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1404896

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Autonomous Weapons: International Cooperation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the UK to bring forward global measures to tackle the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems in response to the December 2021 Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108615
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2022 answer text <p>We were pleased that the Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons renewed the mandate of the Group of Government Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. The UK will continue to play a leading and active role in that forum, working with the international community to agree norms and positive obligations to ensure the safe and responsible use of autonomy, balancing the legitimate security interest in these new technologies with humanitarian, ethical and legal concerns.</p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin question first answered 28/01/2022 11:11:49 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1404899

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Yemen: Military Intervention
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has requested an investigation into the recent attack on water reservoirs in Sa'ada city in Yemen to assess whether UK-licenced weapons were used.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108616
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2022 answer text <p>We are looking into reports of airstrikes affecting water infrastructure in Sa'ada governorate, Yemen, on 11 January. We urge all parties to the Yemen conflict to exercise restraint and avoid further civilian impact and suffering. The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.  All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.</p> answering member constituency Braintree answering member printed James Cleverly question first answered 28/01/2022 14:49:57 answering member 4366 label Biography information for James Cleverly
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1404904

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Defence: Artificial Intelligence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (AAIC) Partnership Agreement signed with the US Air Force Research Laboratory in December 2020; and if he will place a copy of that agreement in the Library.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2022 answer text <p>Thanks to this collaboration good progress has been made in developing AI and Autonomy tools for use against priority operational challenges and scenarios. The latest milestone event (along with a review conducted by the deputy principles) was held in October 2021, demonstrating how the UK and US can integrate AI technology to create an end-to-end machine learning research development and deployment ecosystem, enabling rapid data-sharing and algorithm development, evaluation and deployment: . A report was published and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/us-and-uk-research-labs-collaborate-on-autonomy-and-ai.</p><p> </p><p>We do not intend to place the Project Arrangement in the House Library. The hon. Member may also wish to be aware that the Project Arrangement would fall within the scope of the qualified exemption provided for at Section 27 (International Relations) of the Freedom of Information Act. I am therefore withholding the information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State.</p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin question first answered 26/01/2022 15:15:33 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1404905

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Joint Exercises: Artificial intelligence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a list of the systems and technologies that utilised autonomy and/or machine learning during the Contested Urban Environment (CUE) exercise with the five-eye nations in September and October 2021.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108619
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2022 answer text <p>CUE2021 was a multi-national event to test the latest intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technology capabilities, working with US, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand allies. It comprised a series of experiments that were designed to explore new technologies that could help address some of the challenges faced by military personnel operating in overseas city environments.</p><p>The following technologies that attended CUE2021 employed either autonomy or machine learning:</p><p> </p><p>Technologies and advanced sensors to enhance Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Sensors for Asset Protection using Integrated Electronic Network Technology</li><li>WISDOM Research &amp; Development Platform for Data/Information/Knowledge Integration, Fusion, and Analytics</li><li>Network Uncrewed Systems for Intelligence Preparation of the Environment</li><li>Command &amp; Control for Uncrewed Vehicle Transfer of Tactical Control.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Systems to autonomously prioritise information that is presented to the human analyst, using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to identify threats:</p><p> </p><ul><li>RESTful Analytics</li><li>Artificial Intelligence for the detection of crowds</li><li>Sieve, Process, Forward</li><li>Track Analytics for Effective Triage of Wide Area Surveillance Data</li></ul><p> </p><p>Robotic and Autonomous Systems to remove human operators from dangerous tasks by supporting logistics re-supply:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Joint Tactical Autonomous Resupply and Replenishment.</li></ul> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin question first answered 28/01/2022 11:13:13 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1404909

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Autonomous Weapons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's policy is on the UK developing systems that operate without human intervention in the weapon command and control chain.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108620
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2022 answer text <p>The United Kingdom does not possess, and has no intention of developing fully autonomous systems which operate without human intervention in the weapon command and control chain.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>When deploying autonomous weapon systems, we will always ensure meaningful and context-appropriate human involvement across the system lifecycle from development to deployment, ensuring human responsibility for outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin question first answered 26/01/2022 15:17:31 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1404910

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Peace
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a Peace Institute associated with the work of her Department.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	108621
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2022 answer text <p>As outlined in the Integrated Review (IR), the UK is committed to working to reduce the frequency and intensity of conflict and instability. The FCDO's Conflict Directorate, formed in response to this IR commitment, will support a more integrated HMG approach, and include provision of a specialist capability on peace process and mediation support. The UK has a vibrant and expert community of peacebuilding organisations, academics and practitioners. In line with the IR, the FCDO will seek to draw upon expertise from across this UK-based community and the wider sector globally.</p> answering member constituency Cannock Chase answering member printed Amanda Milling question first answered 28/01/2022 13:29:13 answering member 4454 label Biography information for Dame Amanda Milling
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1388175

registered interest
date	15/12/2021
answering body	Department for International Trade
answering dept id	202
answering dept short name	International Trade
answering dept sort name	International Trade
hansard heading	Arms Trade: Export Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449, on Trade Policy Update, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of new arms licensing criteria in preventing (a) internal repression and (b) the commission of violations of international humanitarian law.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	93899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2022 answer text <p>The revised Criteria announced in the Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449, reflect the UK’s policy considerations and take into account a full range of factors including our international legal obligations including the Arms Trade Treaty.</p><p> </p><p>HM Government is satisfied that the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing all export licence applications. With regard to internal repression and the commission of violations of international humanitarian law, the key tests are Criterion 2a and Criterion 2c. These criteria have not substantially changed; indeed they have been made stronger by the addition of “facilitation” within their scope.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 11/01/2022 17:58:29 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1388183

registered interest
date	15/12/2021
answering body	Department for International Trade
answering dept id	202
answering dept short name	International Trade
answering dept sort name	International Trade
hansard heading	Arms Trade: Export Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December, HCWS449 on Trade Policy Update, whether the Government held (a) formal and (b) informal consultations with representatives of the defence industry in advance of that announcement.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	93900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2022 answer text <p>When preparing the written statement of 8 December, HCWS449 which introduced the current Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, there were no advance formal or informal consultations with industry or representatives of industry.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 11/01/2022 17:56:23 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1387464

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Department for International Trade
answering dept id	202
answering dept short name	International Trade
answering dept sort name	International Trade
hansard heading	Arms Trade: Export Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449 on Trade Policy Update, whether her Department has made an assessment of the impact of new licensing criteria on the likelihood of UK arms to be used in humanitarian contexts.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	92072
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2021 answer text <p>HM Government takes its arms export responsibilities seriously and assesses export licence applications in accordance with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.</p><p> </p><p>These Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. They maintain the high standards we and European partners share on internal repression, international humanitarian law and the upholding of international obligations more generally.</p><p> </p><p>We will not license the export of equipment where to do so would be inconsistent with these Criteria.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 20/12/2021 10:33:36 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith

1380238

registered interest
date	19/11/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Autonomous Weapons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems; and whether her Department will support a global ban on the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems at the meeting of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on 2 December 2021.
tabling member constituency	Stirling
tabling member printed	Alyn Smith
uin	78502
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2021 answer text <p>The UK - alongside many other states - is unconvinced of the utility of a global ban on the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. Existing International Humanitarian Law provides a robust, principle-based framework ideally suited to the regulation of new technologies. The UK believes that efforts within the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons are better focused on the establishment of a set of positive obligations to ensure autonomy is used responsibly, ethically and in compliance with international law.</p> answering member constituency Braintree answering member printed James Cleverly question first answered 29/11/2021 17:58:25 answering member 4366 label Biography information for James Cleverly
tabling member	4738 label Biography information for Alyn Smith