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1701860

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Genomics: China
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 14260 on Genomics: China, whether the programme of work to assess risks from biological data will include a review of (a) BGI Group, (b) MGI Tech and (c) other companies linked to the Chinese state.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	22294
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>Through the delivery of our Biological Security Strategy, the Government is committed ensuring the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological threats, as well as being a world leader in innovation. As part of this Strategy, the Government is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world. This review covers the extent to which the UK shares data with certain companies.</p><p>Currently, organisations which hold sensitive biological data are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, organisations such as Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource actively consider national security in decision making about partnerships with companies overseas. These organisations consult with security personnel on a regular basis to ensure partnerships are aligned with our national security interests.</p> answering member constituency Arundel and South Downs answering member printed Andrew Griffith question first answered 25/04/2024 08:43:41 answering member 4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1678214

	registered interest
	date	14/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	BGI Group and MGI Tech
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, during the debate on Genomics and national security of 8 March 2023, Official Report column 120WH, what steps she is taking to investigate the national security risks associated with (i) BGI Group and (ii) MGI Tech.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	7020
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2023 answer text <p>Organisations which hold sensitive biological data are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, organisations such as Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource actively consider national security in decision making about partnerships with companies overseas.</p><p>As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world. The Office for Life Sciences has begun this work, in consultation with relevant Departments and Agencies across Government, and key partners such as Genomics England and UK Biobank.</p> answering member constituency Arundel and South Downs answering member printed Andrew Griffith question first answered 19/12/2023 16:50:21 answering member 4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1669518

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	World Radiocommunication Conference
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) prepare for the World radiocommunication conference and (b) protect the UK's interests in space at that conference.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	1524
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2023 answer text <p>I recognise the importance of the decisions of the World Radiocommunications Conference to UK industry, especially the space sector.</p><p> </p><p>Government and Ofcom have developed our negotiating positions since the last conference in 2019, balancing the interests of multiple operators, networks and services in both space and terrestrial environments. UK stakeholders have been given the opportunity to influence our approach and Ofcom consulted in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>At the conference, Ofcom will lead the UK delegation which will include officials from departments and agencies with spectrum interests. This includes DSIT, the Ministry of Defence, UK Space Agency, and the Met Office.</p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Sir John Whittingdale question first answered 21/11/2023 10:35:50 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1662986

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Genomics
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the Chinese state's activity relating to genomics on national security; and whether that matter will be discussed at the UK AI safety summit scheduled for November 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	200840
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Government does not comment on specific details of national security assessments. The AI Safety Summit will focus on safety risks in ‘frontier’ AI which includes issues of emerging importance such as biosecurity and genomics. During the first day of the AI Safety Summit, there will be a roundtable discussion on the <em>Risks to Global Safety from Frontier AI Misuse</em> where safety risks to biosecurity will be discussed.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 23/10/2023 16:41:59 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1662987

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Genomics
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to include the potential impact of the Chinese state’s activity relating to genomics on national security in any international framework that is developed at the UK AI safety summit in November 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	200841
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Government does not comment on specific details of national security assessments. The Summit will aim to develop a forward process on how to support national and international frameworks on AI safety which include emerging issues such as biosecurity and cybersecurity, including from the potential misuse of models by non-state actors.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 23/10/2023 15:21:08 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1662984

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Genomics
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the field of genomics will form part of the agenda at the upcoming AI Summit in November 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	200838
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The UK Summit will focus on frontier AI risks, which includes risks from frontier AI models to biosecurity (and within that, genomics), which are increasingly urgent to address at an international level. The Government is also undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data and protect our burgeoning bioeconomy.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 23/10/2023 14:51:38 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1662985

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: BGI Group
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether representatives of (a) BGI Group, (b) subsidiaries of BGI Group and (c) companies in which BGI Group has invested have been invited to attend the UK AI safety summit scheduled to take place in November 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	200839
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>To ensure the AI Safety Summit can achieve its objectives, it is necessary to have a small but international discussion at the event. This will limit the participants to around 100, including world leaders and companies at the cutting edge of frontier AI. The UK has actively considered national security in decision making to ensure that the partnerships and invitees are aligned with our National Security interests. Further information about invitees will be made available in due course.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 23/10/2023 14:49:05 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1654911

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Animal Experiments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a plan to accelerate the reduction of animal testing in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	195359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2023 answer text <p>Government’s approach is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), primarily through funding from UK Research and Innovation for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) - who have committed £31.6 million for research and innovation into these causes in the past 5 years - and to ensure that the UK has a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies.</p><p> </p><p>The NC3Rs are on track to meet their commitment to invest 75% of their research and innovation budget on replacement technologies by the end of 2024.</p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman question first answered 06/09/2023 12:11:05 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1641197

	registered interest
	date	02/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Animal Experiments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she will provide further funding to support the scientific community in transitioning from animal-based research to (a) organ-on-a-chip, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) other human-specific methodologies.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	187163
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) continues to provide core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies.</p><p> </p><p>UKRI funds a portfolio of research projects involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies, including a joint £4.7 million joint funding call with the NC3Rs launched last year, focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 14/06/2023 12:04:46 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1609918

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept id	216
	answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
	hansard heading	Animal Experiments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 15 February 2023 to question 141449 on Animal Experiments, what steps she has taken to engage with regulators on the development of non-animal technologies.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	180051
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2023 answer text <p>In addition to this Department, the use of animals in science touches on a number of other departmental responsibilities, including the Home Office who administer and enforce The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Officials within these departments continue to work together to support the delivery of important scientific research, including through the development of non-animal technologies, and the protection of animals.</p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman question first answered 24/04/2023 15:04:38 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith