tasks can be streamlined, reducing time spent on paperwork. Early NHS pilots indicate that these tools can significantly cut documentation time and increase patient-facing time. For example, one small London-based study reported a reduction in paperwork of approximately 50%.

In addition, the rollout of Microsoft Copilot across parts of the NHS is supporting staff to automate routine administrative tasks such as drafting documents, summarising information, and managing correspondence, helping to reduce time spent on manual processes and improve productivity.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent trends in investment and consolidation on the competitiveness of the UK fintech sector.

Answered by Lord Livermore

The UK has a long history as a powerhouse of financial services innovation. The sector attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025 - second only to the US.

The Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out a comprehensive package of reforms to maintain the UK’s global leadership in Fintech.

As set out in the Strategy, the UK aims to be the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre, and to remain a leading jurisdiction for Fintech firms to start, scale, list, and stay.

This includes creating a competitive regulatory environment by working with UK regulators to make it quicker and easier for new firms to achieve regulatory authorisation.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the suitability of greenfield sites for the development of AI data centres.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My department has made no specific assessment. However, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the needs of different sectors, including data centres. In determining appropriate locations, the NPPF is also clear that the impacts of the local environment must be considered. Decision makers will need to consider both of these factors when determining whether specific locations, whether greenfield or previously developed land, are appropriate.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to how data centres should be planned for.

We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of AI on the capacity of corporate in-house legal teams to deliver legal services.

Answered by Baroness Levitt

The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of artificial intelligence on the capacity of corporate in-house legal teams to deliver legal services. However, we recognise the potential for AI-enabled tools to improve access to legal information and support, including by helping individuals better understand legal processes and prepare documents.

The Ministry of Justice supports responsible innovation through LawtechUK and in February we announced a further £4.5 million funding for the next 3 years. More recently, the Government also announced the Advisory AI Growth Lab for legal services. These initiatives are designed to help legal technology develop in a way that supports affordable, accessible and high-quality services.

The Government also continues to back the safe and responsible adoption of AI across the legal services sector by working closely with regulators to support innovation while upholding robust professional and consumer protections and encouraging them to update their guidance accordingly where necessary.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of investment in artificial intelligence data centres on inflationary pressures in the UK economy.

Answered by Lord Livermore

HM Treasury continuously monitors developments in the economy, including the drivers of inflation and wider cost-of-living pressures. The inflationary impact of investment in AI data centres will depend on its scale, timing and interaction with wider supply conditions. While investment in AI data centres could in principle add to inflationary pressures, we have not seen evidence to date of a significant impact in the aggregate inflation data.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast that inflation was due to return close to target in Q2 this year, before the impact of the war in Iran began to increase motor fuel prices.

The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England has responsibility for controlling inflation, and the Government has full confidence that it will sustainably return inflation to the 2 per cent target. The Government supports the Bank of England through responsible fiscal policy, alongside targeted support for the cost of living. The OBR forecast that government policy will reduce CPI inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026/27.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of consumer protection legislation in relation to the use of artificial intelligence to generate summaries of online reviews.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), online platforms must take reasonable steps to ensure consumer reviews on their sites are genuine. This includes AI-generated summaries which must accurately represent the overall consensus of genuine reviews. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published separate guidance for businesses that publish reviews to help meet their legal obligations.

Where traders do not comply with the law, the DMCCA has strengthened enforcement powers. It has given the CMA new administrative powers to enable them and the courts to impose significant monetary penalties.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with social media platforms on measures to prevent AI-generated deepfake advertisements from being used to facilitate fraud.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government recognises the significant harm caused by fraudulent adverts and the potential for those adverts to be made more credible through the use of deepfakes and other generative AI tools.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) is the independent regulator responsible for regulating advertising in the UK, through codes set by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP). The codes do not restrict the use of deepfakes within advertisements. However, they do include clear rules intended to protect consumers from misleading marketing communications, and rules regarding testimonials and endorsements.

Further, Since March 2025, the Online Safety Act (OSA) has required platforms to introduce proactive measures to protect users from user-generated fraud. The OSA lists fraud as a priority offence and regulates AI-generated media in the same way as ‘real’ content. Later this month Ofcom will be going further, consulting on new measures for the largest online platforms to prevent fraudulent advertising. We are backing this up by investing £250 million to disrupt fraudsters and protect the public through our new Fraud Strategy.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of supply chains for memory components used in artificial intelligence computing.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the importance of advanced memory components, including those used in artificial intelligence (AI) computing, to the UK economy and critical technologies, and the need for secure and resilient supply chains. Global memory chip supply chains remain vulnerable to supply risks arising from rapidly growing demand and the concentration of production capacity in a limited number of overseas markets.

The Government monitors the impacts of supply chain disruption and engages with industry to understand potential impacts on UK businesses and critical sectors.

Given the global and interconnected nature of semiconductor supply chains, the UK is working closely with international partners, including through the G7 and OECD, to strengthen collective resilience, improve information-sharing and support secure and diversified semiconductor supply chains.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to update legislation to address the malicious use of artificial intelligence-generated voice and likeness cloning.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

‘Digital replicas’ can be a powerful tool, including for the creative industries. However, when someone’s likeness is replicated without their permission it can be harmful. The Government recognises the risks posed by the malicious use of AI-generated voice and likeness cloning.

Deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media are regulated by the Online Safety Act in the same way as ‘real’ content – that is where they are shared on an in-scope service and meet the definition of either illegal content, or content which is harmful to children. Services in scope of the Act must protect all users from illegal content, and children from harmful and age-inappropriate content, including where it is AI-generated.

We are also considering whether further measures may be needed to address emerging harms. To inform this, we will launch a consultation in the summer to seek views on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation.