Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what ethical safeguards she plans to introduce for the future use of AI.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
A range of existing rules already apply to AI systems, such as data protection, competition, equality legislation, and online safety. In response to the AI Action Plan, the government committed to work with regulators to boost their capabilities.
This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute, which has deepened our understanding of the critical security risks posed by frontier AI. The government remains committed to ensuring our rule book is up to date and future-proofed so the UK is prepared for the changes AI will bring.
The government is also supporting the UK AI assurance market, which will provide ways to measure, evaluate and communicate the trustworthiness and safety of AI systems.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the (a) risks of AI and (b) potential impact of AI on society.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are optimistic about how AI will transform the lives of British people for the better, but advanced AI could lead to serious security risks. The capabilities of AI models continue to increase; this may exacerbate existing risks and present new risks for which the UK needs to be prepared.
The role of the AI Security Institute (AISI) is to build an evidence base on these risks, so the government is equipped to understand their security implications. It recently published an evidence‑based assessment of how the world’s most advanced AI systems are evolving on gov.uk, bringing together results from two years of AISI's frontier model testing.
AISI works with a broad range of experts and companies to assess the potential risks these could pose as the technology continues to develop.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if her Department will convene a cross-government summit with key tech companies and trade unions to discuss the future impact of AI and ASI on jobs, the economy and society.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are starting to witness AI’s impact within the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and augmenting old ones. But there is uncertainty over the future scale of AI’s impact on the labour market, particularly over the next few years. Given the recent rapid pace of AI development, government is planning against a range of plausible future outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help track if we are heading towards any of these outcomes.
The Government routinely brings together departments, industry, academics, and trade unions to discuss AI’s impact on the labour market and wider economy—including DSIT‑hosted roundtables – to inform Government’s approach to policy and analysis.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department has taken to identify sectors of the economy in which AI should not replace human productivity or experience.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are starting to witness AI’s impact within the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and augmenting old ones. But there is uncertainty over the future scale of AI’s impact on the labour market, particularly over the next few years. Given the recent rapid pace of AI development, government is planning against a range of plausible future outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help track if we are heading towards any of these outcomes. This includes identifying the contexts in which AI will complement and augment human activity—helping people work more efficiently.
Furthermore, to ensure that AI benefits everyone, the UK is investing in responsible AI to boost productivity, improve public services, advance healthcare innovation, and drive economic growth. AI Growth Zones, and expanded compute will support workers and industry, ensuring AI adoption strengthens national renewal and broadens opportunity.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to create a cross-department, nation-wide AI strategy in the next 12 months.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes a coordinated, cross‑departmental approach to the opportunities and risks presented by AI. The UK‑commissioned AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we can harness AI to boost economic growth, improve public services and create new job opportunities, and our cross‑HMG response outlines the steps we are taking forward across the UK. My Department works closely with colleagues across Whitehall to ensure our approach remains aligned and responsive to developments.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, if she will meet with animal welfare organisations to discuss that strategy.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Officials engaged with animal welfare organisations during the development of the strategy, and Minister Vallance has met with animal welfare organisation representatives, including RSCPA on 26.11.24, Animal Free Research on 01.04.25, Lush UK on 15.05.25, the Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research on 01.04.2025, and hosted a roundtable for wider representatives on 14.05.25.
The Government discussed the strategy with animal welfare organisations on the day it was published as part of regular engagement with the Home Office.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what her timetable is for establishing the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 11th November 2025 the government published “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods) which sets out our plans to establish a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM). The location of and timeline for the creation of the UKCVAM is under development and the Government will update on this in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) list of animal tests and (b) methods for replacement are underpinned by law.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s new strategy sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances, achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods to using animals in science. Recognising that the legal framework in the UK already requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no validated alternatives available, the government currently has no plans to legislate further on this matter.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring internet service providers to carry out age verification checks rather than individual websites.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act makes online services responsible for protecting all users from illegal content and activity, and children from harmful content. Under the Act, services must use age assurance to prevent children encountering the most harmful content. We recognise that there may be benefits to internet service provider-level interventions. We have recently brought into effect the new measures and wish to allow time to assess the Act’s effectiveness before introducing additional measures. Where evidence demonstrates that further action is necessary to protect children and the wider public, we will not hesitate to act.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that households that have no (a) mobile and (b) broadband internet are not excluded from accessing (i) government services and (ii) benefits.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Digital inclusion is a priority for this government and in February 2025, we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan. One of the actions in the plan is ensuring accessible digital public services. As part of this industry partners have committed to provide free mobile data to individuals in need and support community hubs to provide free Wi-Fi.
In addition, households in receipt of means-tested benefits can access social tariffs for broadband and mobile services from a wide range of providers.