Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to table 1 of Annex A of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, if he will publish a breakdown of the spending of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit spending on Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy, net in that financial year.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Please find below breakdown of the ‘Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy’ line outturn for FY 2024-25 per table 1 in Annex A of the DSIT Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25:
Geospatial Commission £147.676m
Met Office £146.027m
National Measurement Service £121.310m
Office for Life Sciences £42.384m
Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT) Office £0.564m
Innovation & Research £0.215m
Research Base Innovation £0.012m
Total £458.188m
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of (a) Sections 61 to 64 and (b) Section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the risks of commencing Sections 61 to 64 without a formal mechanism for addressing complaints about operators’ non-compliance with the Code of Practice.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of commencing Section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to bring section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 into force.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
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 (a) monitor delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, (b) provide stable multi-year funding for its implementation, including UKCVAM, (c) publish milestones and progress updates, and (d) support regulatory changes to increase the uptake of non-animal methods, including delivery of the strategy’s 2026 commitments.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s strategy Replacing animals in science strategy is setting up governance structures, including a Ministerial board, to oversee progress and ensure momentum is maintained. £60m of ringfenced, multiyear funding has been provided to secure long-term investment for the strategy’s measures, including UKCVAM and the preclinical translational models hub, through the 2025 Spending Review. Transparent targets and milestones, alongside KPIs will be published starting in 2026. Current legislation requires alternatives to animals to be used wherever available, so there are no current plans to change legislation.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of using the Gov.uk One Login to verify identity on people who (a) do not have photo ID and (b) are visually impaired.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Inclusion is at the heart of GOV.UK One Login. The service provides multiple ways for users to prove their identity, including a no photo ID route which involves answering security questions.
GDS regularly tests designs with disabled users, including visually impaired users, where tests are performed with assistive technology.Our accessibility statement is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/govuk-one-login-app-accessibility-statement.
We have a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) assessment, which examines the impacts of the service on the different protected characteristics and establishes mitigations where necessary.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, whether he will publish annual progress reports against the roadmap, department-level performance metrics for digital services, and information on major digital programmes assessed as high risk.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The roadmap is an iterative and transparent record of government’s digital priorities and will be updated regularly as projects progress and delivery milestones are met. The Government Digital Service (GDS) is also developing the Digital Performance Framework to provide a single, cross-government way to measure and understand digital and technology performance. Departments will start sharing annual outcome-based data on the performance of their services with each other, with Secretaries of State held accountable in regular reviews. This will encourage open working and drive evidence-led improvements across digital government.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Google about reports that they sent emails to under 13 year-olds informing them how to turn off parental controls on their birthday.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government meets regularly with stakeholders, including from the tech sector.
Many platforms have parental control tools to help parents manage their children’s screentime and online experience.
Google has clarified in a policy update that parental controls will remain in place beyond 13 unless a parent consents to turn these off.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of research by Morgan Stanley for Bloomberg published on 26 January 2026 showing that the UK has experienced 8% net job losses from AI; and whether he plans to re-evaluate the AI Opportunities Action Plan as a result of those findings.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government notes the Morgan Stanley research. Whilst it is clear that AI will impact the labour market, DSIT’s recently published assessment shows that there is significant uncertainty over the nature and extent of this impact. The new AI and the Future of Work Unit has been established to develop rigorous research and improved data, so that we can monitor these impacts. This will allow us to ensure Government is front footed in developing the right policy response.
The single best way to protect jobs in this country, and to create new ones, is for businesses in the UK to be competitive. AI creates enormous opportunities for British businesses to stay ahead of their competitors in other countries. That is why it is so important that the UK both wins the AI adoption race and continues to build a strong domestic AI sector. AI sector jobs are already growing rapidly, increasing by 33% between 2023 and 2024, to a total of 86,000.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to help ensure that official child right’s impact assessments are undertaken to inform the evaluation of different policy options during the consultation, Driving action to improve children’s relationship with mobile phones and social media.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will assess a range of impacts when deciding how we will act on social media, including children’s rights and their wellbeing. To inform those assessments, we will consult children and young people directly through the national conversation and consultation, because their views and voices must be heard.