Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of UK Research and Innovation's (a) Convergent Screen Technologies And Performance in Realtime (CoSTAR), (b) Creative Catalyst and (c) creative industries clusters programme on support for UK video game development studios.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Sector Vision was developed in partnership by government and industry, and includes £77 million in new government spending on top of the £233 million of existing public funding since the 2021 Spending Review, including specific measures to support the UK’s thriving video game industry.
The Sector Vision announced an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF), to provide content funding to high-potential UK games studios, allowing them to develop their intellectual property, boosting their ability to attract investment and reach their next stage of growth.
The Create Growth Programme (CGP) supports a range of creative businesses, including video games companies. As a result of £10.9 million in additional funding announced in the Sector Vision, the CGP will be expanded to cover 12 English regions outside of London, supporting over 2,000 creative businesses to access private investment and scale up.
The Sector Vision also announced an additional investment of at least £50 million in the next wave of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Creative Industries Clusters programme. This funding will be used to identify and support at least six new clusters specialising in creative subsectors, building on the existing nine clusters supported by this programme. One of the existing clusters includes InGAME, a research and development (R&D) centre for the video games industry led by Abertay University.
The Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will establish a new national R&D infrastructure for the next generation of screen and performance technologies, including virtual production.
Additionally, over 200 creative companies across the UK have received a share of £10 million of innovation funding from the first round of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst programme. Of these projects, approximately 10% are innovation projects based directly with the UK games sector.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the funding for the UK games fund announced in the creative industries sector vision on the growth of video game development studios.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Sector Vision was developed in partnership by government and industry, and includes £77 million in new government spending on top of the £233 million of existing public funding since the 2021 Spending Review, including specific measures to support the UK’s thriving video game industry.
The Sector Vision announced an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF), to provide content funding to high-potential UK games studios, allowing them to develop their intellectual property, boosting their ability to attract investment and reach their next stage of growth.
The Create Growth Programme (CGP) supports a range of creative businesses, including video games companies. As a result of £10.9 million in additional funding announced in the Sector Vision, the CGP will be expanded to cover 12 English regions outside of London, supporting over 2,000 creative businesses to access private investment and scale up.
The Sector Vision also announced an additional investment of at least £50 million in the next wave of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Creative Industries Clusters programme. This funding will be used to identify and support at least six new clusters specialising in creative subsectors, building on the existing nine clusters supported by this programme. One of the existing clusters includes InGAME, a research and development (R&D) centre for the video games industry led by Abertay University.
The Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will establish a new national R&D infrastructure for the next generation of screen and performance technologies, including virtual production.
Additionally, over 200 creative companies across the UK have received a share of £10 million of innovation funding from the first round of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst programme. Of these projects, approximately 10% are innovation projects based directly with the UK games sector.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the advanced screen and performance technology research facilities announced in the creative industries sector vision on video game development studios.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Sector Vision was developed in partnership by government and industry, and includes £77 million in new government spending on top of the £233 million of existing public funding since the 2021 Spending Review, including specific measures to support the UK’s thriving video game industry.
The Sector Vision announced an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF), to provide content funding to high-potential UK games studios, allowing them to develop their intellectual property, boosting their ability to attract investment and reach their next stage of growth.
The Create Growth Programme (CGP) supports a range of creative businesses, including video games companies. As a result of £10.9 million in additional funding announced in the Sector Vision, the CGP will be expanded to cover 12 English regions outside of London, supporting over 2,000 creative businesses to access private investment and scale up.
The Sector Vision also announced an additional investment of at least £50 million in the next wave of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Creative Industries Clusters programme. This funding will be used to identify and support at least six new clusters specialising in creative subsectors, building on the existing nine clusters supported by this programme. One of the existing clusters includes InGAME, a research and development (R&D) centre for the video games industry led by Abertay University.
The Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will establish a new national R&D infrastructure for the next generation of screen and performance technologies, including virtual production.
Additionally, over 200 creative companies across the UK have received a share of £10 million of innovation funding from the first round of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst programme. Of these projects, approximately 10% are innovation projects based directly with the UK games sector.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the create growth programme announced in the creative industries sector vision on video game development studios.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.
The Sector Vision was developed in partnership by government and industry, and includes £77 million in new government spending on top of the £233 million of existing public funding since the 2021 Spending Review, including specific measures to support the UK’s thriving video game industry.
The Sector Vision announced an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF), to provide content funding to high-potential UK games studios, allowing them to develop their intellectual property, boosting their ability to attract investment and reach their next stage of growth.
The Create Growth Programme (CGP) supports a range of creative businesses, including video games companies. As a result of £10.9 million in additional funding announced in the Sector Vision, the CGP will be expanded to cover 12 English regions outside of London, supporting over 2,000 creative businesses to access private investment and scale up.
The Sector Vision also announced an additional investment of at least £50 million in the next wave of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Creative Industries Clusters programme. This funding will be used to identify and support at least six new clusters specialising in creative subsectors, building on the existing nine clusters supported by this programme. One of the existing clusters includes InGAME, a research and development (R&D) centre for the video games industry led by Abertay University.
The Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will establish a new national R&D infrastructure for the next generation of screen and performance technologies, including virtual production.
Additionally, over 200 creative companies across the UK have received a share of £10 million of innovation funding from the first round of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst programme. Of these projects, approximately 10% are innovation projects based directly with the UK games sector.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, (b) police forces, (c) the National Crime Agency, (d) HMRC and (e) other law enforcement agencies on the potential traffic of illicit and counterfeit goods through freeports.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Secretary of State for the Home Department has regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues across Government and other law enforcement agencies where all aspects of border security are discussed as needed.
Measures are in place across all our borders and points of entry to tackle the importation of counterfeit or illicit goods. We continue to work closely with Intellectual Property (IP) Right’s Holders, HMRC and other agencies such as Trading Standards to ensure rigorous controls on goods across the UK.
IP Right’s Holders can help protect their rights by making an Application for Action. This requests Border Force to detain goods suspected of infringing a range of rights, including trademarks, copyrights, design and patents.
Freeports, in the same way as every other business in the UK, will have to adhere to the UK’s high regulatory standards with respect to security. Moreover, Freeports will be subject to an annual audit, by HMRC and Border Force, to make sure security measures continue to meet the high standards expected from Freeport operators to mitigate security risks across physical, personnel, and cyber domains.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the outcome of the Intellectual Property Office’s consultation entitled Standard Essential Patents and Innovation: Executive summary and next steps, updated on 5 August 2022, what plans he has to consult Parliament on the potential impact of such steps on the (a) wider UK intellectual property economy and (b) ability of small and medium-sized enterprises’ to compete in the global marketplace.
Answered by Paul Scully
In December 2021, the Government launched a Call for Views on whether or not the current Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) ecosystem promotes competition and encourages innovation. In its August 2022 Summary of Responses the Government said that there was little consensus on the nature, extent, causes, and impact of problems in the ecosystem. A subsequent questionnaire was launched in March 2023, to better understand the experiences of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), small-cap and mid-cap businesses. A Summary of Responses will be published in Summer 2023. Findings on the SEPs ecosystem will be presented to Ministers in late 2023.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the Intellectual Property Office review of the standard-essential patent ecosystem on the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade, in the context of terms for licencing (a) 5G and (b) other technology standards.
Answered by Paul Scully
In December 2021, the Government launched a Call for Views on whether or not the current Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) ecosystem promotes competition and encourages innovation. In its August 2022 Summary of Responses the Government said that there was little consensus on the nature, extent, causes, and impact of problems in the ecosystem. A subsequent questionnaire was launched in March 2023, to better understand the experiences of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), small-cap and mid-cap businesses. A Summary of Responses will be published in Summer 2023. Findings on the SEPs ecosystem will be presented to Ministers in late 2023.
Asked by: Jamie Wallis (Conservative - Bridgend)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress he has made on implementing the recommendations in Sir Patrick Vallance’s Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review: Digital Technologies report, published on 15 March 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review is working closely with industry to identify barriers to innovation and getting emerging technologies to market. The Review has now published reports on Green Industries, Life Sciences and Creative Industries, as well as Digital Technologies.
The government is moving quickly to implement the recommendations from the Digital Technologies report. For example, the government outlined four options for an AI Sandbox in the AI Regulation White Paper and will provide further detail in the forthcoming response to the White Paper consultation. The government is also working with the Intellectual Property Office and industry to develop a Code of Practice on copyright and AI, with the aim of publishing a draft before summer Parliamentary recess. On the review of the Computer Misuse Act, we have created a multistakeholder group including representatives from the cybersecurity industry and system owners’ to consider these issues, and reach a consensus on the best way forward.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
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 publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in her Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period of which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on these issues in the latest period of which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.
Answered by Paul Scully
The AI White Paper emphasised the importance of ensuring that our regulators and public bodies have the capacity, expertise, and capabilities to implement our pro-innovation approach whilst recognising and understanding the risks. This is particularly true for those regulators for which AI falls squarely within their regulatory remit, but also applies to a much wider range of public and regulatory bodies considering the implications AI has across the economy.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is the sponsoring department for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the Office for Communications (Ofcom), the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), and the Phone Paid Services Authority. Activity related to AI is carried out as part of wider activity that falls within each organisation’s remit, and this presents a challenge with disaggregating 'AI resource' in order to provide figures on the proportion of budget spent and staff working on AI regulation.
The ICO and Ofcom in particular have already taken significant steps to upskill themselves to understand new technologies and new business models, and develop and deploy new skills and regulatory tools. This includes their joint efforts via the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to develop their collective capabilities through knowledge exchange and joint work on cross-cutting topics. IPO continue to focus on AI reflecting the significant implications it has for areas falling within their remit - and are resourcing this work accordingly.
As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, we are engaging closely with regulators across the wider landscape and their sponsoring government departments to understand the organisational capacity they need to regulate AI effectively, across technical, regulatory, and market-specific expertise. This will inform our work to develop policy options with a view to addressing any gaps that emerge.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has had discussions with the artificial intelligence sector on ensuring that (a) the ingestion of content does not infringe IP rights and (b) companies seek licensing when using licensed material.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) speaks to representatives of the artificial intelligence sector on a regular basis.
Following the recommendation of the Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review on generative AI, the Intellectual Property Office is working with the artificial intelligence sector and the creative industries to produce a code of practice on AI and copyright. This includes discussions on licensing copyright-protected material and the ingestion of protected content.