The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK. VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam calls. Over 92% of PSTN landlines have already been migrated.

Communications providers are under legal obligations to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency services, including 999 and 112, and to take appropriate and proportionate steps to identify risks to network resilience and mitigate service disruption.

In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers to ensure access to emergency services beyond one hour in a power outage. Many providers have gone further, providing 4-7 hours.

Communications providers are also subject to robust cyber security and resilience requirements under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, including obligations to identify, manage and mitigate cyber risks that could affect network availability and services.

The Government recognises that growth in AI and data centres is increasing electricity demand and that grid connection delays are a major barrier to new capacity in the UK.

To address this, the Government is reforming the connections process to better support strategically important demand, including data centres. Working with DESNZ, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator, reforms will reduce delays, limit speculative applications and prioritise viable projects, helping unlock capacity faster while maintaining security of supply. Through the AI Energy Council, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for DBIST and DESNZ, DBIST is exploring resilient, sustainable and scalable.

All creditors in an insolvency are treated equally in their class according to a strict statutory priority. Without the provisions in sections 233 to 233B Insolvency Act 1986, essential suppliers could demand payment of existing debt, thereby undermining this priority. The provisions strike an important balance between the rights of the supplier and the benefits of business rescue, with mitigations included to prevent hardship. A 2023 review of the provisions found early positive signs that they are meeting their objectives and produced an estimated ongoing annual benefit to business creditors from increased company rescue of £73.2m.

The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF), delivered by the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), supports regulators and local authorities to develop and test innovative regulatory approaches that help accelerate innovation across a range of sectors and regions of the UK. In October 2025, the RIO awarded up to £7.9 million to 14 regulator and local authority-led projects through the fourth round of the Fund. These projects are due to conclude by the end of the 2026.

At London Tech Week in June 2026, the Government announced that the RIO would allocate approximately £70 million to regulatory innovation funding over the current spending review period. RIO is now developing the funding mechanisms, delivery model and supporting processes needed to deploy this funding effectively and maximise its impact.

Government-commissioned research found that 7% of 13- to 17-year- olds reported using a VPN and seeing explicit sexual content online in a three-month period. The research also found that VPNs are not the most common method by which children bypass age restrictions online.

The Government has announced a package of measures to address the circumvention of online safety protections, and is prepared to take further action if future evidence shows that circumvention is becoming a more significant problem and is not being adequately addressed.

Age assurance under the Online Safety Act should work effectively for all users regardless of their age or other characteristics.

Government, Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office have all been clear that age assurance methods should be safe, proportionate and secure, with services obliged to minimise the use of personal data, only collecting and retaining it where necessary and proportionate for age assurance purposes. Organisations failing to comply with these requirements may be subject to regulatory enforcement action.

Ofcom’s recently published report on age assurance found that services have demonstrated a strong awareness of privacy and data protection requirements.

The Online Safety Act contains strong user redress provisions. Complaints procedures must be accessible, easy to use and transparent, and providers must take appropriate action. Ofcom is able to use its enforcement powers in cases of non-compliance by platforms.

The Act requires Ofcom to review the effectiveness of these provisions within two years of their full implementation. With new duties coming into effect for Category 1 services next year, we expect the report to be completed in 2029.

22-26 Whitehall has 825 desk work settings. The site is used by multiple Government departments, and official figures have not yet been updated following the creation of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

On 30 June 2026, 22-26 Whitehall had 998 active DSIT civil servants as their contracted office location.

The Government recognises the significant contribution that AI companies make to economic growth and innovation.

Demand for commercial office space in London is influenced by a range of factors, including wider economic conditions, business investment and workplace trends. The expansion of AI companies may contribute to demand for office space, particularly in innovation and technology clusters, but the Government does not routinely assess the impact of individual sectors on the commercial property market.

The Government works closely with industry partners to strengthen the resilience of critical digital infrastructure and to reduce vulnerabilities that could arise from supply chain dependencies, cyber risks or single points of failure. This includes promoting robust cybersecurity practices, business continuity planning and risk management measures across critical sectors.

Through the National Cyber Security Centre and other relevant authorities, the Government continues to assess risks to the UK's digital infrastructure and, where necessary, takes action to protect national security and the continuity of essential services.

The Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade engages regularly with relevant organisations such as DEFRA and the Environment Agency, recognising the need to ensure data infrastructure does not compromise the resilience of public water supplies.

The Government supports the adoption of efficient cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems and alternative water sources such as rainwater harvesting, and national planning policy embeds consideration of sustainable water use and resource efficiency in decision making. In 2025, a joint techUK-Environment Agency survey found that 51% of surveyed sites use closed loop cooling systems, and 64% use less than 10,000m³ of water per year.

The government understands that there is potential for artificial intelligence to support people with accessibility needs, including those who are Deaf or hard of hearing or face language barriers.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) will undertake analysis and research on how artificial intelligence and frontier technologies could improve accessibility for disabled users in digital public sector services.

For Britain, AI sovereignty is about reducing over-dependencies and increasing resilience in key national strategic priorities, so we secure greater control and greater leverage over the issues that matter most. We will continue to use the best technology and welcome inward investment because that is what our public services and economy demand.

We have moved quickly to strengthen the UK's sovereign AI capabilities, including launching the £500m Sovereign AI Fund, which since April has already taken equity stakes in three promising British frontier AI companies and supported six more with access to national compute.

We recently announced a £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan to back British firms developing the chips and computing power behind AI. This includes our Advance Market Commitment to buy novel inference chips, which will equip the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) with powerful next generation chips. Dedicated AIRR capacity supports the AI Security Institute and the Sovereign AI Unit, including guaranteed resource for mission-critical AI safety research, and strategically selected UK AI startups. Over 500 UK projects have already been supported through AIRR infrastructure, and we are further investing £2 billion to expand our public compute offering.

HMG recognises the importance of compute to the UK’s digital economy and national security. HMG takes a balanced approach to cloud services, ensuring security and resilience while benefiting from global innovation. This is underpinned by UK security standards, data protection law and established commercial frameworks.

Domestically, HMG is accelerating UK data centre delivery through AI Growth Zones. The UK has a range of economic security tools to manage risk, including the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

HMG keeps risks under review, adapting its approach as needed, as is the case with the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

HMG recognises the importance of compute to the UK’s digital economy and national security. HMG takes a balanced approach to cloud services, ensuring security and resilience while benefiting from global innovation. This is underpinned by UK security standards, data protection law and established commercial frameworks.

Domestically, HMG is accelerating UK data centre delivery through AI Growth Zones. The UK has a range of economic security tools to manage risk, including the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

HMG keeps risks under review, adapting its approach as needed, as is the case with the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

The Telecommunications Security Code of Practice provides technical guidance for public telecoms providers on how they can comply with their security requirements as set out in the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 and the Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022.

A full impact assessment was carried out for the telecoms security framework when it came into effect in 2022. The estimated cost of the framework on Tier 1 and Tier 2 public telecoms providers was assessed in the frameworks impact assessment (The Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022).

A full Regulatory Impact Assessment was not prepared for the revised Code of Practice. The revised Code provides additional guidance on how public telecommunications providers may demonstrate compliance with existing statutory security duties under the Act. The updates to the Code do not introduce new statutory duties or regulatory requirements and do not constitute a regulatory provision under the Better Regulation Framework.

An assessment on the costs to industry of the proposed updates to the Code was carried out, details of which are included in the explanatory memorandum. Indicative estimates suggest potential one-off implementation costs in the order of £1.9 million to £3.2 million per provider, with ongoing annual costs of approximately £285,000 to £445,000 per provider. When considered in the context of the scale and revenues of the UK telecommunications sector, the Government considers these costs to be relatively minor.

The Government agree that international co-operation on AI is essential. That is why we play a leading role internationally on AI, including work to support shared prosperity through the UN and OECD and to improve awareness of AI risks via our AI Security Institute and the International AI Safety Report. Given that the transformative scale of AI advances requires a strategic whole of government approach, the Prime Minister is establishing a new AI task force to take this all forward.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the call by China’s President at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference last week for “extensive international cooperation” regarding the development of AI.

I thank my noble friend for her informative Answer. The AI world is dividing into three blocks: the China side, the EU and the US. This is creating divergence, with diverging philosophies on state stability, individual rights and

market form. Does the Minister consider that the UK has a convening power that it may use to guide governance of this powerful technology?