Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of large-scale AI data centres on the availability of agricultural land for food production.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The expansion of AI infrastructure is critical to the UK's long-term economic growth, resilience, and global competitiveness. This Government is working with industry to improve understanding of the demand for agricultural land.
National planning policy gives clear preference for development sited on brownfield, industrial, contaminated, or previously developed land. Where development of agricultural land is necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land.
The Land Use Framework included a clear, long-term commitment to maintain overall food production in England while increasing resilience to climate change and safeguarding our best and most versatile agricultural land.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of limited access to frontier artificial intelligence models for the competitiveness of the UK's financial services sector.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government believes that the safe adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by the financial services sector is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK. As set out in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, it is the government’s ambition to make the UK ”the world’s most technologically advanced global financial sector”, leveraging our dual strengths in Financial Services (FS) and AI to drive growth and productivity, and deliver consumer benefits.
The FS AI Adoption Plan, authored by the FS AI Champions, Harriet Rees and Rohit Dhawan, is an important step towards achieving that aim, and sets out the next steps for industry, regulators, and government to grasp the opportunities for safe adoption of AI in FS.
The government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the AI Safety Institute to monitor developments in AI capability and access across the sector.
The government is aware that access constraints may arise for a number of reasons, however it is not currently concerned about the availability of frontier models for UK FS firms.
The government will continue to monitor this issue and will consider what further steps may be necessary to ensure that the UK financial services sector can access the AI capabilities it needs to remain globally competitive. We are also supporting the UK’s own sovereign AI capabilities through the Sovereign AI Unit backed by £500mn of funding.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of complaints generated by AI on the capacity of legal complaints handling services.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), operates independently of government. Legal services providers handle complaints about their services in the first instance. The OLC administers the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) scheme, which considers service complaints that have not been resolved by providers, while the legal services regulators consider concerns about professional conduct. The Legal Services Board (LSB) oversees the legal services regulators and the OLC.
The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of AI-generated complaints. However, through its regular engagement with these bodies, the Ministry of Justice is aware that AI can help consumers articulate and pursue complaints but may also increase demand and place additional pressure on complaints-handling services.
For example, the LeO has reported a record 37% increase in new complaints in 2025–26. It has identified increased use of AI as a driver of this demand and also as a factor increasing the complexity of the complaints it receives. The OLC is responding through operational improvements and a longer-term transformation programme, using technology and AI.
The recently published independent review of the LSB also recognises the importance of maintaining effective consumer redress and ensuring the legal services regulatory framework is equipped to respond to emerging risks, including those associated with technology and AI. The Government is considering the review's recommendations and will set out its response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial stability risks arising from the increasing use of autonomous artificial intelligence agents in financial markets.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s ambition is to make the UK a global leader in AI. Encouraging safe adoption is an essential part of realising that ambition. We will continue to work closely with regulators and industry to ensure innovation proceeds safely and responsibly and that any risks to financial markets are identified and mitigated.
In particular, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is responsible for identifying, monitoring and taking action to remove or reduce systemic risks to the UK financial system. The FPC’s April 2025 Financial Stability in Focus publication set out potential risks to financial stability that could result from increasing AI use, including market related risks, and their response to these.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of existing insurance arrangements to cover liabilities arising from the use of autonomous artificial intelligence systems.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Working closely with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and other relevant bodies, the Government continues to monitor the opportunities and risks associated with the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology across the economy.
The Government's current view is that the existing regulatory framework is well placed to manage the evolving risks associated with AI, while supporting innovation and growth. Firms remain responsible for managing the risks arising from their activities, including the use of AI systems, and insurers continue to assess and price risks in accordance with existing legal and regulatory requirements.
The safe adoption of AI by the financial services sector is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK. As set out in the government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, the ambition is to make the UK ”the world’s most technologically advanced global financial sector”, leveraging the UK’s dual strengths in FS and AI to drive growth, productivity, and so deliver customer benefit.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of electricity network connection delays on the delivery of artificial intelligence data centre developments.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that growth in AI and data centres is increasing electricity demand and that grid connection delays are a major barrier to new capacity in the UK.
To address this, the Government is reforming the connections process to better support strategically important demand, including data centres. Working with DESNZ, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator, reforms will reduce delays, limit speculative applications and prioritise viable projects, helping unlock capacity faster while maintaining security of supply. Through the AI Energy Council, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for DBIST and DESNZ, DBIST is exploring resilient, sustainable and scalable.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect consumers from artificial intelligence-enabled financial fraud and scams conducted through online platforms and messaging services.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is deeply concerned by the devastating impact online fraud can have on victims, both financially and emotionally, including that which is artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled.
That is why, under the Online Safety Act (OSA), the Government has taken action to ensure online platforms and services are required to implement robust preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from reaching potential victims. AI content is treated no differently to other types of content under the OSA – if it is fraudulent in nature, platforms are required to prevent it from reaching users and take swift action if it does appear.
From mid-2027 the largest in-scope companies will also be required to take greater steps to prevent fraudulent adverts from appearing, including those that are AI-enabled.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence by the Financial Conduct Authority to support the handling of supervisory cases.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The FCA is operationally independent of government, and as such the government has not made an assessment of its use of artificial intelligence (AI). The FCA is accountable to the government and Parliament for the exercise of its functions.
The government is committed to the safe and responsible adoption of AI across the economy, and welcomes regulators considering how they can use AI in a way that improves efficiency, while keeping human judgement central to decision-making.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the expansion of artificial intelligence companies on demand for commercial office space in London.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the significant contribution that AI companies make to economic growth and innovation.
Demand for commercial office space in London is influenced by a range of factors, including wider economic conditions, business investment and workplace trends. The expansion of AI companies may contribute to demand for office space, particularly in innovation and technology clusters, but the Government does not routinely assess the impact of individual sectors on the commercial property market.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence-powered real-time translation and transcription technologies to improve accessibility for people with hearing impairments and those facing language barriers.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The government understands that there is potential for artificial intelligence to support people with accessibility needs, including those who are Deaf or hard of hearing or face language barriers.
The Government Digital Service (GDS) will undertake analysis and research on how artificial intelligence and frontier technologies could improve accessibility for disabled users in digital public sector services.