Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Topical Questions

Wednesday 21 February 2024 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Stuart McDonald questioned the Secretary of State about restrictive visa policies for early career researchers and scientists, to which the Secretary responded that the UK has world-leading facilities and successful visa routes like the global talent visa.
  • Rachel Maclean inquired about broadband service outages in her constituency following storms, and the Minister stated that telecommunications companies are obligated to Ofcom for network resilience and that gigabit broadband is more resilient.
  • Vicky Ford asked about age verification for mobile phone purchases to ensure child safety, and the Secretary of State agreed with the importance of online safety, highlighting the Online Safety Act 2023.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Stuart McDonald SNP
Immigration
Context

The question addresses concerns about higher salary requirements, visa charges, and restrictive family visa rules affecting early career researchers and scientists.

Question

Higher salary requirements and visa charges for skilled workers plus impossibly restrictive family visa rules will put the UK out of reach for many early career researchers and scientists. What is the Secretary of State doing to stand up against these crazy Home Office policies, which will make her own Department's goals for recruiting researchers and technicians virtually impossible to achieve?

Answer from Michelle Donelan

The UK has fantastic pull power, with world-leading facilities, four out of the top 10 universities and a range of routes for people to come here, including the very successful global talent visa.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific actions against restrictive policies not provided

How: General Statement

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Q2 Rachel Maclean Con
Science & Technology Environment
Context

Residents in Hanbury and other rural parts of the constituency faced three weeks without broadband due to storms, which was resolved only after involvement by the local MP.

Question

Recently, after some storms, residents in Hanbury and other rural parts of my constituency were without broadband for three weeks. The problem was fixed only when I, the local MP, got involved. What can the Minister do to make sure that these providers restore services much more quickly? Three weeks is a completely unacceptable delay.

Answer from Julia Lopez

I am sorry to hear of the problems that my hon. Friend's constituents experienced. Telecommunications companies are under certain obligations to Ofcom to keep networks up and running. We are testing those resilience measures. Thankfully, gigabit broadband is a much more resilient network which, has withstood floods in York recently for example, but we hope to be able to have a much more resilient network in future.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific measures for faster service restoration not provided

How: General Statement

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Q3 Peter Kyle Lab Hove and Portslade
Science & Technology
Context

The question references the Government's AI White Paper and international progress on mandatory reporting of frontier AI.

Question

The Government's AI White Paper says that all jurisdictions will need mandatory reporting of frontier AI. The United States has already done it. The EU has already done it. Why is the Secretary of State waiting for a Labour Government to keep this country safe?

Answer from Michelle Donelan

I will not take any lectures from the Opposition when it comes to AI. We have a plan that is working. We are leading the world when it comes to AI safety. I have spoken about the Bletchley effect. We have the world's first ever institute doing pre-deployment testing.

Not addressed: Specific delay reasons not provided, instead attacking the opposition

How: Criticising Opposition

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Q4 Vicky Ford Con
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question raises concerns about children accessing inappropriate content on their phones.

Question

Parents want their children to be safe. Many parents are deeply concerned about what children are seeing on their phones. Does the Secretary of State agree that sellers of mobile phones should be doing much more to verify the age of the user? If the phone is being bought for a child, the seller should provide the parents with access to and advice on parental controls, so that parents can help to keep their children safe.

Answer from Michelle Donelan

I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend's passion when it comes to online safety. We are leading the world with our comprehensive Online Safety Act 2023. This is a matter on which we both agree and I am more than happy to discuss it further with her.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific age verification measures not provided

How: General Agreement

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Q5 Helen Morgan Lib Dem North Shropshire
Transport Environment
Context

The area between Cockshutt and Welshampton in the constituency is a total notspot.

Question

The area between Cockshutt and Welshampton in my constituency is one of the many total notspots in North Shropshire. Can the Minister update us on the progress she is making on total notspots? Will she meet me to discuss the progress of the shared rural network in North Shropshire?

Answer from Julia Lopez

I thank the hon. Lady for raising the issue of total and partial notspots. Our amazing shared rural network programme has £500 million from industry and £500 million from Government. We are going through all of those coverage areas that are shown wanting, and we hope to make progress in her own constituency.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific updates on Cockshutt and Welshampton not provided

How: General Statement

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Q6 Luke Evans Con Hinckley and Bosworth
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

The question refers to a UN summit on conflict and security where seminars focused on AI security.

Question

During recess, I took part in a cross-party Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation to the UN summit on conflict and security. One of the seminars was about AI security. I know the UK held the first ever summit on AI safety, with 28 countries coming together to put forward guidelines. What update do we have on bringing more countries on board to ensure that AI can be explored safely?

Answer from Saqib Bhatti

There is a lot of ongoing work, including my conversations with G7 partners; I know that the Secretary of State is meeting with international partners. I would welcome a meeting and an update from my hon. Friend on his conversations at the UN and what work is being done there.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific updates not provided, instead suggesting a future meeting

How: Future Meeting

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