Extracts from Lords debate on Bribery Act 2010: Post-legislative
Scrutiny (Select Committee Report) Lord German (LD) [V]:...I note
the report’s comments on how the SFO handled large amounts of
documentation, which was a contributory factor to the long delays
in producing outcomes to its investigations. For example, it talks
of millions of documents being scrutinised in the course of the
Rolls-Royce investigation. The reality is that data, by which I
mean documents and digital information,...Request free trial
Extracts from Lords
debate on Bribery Act 2010: Post-legislative Scrutiny (Select
Committee Report)
(LD)
[V]:...I note the report’s comments on how the SFO handled large
amounts of documentation, which was a contributory factor to the
long delays in producing outcomes to its investigations. For
example, it talks of millions of documents being scrutinised in the
course of the Rolls-Royce investigation. The reality
is that data, by which I mean documents and digital information,
will increase, not decrease. The report mentions the introduction
of artificial intelligence as a means of aiding this scrutiny. That
approach is essential, because the demand for better correlation of
information and timeline creation, sometimes spanning multiple
sources of information, will increase as the number of data sources
increase. I would be grateful for an update from the Minister on
how this challenge is being met. Does the Minister agree that this
approach will be an important tool in the armoury of the SFO in
dealing with the complexity of modern business activity? Much
evidence will be in electronic form on a multitude of different
platforms. Identifying and comparing strands of an investigation
will be much enhanced by the use of AI...
(Lab) [V]:...The range of topics
covered by the committee’s report is extensive, so I will confine
myself to only a few matters. The first of these arises not from
the Act but is scrutinised by the committee: the success of
deferred prosecution agreements. I share the commendation of the
noble and learned Lord, , of the noble and learned Lord, , for having pushed this innovation forward. Similarly,
Sir David Green, as former director of the Serious Fraud Office,
can be congratulated on putting the DPA into practice very
effectively. While it is not unknown for the SFO to be criticised,
it should be given considerable credit, as the noble Lord,
, observed,
for its innovatory use of artificial intelligence in the
Rolls-Royce case, identified by
the committee at paragraph 72. What might have taken many months if
not years of document analysis was reduced to weeks and greatly
accelerated the resolution of a highly complex case. It is
encouraging to see that the SFO is now deploying AI-powered
analysis across its new casework and embracing new technology ahead
of many in the private sector.
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Extract from oral answer
(Lords) on Electricity Supply
(Con) [V]: My Lords, I declare my
Suffolk interests, as in the register. We will have to leave
Hinkley to sort itself out from the muddle that EDF is now making,
but Sizewell C is expected to cost £21 billion. Will my noble
friend consider that the British Rolls-Royce consortium, which is
making small modular reactors, could offer to produce eight SMRs at
a cost of only £16 billion, on the same timescale as EDF was
scheduled to produce Sizewell but which it will no longer be able
to?
(Con): My noble friend will be aware that
EDF is estimating a 20% reduction in cost for using the same
technology that it has been using at Hinkley Point C, which is why
we are proceeding with Sizewell C. We need a mix of all these
technologies. He is right to point out the potential of advanced
nuclear technologies: that is why we are investing in them.
The Rolls-Royce SMR is likely to be
operational by 2032. Investment in AMR technology, which has the
potential to help us in our hydrogen ambitions, will follow shortly
thereafter.
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