Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

According to the independent website, Thinkbroadband.com, over 86% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband. In Leicestershire this figure is currently at 83%, and for the Mid Leicestershire constituency it is over 89%.

Our objective is for nationwide gigabit coverage across the UK by 2030, with at least 99% of premises having access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection.

The rate of delivery in each area will depend on broadband suppliers’ commercial rollout, supplemented by the delivery of Project Gigabit to address gaps in coverage. Over one million premises in the UK are currently included in Project Gigabit contracts, through which they should gain access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection in the next five years. This includes approximately 15,600 premises in the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and around 600 premises in the Mid Leicestershire constituency.

The Geospatial Commission is now a team inside the Government Digital Service, within the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. There were no discussions with the Secretary of State on the impact of the rise of employer national insurance contributions on their work.

The UK has a strong open-source ecosystem and we recognise how open source can help support economic growth and innovation. The AI Opportunities Action Plan includes measures to help maximise this potential, including through commitments around open sourcing where possible in the development and deployment of AI tools in the public sector.

Open source can also boost transparency and support AI safety research. The UK Government will carefully balance these important benefits alongside the risks that AI can bring as it develops its regulatory approach.

One of the functions of the new Government Digital Service is to incubate AI products and scale them into cross government services. As part of this funding for the development of Connect and Humphrey will come from the budget of the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, which sits within DSIT's overall operating budget.

The level of funding is subject to the department’s settlement at Spending Review. Currently other departments are not charged for use of these tools, though the department will determine an appropriate operating model on finalisation of the Spending Review. Following a handover of the tool, future budgetary decisions for Scout will belong to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Protecting children online is a key priority for the government, including through the protections in the Online Safety Act. The Act will require in-scope services to remove illegal content and prevent children from encountering harmful content, including where it is AI generated.

Government meets with a range of stakeholders, including AI companies, across a range of issues.

Creating a safer online world is a priority for government. The strongest protections in the Online Safety Act are for children - in-scope services must remove illegal content and prevent children from encountering harmful content, including where it is AI generated.

We are also committed to tackling the atrocious harm of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and will bring in legislation to criminalise possessing, creating or distributing AI tools designed to generate this material.

The government continues to work with the broadband industry and regulatory bodies to support take-up of gigabit-capable broadband.

The government welcomes the introduction by Ofcom of new guidance to ensure consumers are told in clear terms, at point of sale, about the technology that underpins their broadband service.

We also welcome the launch of One Touch Switch (OTS) by industry. Consumers now only have to contact their new provider when they wish to switch provider. OTS should support take-up of gigabit broadband as it makes it more straightforward for consumers to upgrade and move providers.

DSIT’s closing R&D budget for 2023-24 was £12,300m. This reflects the position post-Machinery of Government changes, comprising elements of the R&D budgets of DSIT’s predecessor departments.

DSIT’s R&D budget for 2024-25, updated at Autumn Budget 2024 is £12,500m*.

* Rounded to nearest £100m

The government sees the use of consistent terminology between providers as a means to support take-up of gigabit capable broadband services and we continue to engage with Ofcom on this topic.

The government is planning to consult on the draft updated Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services in the coming weeks. As part of the consultation process, we would welcome views on content of the SSP from industry stakeholders.

The Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms is content to write a letter responding to the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted on this matter in due course.

All user-to-user services, no matter their size and regardless of whether they are categorised, will be captured by the Online Safety Act. The illegal content duties will require all user-to-user services – including small but risky services - to risk assess for illegal content, reduce the risk that users encounter illegal content, and mitigate against their service being used to facilitate or commit certain offences. The child safety duties will apply to all services likely to be accessed by children. These services must use highly effective age assurance to protect children from the most harmful content.

3,118 In-Year Awards were given to delegated DSIT staff from 5 July 2024 to 31 January 2025. This figure relates to all In-Year Awards paid during the months specified including awards approved prior to that period

Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart economic growth and transform how we deliver public services.

The Intellectual Property Office has developed AI tools that improve its services and assist its customers. These include a new public facing search tool that performs key word searching assisting patent prior art searches as well as a tool that identifies similar existing trade marks to inform the customer prior to their application.

Tools have also been created to improve the IPOs operational function and reduce administrative tasks.

The Government wants all areas of the UK, including East Anglia and South West Norfolk, to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage.

Through the Shared Rural Network, 4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass.

Our ambition is for all populated areas, including communities in rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition. This includes working with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is more accurate.

The Government wants all areas of the UK, including East Anglia and South West Norfolk, to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage.

Through the Shared Rural Network, 4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass.

Our ambition is for all populated areas, including communities in rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition. This includes working with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is more accurate.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 96% of premises in the South West Norfolk constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 59% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).

To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract in Norfolk, targeted at bringing fast, reliable broadband to premises in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 5,000 premises in South West Norfolk are currently included within this contract.

The government is committing to doing what is necessary to protect children online. The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from encountering specific types of harmful content. On 16 January Ofcom published its finalised guidance on how they expect services to introduce highly effective age assurance to meet this duty.

We expect Ofcom’s finalised Children’s Safety Codes to be laid before parliament in April 2025 and following the parliamentary process the child safety duties should be in effect by summer 2025

Ofcom are required to produce and publish a report on in-scope services’ use of age assurance solutions within eighteen months of these duties coming into force.

The department has not carried out an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of land or property for 5G infrastructure, and this is not an issue previously raised by industry. The Electronic Communications Code provides the regulatory framework by which telecommunications operators gain access to land and property to deploy infrastructure. This aims to balance the rights of site providers and operators to facilitate infrastructure deployment on public and private land, as well as encouraging the sharing of infrastructure.

My department supports the safe deployment of drones for commercial and public benefit, through R&D support and innovative regulation. Wider drone policy is led by the Department for Transport.

Since 2019, the Future Flight Challenge, administered by Innovate UK, has provided £125m of public funding for collaborative R&D and innovation in this area.

We established the Regulatory Innovation Office to support our ambition to be the best place in the world to innovate. ‘Drones and other autonomous technology’ is an initial focus area of the Regulatory Innovation Office.

The AI Action Plan will ensure all parts of the UK benefit from the opportunities AI presents. AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) will be closely aligned with wider government initiatives, including Local Growth Plans, ensuring substantial regional and national benefits.

By concentrating government support on planning and energy, AIGZs aim to attract significant private investment, accelerate the build-out of critical AI infrastructure, and drive local economic regeneration.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with ARIA and the wider sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. A survey on public attitudes to animal research was carried out regularly until 2018 but ceased during the pandemic and has not been restarted. We are considering the future of the survey as part of our work to deliver the manifesto commitment.

The Government has had numerous discussions with AstraZeneca about their proposed investment into Speke. There were minor delays in replying to correspondence following the election period.

My department and I are closely engaged with AstraZeneca as we develop our new modern industrial strategy, which will focus on the sectors with the highest growth opportunity for the economy, including Life Sciences. As part of our engagement, we have had regular discussions with AstraZeneca on vaccine production in Speke.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the sector to create a sustainable research and innovation environment and discussions are ongoing.

UKRI grants are costed on known costs at the time of application. Whilst we recognise there may be impacts for Research Organisations with the increase in employers National Insurance contributions, unfortunately, it is not feasible to respond to every adjusting economic circumstance.

Upholding national security remains the first duty of this government. The UK takes an active role in organisations including the International Telecommunication Union and the Third Generation Partnership Project, to shape standards to serve innovation while mitigating risks to the security of emerging technologies. We recognise that other states, including China, may seek to shape standards development in ways that differ to UK values. We need to co-operate with China where we can, while challenging where we must. To safeguard our democratic societies, we are taking steps with our allies to promote the international rules-based system that underpins our security.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and its benefits extend far beyond economic growth. By investing in AI now, we are ensuring that the UK is prepared to harness its transformative potential.

The government invests in AI in several ways, including through investing in the UK’s compute capacity, the latest research and innovations, and upskilling the workforce with AI skills.

The recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, is fully funded under the current Spending Review. We have already funded parts of the AI Action Plan through Spending Review Round One, including compute, R&D, and sovereign AI commitments. Departments are working through the policy details, which will be integrated into future spending plans as part of the spending review process.

As we approach the 2025 Spending Review, we will outline the next steps to ensure these commitments continue driving progress, but it would not be appropriate to speculate on spending review decisions.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will achieve our ambitions by laying the foundations for AI growth, driving adoption and building UK capability at the frontier.

The Action Plan has been informed by a series of external roundtables and wide engagement with experts from across the AI ecosystem. These discussions covered key areas such as the collaboration between the public and private sectors to create a robust AI ecosystem and to unmask the potential economic impact of AI technologies.

DSIT ministers recently met with the Assistant General Secretary of the Trade Unions Congress to discuss the AI Action Plan. As the Government takes the Plan forward, it will continue to engage widely with stakeholders, including trade unions, to ensure its implementation.

We recognise that the vast majority of AI systems - including machine translation - are best regulated at the point of use and in the context in which they are deployed. That’s why in response to the AI Action Plan, the government has committed to supporting regulators in evaluating their AI capabilities and understanding how these can be strengthened.

In regard to foreign language professionals, the GCHQ-chaired cross-Government Languages Group brings together government language professionals, developers and commissioning officers who have a stake in machine translation capability, to capture use cases and develop best practice for its development and deployment.

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has provided a report to the Public Accounts Committee on the closure of the 2022-25 Roadmap. The report indicates that 29 of the Top 75 Services have reached the ‘Great’ standard, an increase from 8 ‘Great’ services at baselining.

The Government Digital Service has established a Service Transformation team to drive delivery of the next phase of service transformation work set out in Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, building on the learnings from the Top75 Services Programme.

As set out in the Blueprint, the government will develop a detailed Government Digital & AI Roadmap alongside the second phase of the Spending Review, to be published in summer 2025. This will supersede the 2022-2025 Roadmap, and will include details of how we plan to measure progress through the next phase of digital transformation.