Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Government's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in their Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period for which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on those issues in the latest period for which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Safety Authority is an independent Regulator and Investigator for Health, Safety and Environmental Protection in Defence. At present there are no specific Defence regulations regarding AI, thereby mirroring the statutory position. However, Defence Regulators recognise the clear need for a cohesive, proportionate approach to AI regulation that enables the responsible application of this technology to flourish.. There are no dedicated posts regarding AI at this time, but preparatory activity is being undertaken within existing innovation and emerging technology work-strands across the organisation.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) officials in his Department and (b) armed forces officers are working in the Counter Disinformation Unit.
Answered by James Heappey
Addressing the challenges of disinformation and misinformation is a whole of Government effort, and the Ministry of Defence works closely with all relevant Departments including the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The CDU is a standing unit which draws on a range of expertise from across government, social media platforms and disinformation specialists in academia and civil society to lead the fight against misinformation and disinformation.
Staffing requirements are continually reviewed to ensure appropriate levels of resourcing, including surge capacity as needed.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government is working with the steel industry, the unions and devolved administrations to support the UK steel sector to develop a long-term sustainable future. This includes making sure that UK producers of steel have the best possible chance of competing for and winning contracts across all Government procurement. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy collates and publishes annually information on how much steel is purchased for Government's major infrastructure projects in the previous financial year, including what proportion is UK-produced. Information for 2019/20 has been collated and is expected to be published later this year. Information on UK steel procured in 2020/21 will be collated in due course.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what role the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability of the Royal Air Force's Reaper Fleet has played in determining whether an individual is an ISIS combatant.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
An individual is identified as being a Daesh combatant after UK commanders, as part of the Coalition, have undertaken a rigorous surveillance and targeting process. This process is no different on the UK Reaper fleet than on any other UK airborne strike platform. The precise indicators and procedure cannot be shared publicly, in order to protect operational effectiveness.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the reported use of civilians, including women and children as human shields by ISIS combatants in Syria; and whether this falls within acceptable collateral damage.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
As operations in Iraq and Syria have intensified we have seen increasing evidence of Daesh's callous disregard for human life, their unwillingness to allow civilians to leave their homes, and in some cases their deliberate attempts to use civilians to shield their fighters from coalition strikes, which is completely unacceptable.
All UK strikes are planned and executed in strict accordance with International Humanitarian Law and we take all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of military action.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the ISC report on lethal drone strikes in Syria published in April 2017, what steps the Government is taking to better scrutinise and assess collateral damage arising from UK or joint operations drone strikes.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
In accordance with our obligations under International Law, strikes conducted by the RAF only take place after a robust assessment to ensure that collateral damage from our strike is minimised. Following a strike, the UK conducts battle damage assessment which includes a review of whether there have been any civilian casualties or collateral damage.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will undertake to report to the House in the event that any UK airstrike is assessed to have caused civilian casualties in Iraq or Syria.
Answered by Michael Fallon
Yes.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on civilian deaths resulting from non-US-coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Our principal concern is that the Syrian regime and their backers are undertaking airstrikes in Syria, but that many of those strikes are not against Daesh, but against forces opposed to the regime. When there have been allegations of civilian casualties - or indeed, when strikes have taken place against humanitarian targets - we see no sign of the regime undertaking any kind of investigation in order to learn lessons. This is in marked contrast to our own approach as part of the Coalition, in which every possible care is taken to minimise the risk of civilian casualties.
The Iraqi Air Force conducts air strikes in its own sovereign airspace against Daesh targets; the Iraqis notify the Coalition of their intent to conduct air strikes in an area, in order to ensure deconfliction of air operations.
Daesh also conducts limited aerial attacks, against those forces opposed to them, using commercially-available unmanned aerial vehicles.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 29 March 2017 to Question 69107, on how many occasions analysts have highlighted a possible indication of civilian casualties or collateral damage caused by UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
During the Ministry of Defence's own internal review of each strike, military experts assess not only its effectiveness but also the potential for it to have caused civilian casualties, by reference to the recorded data. Airwars provides regular sets of information about civilian casualties potentially caused by Coalition airstrikes. These are examined in detail - again in comparison with our records, which include photographs and video. In all of these detailed assessments so far, there has been no evidence that any UK airstrike has caused civilian casualties.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what non-combatant casualty cut off value has been set for UK airstrikes in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria.
Answered by Mike Penning
It is longstanding policy not to reveal details of UK Rules of Engagement as to do so would, or would be likely to prejudice the the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.