Feryal Clark MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend’s constituency is indeed a hotbed of innovation. She will be delighted to know that Healthtech-1 has benefited from a range of Government support to date, including a recent Innovate UK grant.

• 14 May 2025 · Artificial Intelligence: Environmental Impact · Hansard source

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  As I have set out, we have inter-ministerial meetings that bring Ministers together, including Ministers from DEFRA. The Secretary of State regularly meets representatives from the National Farmers Union and other Secretaries of State to discuss these issues.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Scientific and Regulatory Procedures: Use of Dogs · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, and I am happy to share the research and reasons behind my arguments. For the reasons I have given, animal testing is required by the international agreements followed by all global medicines regulators, including the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Although the MHRA does not require all medicines to be tested on two species, safety testing in a second species is required for most drugs, with dogs being one of the species that can be used. The key proposal in the petition is for an immediate ban on the use of dogs in scientific and regulatory procedures. None of us wants dogs to be used in research, despite how carefully animal welfare is regulated. However, I regret to say that forbidding the use of dogs in medical research—without alternatives at the moment—would likely have catastrophic effects on the UK’s medical research system. We would be unable to meet international regulatory requirements for drug safety testing, preventing virtually all first-in-human trials in the UK and vastly reducing the number of subsequent clinical trials. A significant proportion of basic research would cease, preventing new insight into disease and treatments that save lives and improve people’s health. Forbidding the use of animals in medical research would also likely have a negative impact on animal welfare. Animal testing would move overseas, to countries where the regulations on the use of animals in science are less stringent than they are here. I am proud to say that the UK is world leading in the development of alternative methods, and we are keen to utilise that technology as much as possible. As much as we can, we are striving to partner with regulators to see how advances in technology can phase out animal use where we are able to do that.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Motor Neurone Disease · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the work of the Mark Sommerville Foundation in this important area. Government funders are investing in MND research to accelerate progress. Let me give just one example. Through UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Government are investing £6 million in the MND translational accelerator, led by Dementias Platform UK. The aim of the funded projects is to accelerate the development of treatment for MND.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Motor Neurone Disease · Hansard source

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  The Government are doing and have done a great deal. We have continued to support this work through both UKRI and the NIHR, and a large amount of funding has gone into clinical research. However, I should be happy to discuss the issue further with the right hon. Gentleman, and to let him know what more work could be done on clinical trials.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Access to Digital Services: North-east · Hansard source

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  It is right that not only do we need to have good online access to services, but businesses need to be able to connect to those services, and that is why the Government are committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity coverage by 2030. I am glad to say that over 94% of premises in her constituency can access gigabit broadband, including the businesses that she refers to, but I am of course happy to meet her to talk about what more we can do in this important area.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Access to Public Services: Technology · Hansard source

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  DSIT is leading the charge by establishing the digital centre of Government to harness technology and transform our public services. We are committed to improving digital inclusion and accessibility to ensure high-quality online services that are available to everyone. In the coming months, the Department will outline its plans and priorities for a digital centre and to advance digital inclusion.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Access to Public Services: Technology · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman will be happy to hear that the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 require most public sector organisations to ensure their services are accessible to disabled and older people by meeting the requirements of the web content accessibility guidelines and by publishing an accessibility statement in the prescribed format. The Government Digital Service’s accessibility monitoring team reviews public sector websites to ensure compliance with the accessibility regulations and supports Departments to improve their services.

• 18 Dec 2024 · Internet Service Providers and Suicide-related Content · Hansard source

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  Every site, whether it has five users or 500 million users, will have to proactively remove illegal content, such as content where there is proven intent of encouraging someone to end their life. Ofcom has also set up a “small but risky” supervision taskforce to ensure that smaller forums comply with new measures, and it is ready to take enforcement action if they do not do so. The Government understand that just one person seeing this kind of content could mean one body harmed, one life ended, and one family left grieving.

• 16 Oct 2024 · Life Sciences: Stevenage · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for her question. She will have seen from the investment summit earlier this week that there is huge interest from a number of companies in investing in the UK, and there is huge support from this Government for those companies that wish to invest.

• 16 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for all the work that she does to encourage more women into tech. It is great to know that the tech world is full not just of “tech bros”, but quite a lot of tech sisters as well. We are committed to building on the UK’s success as a global AI leader, and the upcoming AI action plan demonstrates that commitment to ensure the safe development of AI models by introducing binding regulation on a handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems, fostering trust in those technologies. We will also continue—