Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 55786 on Public Sector: Digital Technology, whether his Department’s digital transformation strategy will include the (a) financial impact of software assets on departmental budgets and (b) impact of identified dependencies on those assets on cost efficiencies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The State of Digital Government review, A blueprint for modern digital government and the Performance Review of Digital Spend, all published this year, have highlighted the need to reform digital purchasing.
The Government has launched a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence, containing experts from the Digital and Commercial Functions, within the Government Digital Service (GDS) in my department. It is pursuing multiple strategies to improve value for money and outcomes including central buying of commodity services, development of a digital sourcing strategy, creation of technical enablers and joined-up management of strategic digital suppliers.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 55785 on Public Sector: Digital Technology, what discussions his Department has had with the Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence on the impact of software licensing for Government software procurement on the digital transformation strategy.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The State of Digital Government review, A blueprint for modern digital government and the Performance Review of Digital Spend, all published this year, have highlighted the need to reform digital purchasing.
The Government has launched a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence, containing experts from the Digital and Commercial Functions, within the Government Digital Service (GDS) in my department. It is pursuing multiple strategies to improve value for money and outcomes including central buying of commodity services, development of a digital sourcing strategy, creation of technical enablers and joined-up management of strategic digital suppliers.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps (a) with Building Digital UK to support the timely delivery of full fibre broadband to rural communities under the Phase 2 Superfast Broadband Programme in (i) west Somerset and (ii) Devon and (b) to encourage improved communication between Airband and affected (A) residents and (B) local stakeholders in the parishes of (1) West Hatch, (2) Hatch Beauchamp, (3) Bickenhall, (4) Curland, (5) Staple Fitzpaine, (6) Corfe, (7) Orchard Portman, (8) Stoke St Mary and (9) Pitminster.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Building Digital UK (BDUK) is working with Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) and Airband to identify premises which will no longer be connected via its Superfast contracts. Premises that have been descoped from the Airband contracts and are not in any suppliers’ commercial plans will be eligible for support through Project Gigabit.
Officials will continue to work closely with suppliers, residents and local stakeholders across west Somerset and Devon to improve broadband connectivity across the region.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to improve the UK's cyber security.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The cyber security of the UK is a priority for the government. This year we will introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to improve UK cyber defences and better secure our essential services and the IT infrastructure they rely upon. The government offers free guidance, tools and training to help businesses and organisations improve their cyber resilience. This includes a new Cyber Governance Code of Practice to help boards and directors manage digital risks, and the Cyber Essentials scheme which is highly effective in protecting businesses against cyber attacks. The PSTI Act, along with codes of practice on AI, software and apps, are helping protect organisations at scale by making technology secure by design. Later this year, the government will publish a new National Cyber Strategy setting out how we will approach the challenges and opportunities of cyber security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions (a) he has and (b) his officials have had with trade unions on the digitalisation of government.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I recently met Prospect Union to discuss our plans for digitising government. My officials met with representatives from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) several times to discuss the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, both before and after publication. Myself and my officials in DSIT continue to explore opportunities for trade union engagement on emerging technologies and public sector digital transformation.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) development and (b) deployment of artificial intelligence to accelerate the transition away from the use of animals in scientific research and testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use, we support the development and application of approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research (the 3Rs), including via artificial intelligence. The Prime Minister launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan in January which outlined 50 actions needed to drive up the development and deployment of AI.
The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to protect girls and young women from the impact of sexualised AI deepfakes.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Sharing or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is illegal. Synthetically created content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and is illegal content or content harmful to children. Government is also legislating to ban the non-consensual creation of sexualised deepfakes in the Data (Use and Access) Bill.
Where a sexualised deepfake is of a child this is child sexual abuse material and is illegal, and Government has introduced an offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models optimised to create this content.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will review the role of the Information Commissioner's Office.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We have considered the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) during the design of the Data Use & Access Bill. This Bill modernises the ICO’s governance structure, introduces a new framework with a principal objective and duties to provide strategic direction to its data protection activities. The Bill increases transparency and accountability to Parliament, businesses and the public; and supports the public with strengthened complaints procedures and enforcement powers. We hope it will soon be enacted.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has funded Stratospheric Aerosol Injection in the last three years.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has not funded any field-based Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI).
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification (SRM). This will produce important information for decisions around the world.
ARIA’s programme includes laboratory-based research and some small-scale field trials to explore the fundamental science around SRM. This does not involve releasing materials into the stratosphere. All field trials will be subject to an environmental impact and legal assessment, which will be made publicly available before any outdoor experiment takes place. They will be limited in size, scale, and time-bound, so the effects dissipate within 24 hours or are fully reversible. ARIA are not funding experiments that release toxic materials to the environment.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that the right to object to targeted online advertising is upheld under consent-or-pay models; and whether his Department plans to provide updated guidance on this issue in the context of the Information Commissioner’s Office’s guidance on consent-or-pay.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) guidance on this matter states that pay and consent models can be implemented in accordance with the data protection legislation, so long as websites ensure that consent to targeted advertising is fully informed and freely given. The guidance sets out a framework of factors that are important to consider when assessing whether a “consent or pay” model meets the required standard of consent.
The Government will continue to engage with businesses, the ICO and other stakeholders to monitor operation of these models.