My Lords, the increasing use of AI in education is transforming teaching and learning at all levels. The Government are currently focused on investment in AI skills for work, through tertiary education, as well as having introduced measures to reduce the burden on teachers through innovation funding—all to be welcomed. Will the Government recognise the importance of taking a stronger stance...
My Lords, the cuts proposed by the MCA have been resisted by the GMB union, as well as by coastguard rescue officers themselves. Is the Minister certain, at a time when we see more people around the coast of Britain using the sea for leisure, that the potential reduction in staff that could come from this will not put people at risk?
My Lords, it is a privilege to speak in response to His Majesty’s gracious Speech, and I am grateful to my noble friends who moved and seconded the Address with such witty eloquence. I want to use my time to speak about two issues I think are critical to the future of the country: social mobility and artificial intelligence—not as parallel tracks, but as a single challenge and a single...
My Lords, I am quite heartened that the questions from across your Lordships’ House have not descended into an attack on local authorities’ electoral registration officers and their ability to carry out these elections. Many of us in the House tonight have spent years working with those officials and have seen them turn around elections quickly, whether by-elections or snap general...
My Lords, one way to deal with this issue is by the acceleration of the free trade agreements. Under the last Government, we had agreements with New Zealand, Australia and then the CPTPP. Under this Government, we have accelerated those agreements. The Minister mentioned the six Gulf states and the GCC free trade agreement. Is there any update on the GCC FTA negotiations and what comes next?
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to communicate the purpose and value of the newly introduced V-Levels to students, parents, and employers, to ensure widespread understanding and uptake of these qualifications.
I thank my noble friend the Minister and welcome the clarity and reassurance she has given. Given the concerning new figures on youth unemployment, what steps are being taken to ensure that businesses engage with the meaningful work placements that are envisaged for V-level students, and have His Majesty’s Government considered financial or regulatory incentives to encourage employers,...
More of Lord McNicol of West Kilbride's speeches and debates
To ask His Majesty's Government what modelling they have undertaken on the proportion of households for which water bills will be unaffordable by 2030; and what steps they are taking to mitigate this.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the above inflation increase in the average household water bill in 2025/2026, and (2) the expected above inflation increase in 2026/2027, on low-income households.
To ask His Majesty's Government what modelling they have undertaken on how many households will fall into water poverty between 2025-2030 due to Ofwat's price control resulting in a 36% increase in average household water bills over this period; and what steps they are taking to mitigate this.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of forthcoming infrastructure investments by water companies on the affordability of water bills.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce the cross-sector AI risk register announced by the previous government on 6 February; if so, when; and if not, what steps they are taking to monitor AI risks.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on the economy of regulatory divergence between the United Kingdom and the European Union following the introduction of the Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks to intellectual property posed by sales on overseas e-commerce platforms.
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scottish Government since it projected a potential £1 billion resource spending gap in 2024–25, rising to £1.9 billion by 2027–28.
