Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department provides on AI; and (a) how many hours and (b) what topics and skills are covered by such training.

All Home Office staff are encouraged to complete foundation courses on AI concepts and the safe and responsible use of generative AI tools. Staff also have access to a self-service online portal that provides around 30 hours of recommended AI learning resources and role-specific AI learning pathways. The topics covered seek to build skills in safe, ethical and responsible AI use, data quality and governance, prompt writing, productivity, document drafting and analysis, automation, risk assessment, human verification, and applying AI effectively across operational, policy, business and strategic workflows.

In addition, Data and Digital specialists can undertake a 10-minute AI skills assessment delivered via the external learning platform, DataCamp. The assessment consists of a series of timed challenges covering key areas of AI knowledge and application, including the use of generative AI tools for routine business scenarios and understanding the large language models that underpin them, understanding AI domains and their application within organisations, and applying ethical considerations when using and developing AI systems.

Following completion of the assessment, participants receive personalised learning recommendations tailored to their performance across each topic area. The duration of the learning pathway varies according to an individual's assessed learning needs and areas for development.