Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that 1.5 million jobs could be lost due to increased automation.

The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation and to embed the power of these technologies across our economy.

The estimate does not consider the potential job creation resulting from automation. World Economic Forum estimate that automation will create 133 million new globally by 2022.

The Government recognises that demand for skills will continue to change, in part in response to automation. In order to equip the UK to capitalise on this opportunity, we have committed to improving the UK's system for training in digital skills, lifelong learning to ensure that working people have the support they need to navigate the challenge of automation to a higher-wage future. The Government are investing £406 million in maths, digital and technical education and have committed £100 million for the first phase of developing the National Retraining Scheme to support people vulnerable to technological change.