Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the growing number of cyber security threats on European supermarkets operating in the UK.

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

The Government recognises the importance of cyber resilience across the retail sector. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides expert guidance and support to organisations to help manage cyber risks and improve resilience, including through its sector-focused Trust Groups it runs across the wider economy. No assessment has been made by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade of the number of cyber security threats affecting European supermarkets operating in the UK. Government continues to work with industry and relevant partners to promote strong cyber security practices.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK provides globally competitive electricity prices that can continue to attract AI data centre investment.

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

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) is developing proposals for electricity bill support for eligible data centres located in AI Growth Zones where they help to reduce overall electricity system costs.

We are putting AI at the centre of our plans for good growth in every postcode: bringing together innovation, business and industry. We are undertaking further policy development on how to support data centres, and the government remains committed to supporting the UK’s ambitions for AI growth and investment.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent and remove AI powered nonconsensual intimate imagery applications.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the Government banned the creation and supply of intimate image generators, often known as nudification apps. The criminalisation of such tools is the first of its kind in the world, and the developers and suppliers of such tools face up to 3 years in prison and an unlimited fine.

This offence was commenced on 29th June 2026 and targets the developers and suppliers who profit from the profound distress and victimisation of others, particularly women and girls. On 15th October 2026, the Home Office published non-statutory guidance for the police to support the implementation of the new criminal offence.

Under the Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties, user-to-user services such as social media sites will have to take down content they have been alerted to or are aware of that offers purported intimate image generators (e.g. nudification apps) and search engines will have to reduce the visibility of search results linked to these tools, regardless of where the social media, search, or nudification service is based.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of using deep-learning AI models to synthesise heat and drought resistant crops.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Defra-funded Food, Farming & Natural Environment Climate Service provides climate modelling services and develops evidence on climate adaptation (including investigating drought and heat impacts on crops) to strengthen agri-food sector resilience and breeding approaches. No specific assessment has been made of using deep learning AI models.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that access to critical broadband infrastructure is protected in rural areas.

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

DCMS is taking robust steps to ensure broadband access is appropriately secure and resilient in all areas, including in rural communities where there are significant dependencies on digital services.

Digital infrastructure in the United Kingdom is designed to include high levels of security and resilience. DCMS works with Ofcom and industry to manage and mitigate risks of disruption and has introduced legislation to help protect UK networks and services.

The Telecommunications Security Act (2021) amended the Communications Act 2003 to establish a new telecoms security framework. The Act places duties on the providers of public telecoms networks and services to identify, reduce and prepare for risks of security compromise and to remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of security compromises. ‘Security compromise’ is defined broadly in the Act to include ‘anything that compromises the availability, performance or functionality of the network or service’.

Providers of digital infrastructure that are designated as Operators of Essential Services under the Network and Information Systems Regulations (2018) must also take appropriate steps to secure their systems and minimise the impact of incidents. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will amend the Network and Information Systems Regulations to further strengthen the United Kingdom’s cyber defences and build the resilience of digital services over the long term.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of additional barriers for elderly patients in accessing health services arising from the use of AI services by general practitioners.

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

The GP Contract is clear that patients must be able to contact their practice by telephone or by visiting in person, and that online tools must be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, those routes. Those requirements are also reflected in the guidance issued to primary care networks in July 2023 on the need to reduce digital exclusion.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of copyrighted recordings being used to train AI songwriting models.

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

The government is aware of ongoing litigation being brought against AI developers for using copyrighted recordings to train their music generation models. Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright law unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.

It is important that rightsholders can effectively assert their rights. We are dedicated to protecting our world-leading creative industries, including the music industry, and ensuring they continue to thrive in the age of AI. We will publish a review on the mechanisms available for creators to control their works online, including standards, technical solutions and best practice on transparency on the data used to train AI models.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen safeguards against artificial intelligence agents collaborating autonomously to conduct cyberattacks.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Rt Hon. Lord Taylor of Warwick to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 October 2026 (HCWS357) (copied below), which provides an overview of the action the Government is taking to strengthen the UK’s resilience against the risks posed by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence.

“I am today updating the House on the action the Government is taking to strengthen the UK's resilience against the risks posed by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly capable and autonomous, creating new risks for individuals, businesses and national security. Deepfakes are being used to defraud people out of their money. Nudification tools are being used to humiliate and blackmail them. And AI enabled cyber attacks threaten our businesses and public institutions.

As I set out to the House on 7 September, frontier AI agents are increasingly able to act on their own. As these systems become more powerful, we must also prepare for the possibility of serious incidents in which they behave unexpectedly or act beyond their instructions.

The Government's first responsibility is to protect the British public. That requires the independent expertise to understand the risks posed by advanced AI, the capabilities to strengthen our defences and the ability to respond effectively when things go wrong. We cannot rely solely on the companies developing these technologies to assess and manage the risks they may pose.

I am therefore setting out further action to strengthen government cyber defences using frontier AI, establish a specialist capability to respond to major incidents involving agentic AI, and consider how the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill can better protect essential services against emerging threats.

As artificial intelligence becomes more capable, Britain must become more capable of protecting its people.

Independent testing of advanced AI

Britain is home to the world's leading AI Security Institute, bringing together more than 100 technical specialists to independently test the capabilities and risks of the most advanced AI systems.

Its work has established the UK as a world leader in AI security and demonstrated why independent scrutiny matters. As these systems become more powerful, it is essential that government retains the expertise to understand their risks for itself, rather than relying solely on the companies developing them.

So, over the last few weeks, we’ve been working closely with the labs and the US government - from His Majesty’s gathering of leading AI developers at Dumfries House in Scotland to discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York - to retain access for Britain’s AI Security Institute to the most powerful AI models before they’re released. And I can confirm that AISI scientists are now conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models, including Gemini 4 Argon to identify risks early, test safeguards, and help keep people safe.

Frontier AI hardening across government

Over the past months, experts in the Government Cyber Unit have been working across the public sector to test the use of frontier AI on real-world government cyber security problems. Two pilot programmes have used AI to find and address 1,352 vulnerabilities across 548 code repositories in 18 participating departments, alongside helping organisations detect advanced cyber threats. I can today announce an urgent extension of our frontier AI hardening programme, putting the most advanced AI technology to work strengthening defences across government and making our vital public services harder to attack. We will continue to work with government departments to address weaknesses in highest risk systems. This marks an important step towards a broader UK Government capability for use of AI to support cyber defence and resilience.

Agentic AI incident response

As AI agents are used more widely and with less human oversight, the risk of serious incidents in which they act beyond their instructions is growing. When such incidents occur, government must be able to establish quickly what has gone wrong, contain the risks and support those affected. I can confirm today that the Government is taking the first steps to meet this challenge. Working with the National Cyber Security Centre, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the AI Security Institute, we are developing our plans for how government should respond when AI agents cause serious harm, and we will build on this work in the weeks and months ahead.

Cyber Security and Resilience Bill

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill currently making its way through the House of Lords will do a great deal to protect our essential services, such as in health, energy and drinking water. Given how fast AI capabilities are advancing, we are considering how the regime can be strengthened so that AI cyber and loss of control risks are better understood and protected against. For instance, how near misses can be identified and reported, how AI-driven risk across organisations is reduced, and looking at how AI incidents can be properly understood, so lessons are shared and future harm prevented. We will consider proposals with parliamentarians, as well as technical experts and the operators who would need to deliver them, and continue to update Parliament during the passage of the Bill.

Verification

As AI systems become more capable, effective risk mitigation may increasingly depend on whether important claims about their development and operation can be independently verified. The UK has a rich history of hardware innovation, and I can confirm today that we will explore how that British expertise can help strengthen this central challenge in AI security.

The Prime Minister's AI Taskforce

These are just the first steps on a longer journey Britain needs to take to seize AI's potential as a driver for good growth and better public services, while at the same time being resilient to its potential risks. That wider scheme of work is being spearheaded by the AI Taskforce, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and chaired by Lord Vallance.

A shared responsibility

Government cannot do this alone. AI is increasing the speed, scale and efficiency of attacks, and every business has a responsibility to stay secure against them. The damage to brands, reputations and revenues means cyber security must be a matter for every boardroom in Britain.

The Security Minister will be outlining this Government’s approach to cyber security for the age of AI in the upcoming National Cyber Action Plan, with a national call to action for all organisations and businesses on this shared responsibility.

AI will be as consequential as the steam engine or internet. It could be more consequential than those technologies. It can help those who seek to do us harm, but it can also help keep us safe. This Government is determined that the UK stays at the forefront of AI innovation, so that we can seize the opportunities it brings and protect the public from its risks. I will keep the House updated.”

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to offer AI data centre investors shorter wait times for electrical grid connections.

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

The Government is reforming the electricity grid connections process to reduce waiting times and accelerate connection offers for strategically important projects, including AI infrastructure and data centres. Working with Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator, we are moving to a more efficient connections regime that prioritises viable projects which are ready to progress. These reforms will remove stalled schemes from the queue and make better use of available network capacity while maintaining a fair and robust process for all users of the network. Through the AI Energy Council, the Government is exploring resilient, sustainable and scalable grid connections.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the high-borrowing, circular financing model in the AI sector; and the implications this model may have for economic growth in the UK.

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

The Government's approach is to harness the opportunities of AI to drive economic growth and productivity, while ensuring its safe and responsible adoption. The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee closely considers AI investment trends as part of its assessments, as set out in its July Financial Stability Report.

The UK AI sector is an increasingly important contributor to the economy: in 2024 it generated £23.9 billion in revenue, contributed £11.8 billion in Gross Value Added and supported around 86,000 AI-related jobs, with its GVA more than doubling from 2023.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the reorganisation of government departments maintains momentum in the development and implementation of policies on AI safety and security.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government takes the risks from advanced AI extremely seriously, and recognises the importance of ensuring our approach keeps pace with a rapidly evolving technology.

That is why the AI Security Institute has moved to the Cabinet Office, bringing our world-leading capability on AI safety and security into the centre of Government. Its work continues uninterrupted.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) reinstate sickness benefit reassessments, and (2) reduce wait times for sickness benefit reassessments to the pre-Covid level.

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

The department is taking a number of steps to increase the capacity of the Health Assessment Advisory Service to deliver Work Capability Assessments, including reassessments. This includes the recruitment and training of additional healthcare professionals across all assessment suppliers, alongside improvements to workforce planning to better align available resources with demand.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the competitiveness of the United Kingdom as a destination for investment in artificial intelligence start-up companies.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The UK is one of the best destinations globally for investment in artificial intelligence start-up companies. In 2024 the UK’s AI sector generated £24 billion pounds worth of revenue while at the same time employing around 86,000 people. According to the Stanford AI Index, in 2025 the UK produced the second most AI startups globally, while also attracting the third highest levels of AI private investment. In April we also launched our Sovereign AI Fund, backed by up to £500 million, which will provide targeted Government support for high-potential UK start-ups and scaleups in areas of strategic national interest.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that exams are dynamically modelled around human creativity so that they are not overwhelmed by AI coaching.

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

We are reforming our qualifications to ensure that they support progression to further study, training and skilled employment. These reforms will help young people develop the knowledge, skills and experiences they need to succeed in work, life and lifelong learning.

In line with the recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, our GCSE reforms will strengthen the human skills pupils need for the future. These include creative thinking in computing, critical thinking in history and problem solving in mathematics. We will also place greater emphasis on practical skills and assessment in practical GCSE subjects such as PE, drama, design and technology, food and nutrition, music and computing. This will better recognise the value of these skills and support students to succeed beyond the classroom.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK does not restrict economic growth as a result of the sale of emerging firms approaching a point of international market significance to foreign companies.

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

The UK is open to foreign investment, which can help emerging British firms to grow, innovate and access international markets.

Through the Industrial Strategy, we are supporting innovative firms to start, scale, list and stay in the UK. This includes action to attract growth capital, strengthen public finance institutions, expand tax incentives and transform public procurement of innovation.

The British Business Bank is targeting over 60% of its venture and growth investment on scale-ups, investing at least £5bn through fund managers or directly into scale-up companies, and aims to support 10 new to market growth-stage fundraisings over five years.