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 consolidation trends in the fintech sector; and what steps they will take to support UK-based fintech firms in maintaining global competitiveness.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy (“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-up, scale and list.
The UK has a long history as a powerhouse of financial services innovation. The Strategy set out a comprehensive package of reforms to maintain the UK’s global leadership in fintech. The sector attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025 - second only to the US.
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 risks to private credit and financial stability of the growth of private markets.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Private markets are an increasingly important source of finance for the real economy and have supported growth. However, they also pose new risks, including from the use of leverage, opacity around valuations, and interconnectedness with the wider financial system.
These issues have been a growing area of focus for the Government, the Bank of England and the regulators in recent years. In the most recent remit letter to the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, the Chancellor asked that the Committee continue to consider risks in private markets.
We continue to work closely with the regulators to deepen our understanding of these risks. This includes working closely with the Bank of England on its new System‑Wide Exploratory Scenario, which is centred on vulnerabilities in private markets., and through our membership of the international Financial Stability Board.
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 ranking by Innovate Finance of the UK as second globally for fintech investment in 2025; and what impact that ranking has on their strategy to support fintech growth and international competitiveness.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in Fintech, and attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025, second only to the US. The Government is committed to making the UK the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre and remaining a leading jurisdiction for Fintech firms to start-up, scale and list.
The Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out a comprehensive package of reforms to preserve the UK’s leadership in this area, including streamlining the regulatory environment and initiatives to support UK Fintechs to scale up.
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 recently-reported level of UK fintech investment of £2.6 billion in 2025; and how this informs their approach to fintech regulatory and market policy.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in Fintech, and attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025, second only to the US. The Government is committed to making the UK the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre and remaining a leading jurisdiction for Fintech firms to start-up, scale and list.
The Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out a comprehensive package of reforms to preserve the UK’s leadership in this area, including streamlining the regulatory environment and initiatives to support UK Fintechs to scale up.
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 report by UK Finance Generative AI in Action: Opportunities & Risk Management in Financial Services, published in January 2025, in regard to the financial services sector's ability to harness generative AI; and how this informs their workforce and regulatory priorities for the sector in 2026.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial 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 part of the government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, the government is in the process of appointing Financial Services AI Champions to act as a catalyst for AI adoption and innovation in the sector. The government has also commissioned the Financial Services Skills Commission to produce a UK-wide report on how the skills system can drive growth and productivity in the financial services sector, by supporting adoption and innovation of disruptive technologies.
The government welcomes the work of industry bodies including UK Finance, and firms across the sector given their central role in supporting the ongoing transition to harness and adopt AI technologies, including generative AI.
The government also welcomes the technology positive approach of the FCA and the Bank of England to regulation, including through launching the AI Consortium and the FCA commitment to avoid additional requirements on firms when using AI, as outlined in Nikhil Rathi’s letter to the Prime Minister last year.
The government will continue to work closely with industry and consider research such as the report produced by UK Finance to inform our approach.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the UK AI sector following the acquisition of the British AI start-up Faculty by Accenture, including plans to retain and grow high-skill AI jobs domestically.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has a great history of successful UK AI startups. Faculty is an excellent example of a UK startup running with its vision and succeeding on a global scale.
We want to ensure that this ecosystem continues to thrive and recently announced a comprehensive package of support. This includes the Advance Market Commitments in which Government will act as a first customer for promising UK start-ups who are building high-quality AI hardware products. The commitment is backed by up to £100 million of government support to give British startups the opportunity for a competitive edge and to win customers in a multibillion-dollar global market. Alongside this, we are investing in workforce readiness through initiatives such as the AI Skills Hub, partnerships to train 7.5 million workers, and expanded university programmes like Pioneer Fellowships and Sparck AI Scholarships to equip people with the skills needed to retain and grow high-value AI jobs in the UK.
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 levels of AI adoption among UK fintech firms; and what steps they are taking to ensure that AI and fintech regulation remains proportionate and supportive of innovation.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy (“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-up, scale and list.
The UK has a long history as a powerhouse of financial services innovation. The Strategy set out a comprehensive package of reforms to maintain the UK’s global leadership in Fintech, and the sector attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025 - second only to the US. This drive to deliver innovation also includes the safe adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by the financial services sector, which the Government believes is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK.
As part of the Strategy, the Government is in the process of appointing Financial Services AI Champions to act as a catalyst for AI adoption and innovation in the sector. The Government has also commissioned the Financial Services Skills Commission to produce a UK-wide report on how the skills system can drive growth and productivity in FS by supporting adoption and innovation of disruptive technologies.
The Government welcomes the technology positive approach both the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England take to regulation, including through launching the AI Consortium and the FCA’s commitment to avoid additional requirements on firms when using AI, as outlined in the letter from Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, to the Prime Minister last year.[1] Their pro-innovation stance will help to support the UK’s Fintechs in these fast-moving markets.
[1]This letter is available at the following link: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/fca-letter-new-approach-support-growth.pdf
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support advanced AI roles and specialist technology skills in the UK financial services labour market.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Setting the UK’s financial services sector up with the skills and talent it needs is an important pillar of the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.
This is why the Economic Secretary commissioned the Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC) to produce a report on how the skills system can drive growth and productivity by supporting more effective adoption and innovation of AI and other disruptive technologies. The FSSC have committed to reporting back by the end of the year.
The Government also committed to support the development of a sector Skills Compact for financial services and aim to launch it in summer 2026. This will accelerate progress and ensure the sector have the skills to thrive in the future. It will set out targeted, meaningful and ambitious actions for signatories to address skills gaps.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the acquisition of the UK-based AI start-up Faculty by Accenture for the UK’s broader strategy to support domestic AI innovation and retain high-growth AI companies in Britain.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has a great history of successful UK AI startups. Faculty is an excellent example of a UK startup running with its vision and succeeding on a global scale.
We want to ensure that this ecosystem continues to thrive and recently announced a comprehensive package of support. This includes the Advance Market Commitments in which Government will act as a first customer for promising UK start-ups who are building high-quality AI hardware products. The commitment is backed by up to £100 million of government support to give British startups the opportunity for a competitive edge and to win customers in a multibillion-dollar global market.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to support the use of AI-enabled appointment and scheduling tools in the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan was published on 3 July 2025, which sets out how the Government will ensure the National Health Service is fit for the future, where artificial intelligence (AI) will play a fundamental role in this transformation. As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is supporting the use of AI-enabled appointment and scheduling tools to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, with early trials showing an increase in productivity and clinician time saved.
An accident and emergency demand forecasting tool is now available to all NHS trusts and is already in use by 50 NHS organisations, helping them plan how many people are likely to need emergency care and treatment on any given day. While this tool does not schedule appointments specifically, it uses AI to predict emergency care demand, enabling trusts to plan staffing and resources more effectively and reduce pressure on services.
The NHS continues to fund both pilots and scaling of different software products that enable the use of AI in scheduling and managing secondary care appointments. Typically, these include the ability to predict Did Not Attends, to reschedule appointments at short notice, and improve utilisation of clinician time.
Work has begun to deliver the NHS’s Medium Term Planning Framework commitment that, from April 2026, the NHS will begin to move to a unified access model, using AI-assisted triage. This model should effectively guide patients to self-care or to the appropriate care setting, through a single user interface delivered via the NHS App but with an integrated telephony and in-person offering.
Further to this, features set to be developed through the NHS App will include the ability to book and manage remote or face-to-face appointments, receive personalised health advice, see when vaccines are up-to-date, and book appointments to get them organised, and find travel vaccine info.
Additionally, DrDoctor, an AI tool, had a three-year contract from 2021 to 2024 with the NHS AI Lab Award. It supports hospitals by providing AI guidance on overbooking as a more efficient and economical solution to increase NHS appointment capacity. This has been shown to free up clinician and administrative time, improve patient care and experience, and predict which patients are at the highest risk of missing an appointment with “Did Not Attend” DNA Prediction.