ISAR Global

Sixteen parliamentary questions spanning January 2025 to January 2026 reveal a government confident in its AI infrastructure narrative but noticeably reticent on measurable delivery milestones. The AI Growth Zones programme — the centrepiece of the AI Opportunities Action Plan — has progressed from expression of interest to formal application, yet ministerial responses remain dominated by aspiration rather than verified outcome. The gap between the rhetoric of global leadership and the reality of confirmed, operational infrastructure is the defining feature of this parliamentary period.

Analysis of 50 parliamentary written questions and ministerial responses spanning January 2025 to February 2026 reveals a consistent pattern of formulaic responses to AI governance questions, with ministerial accountability frequently substituted by reference to the AI Action Plan as a rhetorical anchor. Concrete implementation evidence is strongest in departmental delivery contexts — particularly the Ministry of Justice — but weakest precisely where parliamentary scrutiny is most pointed: on legislation, timelines, and regulatory architecture.

Thirty-seven parliamentary questions spanning a decade reveal a consistent pattern: the UK government acknowledges deep structural dependency on two dominant US cloud providers, yet repeatedly defers substantive action to an independent regulator it declines to direct. Ministerial responses confirm that central government holds no consolidated data on cloud dependency across critical public services or critical national infrastructure, whilst simultaneously committing to diversification measures whose delivery timelines remain opaque.