Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to tackle money laundering through cryptocurrencies, in the context of the National Crime Agency's Operation Destabilise investigations.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Cryptoassets can be used illicitly or to launder the proceeds of crime. In April 2024, new powers came into force to search, seize and detain cryptoassets from criminal conduct or terrorist activity or cryptoassets that will be used in criminal conduct or terrorist activity.
Directed by the Economic Crime Plan 2 (and supported by an Economic Crime Levy funding) law enforcement are investing in improving both their capacity and capability in relation to the investigation of the criminal use of cryptoassets. This includes:
· Investing in specialist capability in the NCA and partner agencies, including the recruitment of an additional 475 Financial Crime investigators (280 currently in post) and developing improved crypto track and trace capability which will go live in December 2025.
· Funding public-private crypto collaboration teams in police forces and ROCUs through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme
· New training and upskilling that has been rolled out to improve law enforcement officers' understanding of cryptoassets, supported by the provision of specialist tooling (i.e. blockchain analytics tools).
· Building a new crypto-specific public/ private partnership within the existing Joint Money Laundering Taskforce structure in order to understand the threat and enable various joint initiatives (including around data sharing). Developing a multi-agency operational crypto cell to ensure that knowledge and abilities in investigating cryptoassets are pooled together, and that all available tools and powers are exploited efficiently.
Designing a system-wide strategy, with an accompanying roadmap of activities required to prevent and disrupt digital asset-enabled crime impacting the UK. The focus is on ensuring system co-ordination and collaboration, keeping the public / consumers safe, effectively disrupting criminals through robust enforcement and building global cooperation to effectively share information and improve consistency in regulatory standards.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to align Skills Bootcamps funding and delivery with their ambition to position the UK as a global leader in AI and digital innovation; and how they plan to ensure that the workforce is equipped with critical skills to drive economic growth.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Skills Bootcamps are an important offer in the skills landscape. Latest published data shows that in the 2022/23 financial year, the majority of Skills Bootcamps were in the digital sector, with 61% of starts in digital.
This financial year, Skills Bootcamps are available in digital marketing, cyber security, software engineering, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas can use their grant funding for Skills Bootcamps in the digital sector where they have identified a local need.
The department recognises the long term importance of supporting learners and employers to develop digital skills. In addition to Skills Bootcamps, learners and employers can benefit from more than 30 high quality digital apprenticeship standards, including the level 3 cyber security technician standard and the level 5 data engineer standard. Learners can study three Digital T Levels which include AI content and there are 77 Higher Technical Qualifications approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers, including AI skills.
The role of Skills England will include developing a coherent picture of our national and regional skills needs, and shaping the technical education needed to meet that demand.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure that their programmes meet the significant demand for Skills Bootcamps in AI, data and other high-growth areas and continue to deliver high-impact results for learners and employers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Skills Bootcamps are an important offer in the skills landscape. Latest published data shows that in the 2022/23 financial year, the majority of Skills Bootcamps were in the digital sector, with 61% of starts in digital.
This financial year, Skills Bootcamps are available in digital marketing, cyber security, software engineering, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas can use their grant funding for Skills Bootcamps in the digital sector where they have identified a local need.
The department recognises the long term importance of supporting learners and employers to develop digital skills. In addition to Skills Bootcamps, learners and employers can benefit from more than 30 high quality digital apprenticeship standards, including the level 3 cyber security technician standard and the level 5 data engineer standard. Learners can study three Digital T Levels which include AI content and there are 77 Higher Technical Qualifications approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers, including AI skills.
The role of Skills England will include developing a coherent picture of our national and regional skills needs, and shaping the technical education needed to meet that demand.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address any shortage in AI-specific skills.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to ensuring both learners and employers have access to the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) skills critical to our Opportunity and Growth Missions. To achieve this, we will build a responsive skills system, coordinated through Skills England, to deliver on the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.
The department has already provided a range of post 16 academic and technical qualifications relevant to AI skills. Developed in partnership with employers, there are currently 33 apprenticeship standards spanning levels 3 to 7 in digital occupations, including at degree level and in areas like data analytics and AI.
Learners can study three digital T Levels which include AI content, and there are 77 Higher Technical Qualifications approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers, including AI skills. The majority of Skills Bootcamps are also in the digital sector, with 61% of starts in 2022/23 being in digital.
Within the school system, the department funds the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) to improve the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science at GCSE and A level, across England. To support the teaching of AI, the NCCE delivers a range of courses on machine learning and AI, ethics, and teaching about AI in primary and secondary computing, which are free for teachers in state-funded education in England. The NCCE also facilitates industry-led events for pupils, to raise awareness of digital opportunities and careers in sectors such as Cyber and AI.
The government’s ambition is for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, and ensures every young person gets the opportunity to develop creative, digital and speaking and listening skills particularly prized by employers. To achieve this, the government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy.
The review group ran a call for evidence and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of education professionals and other experts, parents, children and young people, as well as other stakeholders, including employers. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations.
Across government, the new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors in which the UK excels today and will propel it forwards tomorrow. Digital technologies have been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is currently consulting on the barriers to growth, including skills, in this sector. Furthermore, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, has commissioned an AI Opportunities Action Plan which will set out the essential role that equipping the UK’s workforce with the right skills and attracting top talent will play in supporting the growth of the AI sector.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to hold water companies to account for non-compliance with sewage management rules.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency (EA) will not hesitate to hold companies to account.
From 1 January 2025, water companies will be required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a similar duty for emergency overflows. This will create an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharged, and hold water companies to account.
The Bill will also provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade. These include new powers to enable the EA to recover costs associated with their enforcement activity of the water industry.
In May 2024, the EA confirmed a tougher inspections and enforcement regime that will be backed by at least £55 million each year and will make better use of data analytics and technology. This will be fully funded through a combination of increased grant-in-aid from Defra and additional funding from water company permit charges.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve breast cancer screening in (a) London and (b) Wimbledon constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
NHS England has developed a national improvement plan, in collaboration with key stakeholders such as cancer alliances, to improve uptake within the breast screening programme.
The plan sets out the priorities, interventions, and the monitoring of impacts and outcomes to be achieved to improve uptake, through: expanding access; data and analytics; reducing inequalities; contracting; communication; and IT developments.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 5 November (HCWS188), what is the status of the Home Office's Cerberus Project in relation to using safety and security declarations to target Border Force activity.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Safety & Security declarations are a key dataset that will enhance Home Office capability to protect the border. We have already undertaken a discovery exercise on the operationalisation of this data for the purposes of detecting high risk movements of goods. On the basis of that discovery our approach in 2025 will be to:
The Home Office already uses Rest of the World S&S data to risk RoW traffic.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps they are taking to use (a) artificial intelligence and (b) data to help increase their Department's productivity.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is committed to improving its productivity, including through artificial intelligence and effective use of data.
Central to this agenda will be delivering on our Digital and Data Transformation Strategy (2023-2030), which focuses on improving access to high quality data and digital services.
This year, we established our Chief Data Office, which aims to shape a consistent approach to data and information, common tooling and capability. Its 2030 ambitions will enable data sharing across Government, reduce duplication, and empower a more efficient workforce in Defra.
AI, particularly machine learning, is also being used to process large volumes of data quickly and accurately across the department. Our primary vehicle is the Data Analytics and Science Hub, an advanced analytics platform, which serves increasing demand to bring together complex data, derive insights, and improve decision-making and operational efficiency in a legal and ethical way.
We are also collaborating with the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) to trial generative AI products such as Microsoft 365 copilot, focused on improving the day-to-day productivity of staff.
We draw on a range of resources to inform our AI and data approach, for example, the Generative AI Framework, and have access to CDDO for expert advice.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps they are taking to use (a) artificial intelligence and (b) data to help increase their Department's productivity.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Cabinet Office is committed to improving its productivity, including through artificial intelligence (AI) and effective use of data.
The Cabinet Office Data Strategy promotes the use of high quality data and analytics to gain insights that drive decision making and operational effectiveness.
In parallel, we are growing the department’s AI capabilities through the design and application of a range of solutions, including Redbox which is a tool to help staff perform research, drafting and reviewing faster, reducing administrative burdens and improving response times for stakeholders. Other solutions are also in development (e.g. machine learning applications and generative AI) to automate and accelerate routine business operations and policy activity.
We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI and data usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Data Maturity Assessment, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
The department also has access to the Central Digital & Data Office, based in the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.
We will continue to regularly review our usage of AI and data to maximise productivity benefits for staff and the public.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help increase productivity within his Department through the use of (a) artificial intelligence and (b) effective use of data.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is committed to improving its productivity, including through artificial intelligence and more effective use of data, with projects across our science, analytical and digital functions.
We have a number of initial small-scale AI pilots taking place, to assess potential use cases across the organisation to identify benefits of scaling such tools in the future; for example developing a model to analyse free-text responses to public consultations.
We have also used data analytics to gain insights into spend and outcomes across our sectors and public bodies, helping to better evaluate the effectiveness of our interventions. We are building our data capability to enhance our evidence base, standardise our architecture and infrastructure to expand our ability to use data to generate efficiencies and achieve more impactful outcomes.
We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI and data usage.
For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Data Maturity Assessment, the government data quality framework, the Code of Practice for Statistics and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. The department also has access to the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), now based in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, for expert advice.
We will continue to regularly review our usage of AI and data to maximise productivity benefits for staff and the public.