Asked by: Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park will address risks to workers posed by the spread of AI in the workplace, including regarding decisions on hire and fire, intrusive surveillance and potential increased discrimination; what plans they have to consider regulatory protections in the UK similar to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act; how they plan to ensure that workers' voice, concerns and ideas for solutions will be heard at the summit; and what plans they have to invite a representative from the Trade Union Congress to the summit.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI Safety Summit will focus on frontier risks posed by the most advanced AI systems. It will bring together key countries, as well as leading technology companies, academia and civil society, to drive targeted, rapid international action to drive safety at the frontier of this technology. The Summit will seek to advance international collaboration to understand, identify and mitigate frontier AI risks.
While the Summit is not focused on AI’s impact on the labour market and workers’ rights, these wider societal risks that AI, both at the frontier and not, can pose are issues the UK government takes extremely seriously at the highest levels. We are grateful for the engagement we have had to date from trade union representatives and the analysis they have shared, and we look forward to continuing that engagement after the Summit.
On regulatory protections, the AI regulation white paper was published in March this year. It set out five high-level principles that regulators should consider when thinking about AI: Safety and Security; Appropriate Transparency; Fairness; Accountability and Governance; and Contestability and Redress. On fairness, the White Paper set out that AI systems should not undermine the legal rights of individuals or organisations, discriminate unfairly against individuals, or create unfair market outcomes. The white paper proposed that regulators will need to ensure that AI systems in their domain are designed, deployed and used considering descriptions of fairness that they have developed for their remits. We expect that the implementation of fairness by existing regulators will be underpinned by existing law that protects against discrimination such as the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998 as well as data protection, consumer and competition law. Where AI might challenge someone’s human rights in the workplace, the UK has a strong system of legislation and enforcement of these protections, using both state and individual enforcement through specialist labour tribunals.
The UK notes the EU Artificial Intelligence Act with interest and highlights the importance of international cooperation and interoperability across AI governance approaches to ensure a global approach to responsible AI. While the EU are taking a statutory approach to AI regulation, the UK’s regulatory approach will be closely monitoring the impact of existing regulation on the wider ecosystem and we will consider whether further interventions are needed. We believe this approach strikes the right balance between responding to risks and maximising opportunities afforded by AI.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he Department has had recent discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on the adequacy of consumer protection in the private veterinary industry in cases of misdiagnosis.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not had discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority concerning consumer protection in cases of misdiagnosis. Any complaints about the conduct and fitness to practice of individual veterinary surgeons should be directed to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the statutory regulator of the veterinary profession in the United Kingdom. The Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the veterinary services market is ongoing and closes by the end of October 2023.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help ensure that parcel delivery companies (a) adopt and (b) adhere to her Department's Statement of principles for parcel deliveries, published in July 2014.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While the principles in this guidance still stand, through the Consumer Protection Partnership, we have undertaken further work to ensure retailers provide information about delivery options upfront in the purchasing process to ensure consumers can make informed decisions.
In its 2022 review of postal regulation Ofcom, the independent regulator of the postal sector, committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance, keeping under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
Current guidance for parcel operators and retailers on their obligations is available from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s Business Companion website and through the dedicated deliverylaw.uk website.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the geographical boundary at which Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and the associated EU acquis take effect so that food and agricultural products in Northern Ireland comply with that regulation.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A range of regulations apply to goods in Northern Ireland: EU regulations only apply to the extent set out in the Windsor Framework, varying dependent on whether the goods were produced in Northern Ireland or how the goods were moved from Great Britain. Where goods are moved under the new, more facilitative green lane and are destined for Northern Ireland; they will face no certification requirements, reduced checks and can be produced to UK public health and consumer protection standards. Goods moved through the red lane, on the other hand, will face full EU Official Control requirements including needing to comply with all EU animal, plant and public health regulations. To allow access to the NI, GB and EU markets, Northern Irish food and agricultural products will be produced to EU standards.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181721 on Energy: Prices, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of a social tariff for energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms.
The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181721 on Energy: Prices, when her Department plans to publish a consultation on a social tariff for energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms.
The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180105 on Energy: Prices, whether he plans to launch a consultation on an energy social tariff by 31 December 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the 2022 autumn statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms.
The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181721 on Energy: Prices, what progress her Department has made on introducing a consultation on social tariffs for energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the 2022 autumn statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms.
The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if her Department will publish a consultation on a social energy tariff ahead of the Autumn Statement.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the 2022 autumn statement, we are exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms. The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research from the energy provider EDF which found that 77 per cent of the British public support the introduction of a social tariff for vulnerable energy customers; and whether they have any plans to introduce it.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the 2022 autumn statement, we are exploring the best approach to consumer protection, as part of wider retail market reforms. The Government continues to monitor the situation and will keep options under review, including with respect to the most vulnerable households.