Written questions by Collins.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an international AI safety agency headquartered in the UK.

AI is the technology driving the next global industrial revolution - creating the economic growth which is central to our Plan for Change. Through the AI opportunities action plan, we are cementing Britain's position as a world leader on AI.The UK is committed to international cooperation on AI safety and security. The AI Security Institute is a central example of our leadership.The Institute has one of the world's largest teams dedicated to AI security.Technical talent is drawn from the best AI labs in the world, including: Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind. It is the first state-backed body of its kind, and its work sets the global gold standard for AI security.It partners internationally, with the US, Canada and many others to develop best practices on secure AI development.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to work with technology companies to co-develop (a) standards and (b) frameworks to help increase levels of trust in AI among (i) the public and (ii) businesses.

The government recognises the importance of trust in AI systems. DSIT is building confidence in and driving adoption of AI by supporting a growing, competitive, and dynamic AI assurance ecosystem. AI assurance can help provide the basis for consumers to trust the products they buy will work as intended and for industry to confidently invest in new products and services.The Department will continue to work with a range of stakeholders, including the public and businesses, as we deliver initiatives to support the AI assurance ecosystem. This includes further developing our AI Management Essentials framework for businesses as well as our roadmap to trusted third-party AI assurance, which will be published this summer.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on protecting (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people against AI scams using deepfake content; and what steps he is taking to tackle such scams.

DSIT regularly engages with Home Office on ongoing efforts to protect users from online harms, including AI-generated scams. AI generated content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes either illegal content or content which is harmful to children.In March this year the Act’s illegal harms duties came into force, with fraud captured as a priority offence. User-to-user services must take preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from appearing and swiftly remove it where it does. Search services must minimise fraudulent content from appearing in results. This includes AI generated deepfake scams.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on protecting (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people against AI-generated scams in the form of deepfake content.

DSIT regularly engages with Home Office on ongoing efforts to protect users from online harms, including AI-Generated scams. AI generated content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes either illegal content or content which is harmful to children.In March this year the Act’s illegal harms duties came into force, with fraud captured as a priority offence. User-to-user services must take preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from appearing and swiftly remove it where it does. Search services must minimise fraudulent content from appearing in results. This includes AI generated deepfake scams.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to protect girls and young women from the impact of sexualised AI deepfakes.

Sharing or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is illegal. Synthetically created content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and is illegal content or content harmful to children. Government is also legislating to ban the non-consensual creation of sexualised deepfakes in the Data (Use and Access) Bill.Where a sexualised deepfake is of a child this is child sexual abuse material and is illegal, and Government has introduced an offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models optimised to create this content.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department conducted a Disability Impact Assessment of the Public Switched Telephone Network migration.

The Department has not conducted a Disability Impact Assessment. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration is an industry-led programme and does not result from a government decision.The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the PSTN to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK. In November 2024, at Government’s behest, all major communication providers agreed additional safeguards to protect vulnerable customers, including for people living with disabilities.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to consult on draft regulations to commence Sections 61 to 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.

Draft regulations to commence sections 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 are currently subject to a technical consultation. The consultation, which launched on 7 May and is open until 23.59 on 2 July 2025, can be found on the gov.uk website.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to establish (a) a timetable and (b) interim targets for the replacement of dogs in regulatory scientific procedures; and if he will make it his policy to publish that timetable before the end of the 2025-26 session.

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will set out clear objectives and measurable milestones. Any work to phase out animal testing, including the use of dogs in regulatory scientific procedures, must be science-led and in lock step with partners including regulators, so we will not be setting interim targets or arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding through UK Research and Innovation for the validation of non‑animal new approach methodologies to help replace the use of dogs in safety testing; and if he will make it his policy to ring‑fence funding for human‑relevant, animal‑free technologies.

The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has a diverse portfolio of investments that supports research which can lead to alternatives, such as organ-on-a-chip, cell-based assays, functional genomics and computer modelling. UKRI also invests £10 million annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and is conducting a five-year funding review to guide future investment in this area.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 38243 on 5G: Infrastructure, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of commencing Sections 61 to 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 on the 5G rollout.

Following the 2017 reforms, government representatives engaged regularly with stakeholders about their impact. The changes made by the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 were consulted on and received Parliamentary scrutiny during passage of the Act. Government has no plans to conduct a formal review of the 2017 reforms before commencing sections 61-64 of the Act, which was subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.Government’s decisions on 5G policy are informed by a wide range of evidence and information. We continue to work with mobile operators to meet our 5G standalone coverage ambition by 2030.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the level of telecoms site rental valuations following the 2017 Electronic Communications Code reforms on rural connectivity rollout.

The aim of the 2017 reforms was to encourage investment in digital networks and improve coverage and connectivity across the UK. Based on Ofcom reporting, 4G rural geographic coverage from at least one operator has increased from 88% in May 2018 to a reported 95% in the 2025 Spring Connected Nations Update. It is a similar story for geographic 5G coverage in rural areas, with coverage from at least one operator increasing from 12% in May 2022 to a reported 58% in the same update.We continue to work with mobile operators to meet our coverage ambitions, including rural areas.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking with universities to develop research and development policies in the (a) East and (b) rest of England.

The Government is clear that universities are a key partner in research and development, which is fundamental to kickstarting economic growth and delivering the Government’s missions. DSIT values the views of universities and engages closely with them through a programme of one to one meetings, roundtables, visits, and sector group meetings, as appropriate, to develop research policies for England and the rest of the UK.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the terms of reference for the Advisory Committee on Online Information.

Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The design of the advisory committee’s Terms of Reference are therefore a matter for Ofcom.The Online Safety Act includes clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, how the regulator should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These obligations are unchanged and are duly reflected in the terms of reference for the Online Information Advisory Committee.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29226 on Media, what the two media literacy programmes funded in 2024 were called; and where he plans to publish further information about each.

In 2024 the Government provided £0.5 million to expand the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ and Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’ programmes.‘Empower’ provided media literacy education to nearly 4,000 vulnerable students aged 11-16, who were excluded or at risk of exclusion, increasing critical thinking and awareness of online harms. It also trained schoolteachers to lead media literacy within their schools.‘Everyday Digital’ reached over 60,000 parents, helping improve their understanding of media literacy, set digital boundaries and critically evaluate online content. The evaluation showed a 45% improvement in media literacy understanding.Both organisations evaluated their programmes’ impact and will publish reports.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure social media companies (a) remove and (b) report (i) illegal counterfeit currency and (ii) fraudulent foreign exchange trading.

The illegal content duties under the Online Safety Act came into force on 17 March 2025. Social media services must now have systems and processes in place to proactively protect users from illegal fraudulent content. Ofcom’s illegal content Codes of Practice recommended that certain services at risk of fraud have dedicated reporting channels for trusted flaggers, such as the National Crime Agency, to report fraud. Providers must take the safety measures recommended in Codes or use other effective measures to protect users.Ofcom can take enforcement action if providers do not act promptly to address the risks on their services.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to provide financial support to help scientists phase out the use of animals in medical research.

The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. UK Research and Innovation is committed to reducing the use of animals in research and provide a number of financial support mechanisms to do that. This includes, for example, core funding to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, and supporting ‘human-specific’ research through the MRC Experimental medicine programme.

Innovation and Technology, what measures his Department has discussed with social media companies to help tackle the spread of misinformation online.

The Online Safety Act focuses on the worst kinds of mis- and disinformation - that which is illegal content or content harmful to children. For example, its Foreign Interference Offence forces platforms to take proactive action against state-linked online interference. Platforms must remove other in-scope illegal mis- and disinformation where they become aware of it.The government is clear on platforms’ responsibility to keep their users safe and tackle harmful content, and DSIT engages with major social media platforms on issues or events that create risks for public safety or national security.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to take steps to regulate unrealistic beauty standards in online content aimed at younger children.

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms and search services that are likely to be accessed by children must prevent children of all ages from encountering content that promotes, encourages or provides instructions for eating disorders.Providers must also consider how algorithms can impact children’s exposure to harmful content and mitigate this risk.Ofcom’s draft children’s code of practice also acknowledge that body image content may be linked to significant harm arising from body or image dissatisfaction.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions his Department has had with social media companies on age restrictions for accessing social media.

Government is committed to protecting children’s safety online across the UK.The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to consider, as part of their risk assessments, how their algorithms impact children’s exposure to illegal and harmful content. Additionally, platforms are required to consider how their functionalities, including algorithms, affect the time children spend on the platform.Ofcom’s draft Children’s Safety Codes include measures that prevent harm related to algorithms, including by recommending that algorithms and other recommender systems filter harmful content out of children’s feeds.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the potential impact of social media algorithms on addiction of young people to social media in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

Government is committed to protecting children’s safety online across the UK.The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to consider, as part of their risk assessments, how their algorithms impact children’s exposure to illegal and harmful content. Additionally, platforms are required to consider how their functionalities, including algorithms, affect the time children spend on the platform.Ofcom’s draft Children’s Safety Codes include measures that prevent harm related to algorithms, including by recommending that algorithms and other recommender systems filter harmful content out of children’s feeds.