Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of further regulation of novel wearable technology.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations, if any, they have made to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation about the fact that the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation has not published its financial statements in any year since 2000, with the exception of the financial year 2019-20.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) is an international organisation, and the United Kingdom is one of 33 Member States. The CTO Secretariat presents statements of annual accounts to its governing Council, which consists of CTO Member States. From 2000 to 2019, annual financial audits of the CTO were carried out on time, presented to successive CTO Council meetings, and formally approved. Audited reports for 2019-20 and 2020-21 were approved by the CTO Council on 24 February 2023. An audited report for the financial year 2021-22 was approved by the CTO Council on 23 April 2026. Audited reports for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24 will be presented shortly. The CTO Council has agreed to reappoint its Auditor to conduct the audits for 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2016 Chinese consortium acquisition of Global Switch on the company’s valuation and growth trajectory relative to the broader data centre market.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government does not assess or track the specific commercial valuation of individual companies in the data centre sector, such as Global Switch.
The data centre sector is a success story for the UK and is continuing to grow. It is critical to supporting the UK’s digital economy, underpinning AI adoption, cloud services and productivity across almost every sector.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will provide the most up to date figures for the number of (i) individuals who have taken courses and (ii) courses that have been delivered, through the Government’s AI Skills Hub platform.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of energy costs on the domestic semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
From 2027, the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will cut energy bills by up to 25% for eligible, energy-intensive manufacturers in the priority industries in the Industrial Strategy -including semiconductors. This will give businesses certainty and stability, and back Britain’s fastest growing sectors with the support they need to prosper.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for AI technologies to accelerate drug discovery and development; and what steps they are taking to support innovation, investment and adoption in the NHS and UK life sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Researchers in the UK are already pioneering AI-driven applications in drug discovery, and we are taking steps to capture the opportunities this presents. Backed by up to £137m of investment, DSIT's AI for Science Strategy recently launched government's first AI for Science Mission, which will focus on harnessing the technology to accelerate drug discovery and deploy new treatments faster. The Sovereign AI Unit also provided seed funding to the OpenBind consortium to generate foundational protein-ligand structural data to power the next era of AI for drug design.
The Life Sciences Sector Plan and 10-Year Health Plan set out our vision to harness UK science and support adoption of innovation throughout the NHS to drive better health. For example, the Health Innovation Network plays a vital role in connecting innovators with NHS systems and supporting health and social care teams to identify, test and implement new solutions at scale - having already supported over 4.9 million patients.
Across the board, our plans also strengthen investment opportunities and partnerships across data, discovery and clinical trials to drive a thriving UK life sciences sector. This is demonstrated most recently by Boehringer Ingelheim’s investment of £150 million in King’s Cross to build capacity in AI and Machine Learning.
Finally, the launch of the Single National Formulary will play a key role in supporting equitable access and adoption of the most clinically and cost-effective medicines across England.
Asked by: Sean Woodcock (Labour - Banbury)
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 economic impact of an increase in notifications to mobile telecommunications companies under the Notice to Quit regime.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Electronic Communications Code allows for site providers to serve Notices to Quit in specific limited circumstances, including if land is to be redeveloped and is no longer suitable to host telecommunications apparatus, or needs to be moved.
We recognise that mobile operators have raised concerns about the impact of Notices to Quit on the deployment of mobile infrastructure, particularly in more urban areas, as operators search for alternative sites to host equipment. To minimise the impact of this on mobile coverage and capacity, in its recent Call for Evidence on reforms to planning legislation, the government proposed to extend the period by which equipment can be deployed on an emergency basis without planning permission from 18 months to 36 months. This will ensure operators can continue to provide connectivity to local areas without planning permission while they identify new permanent sites. We are considering the responses to this Call for Evidence and will set out the next steps in due course.
Asked by: Sean Woodcock (Labour - Banbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reforming the Notice to Quit regime to reduce disruption to mobile data coverage and capacity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Electronic Communications Code allows for site providers to serve Notices to Quit in specific limited circumstances, including if land is to be redeveloped and is no longer suitable to host telecommunications apparatus, or needs to be moved.
We recognise that mobile operators have raised concerns about the impact of Notices to Quit on the deployment of mobile infrastructure, particularly in more urban areas, as operators search for alternative sites to host equipment. To minimise the impact of this on mobile coverage and capacity, in its recent Call for Evidence on reforms to planning legislation, the government proposed to extend the period by which equipment can be deployed on an emergency basis without planning permission from 18 months to 36 months. This will ensure operators can continue to provide connectivity to local areas without planning permission while they identify new permanent sites. We are considering the responses to this Call for Evidence and will set out the next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Times article OpenAI pauses Stargate UK investment over high energy costs, published on 9 April; and what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK remains an attractive destination for AI-related capital investment.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK continues to be an attractive destination for AI investment as reflected in OpenAI’s ongoing and expanding presence here through its recent announcement for a large permanent office in London, doubling the current OpenAI headcount here.
The UK Government announced measures to provide price support and accelerate planning and grid connections for AI Growth Zones in November, improving the environment for AI infrastructure in the UK.
OpenAI will continue operating in the UK and have confirmed they will bring their second HQ forward in London - a clear recognition of the UK as a global hub for AI innovation. The Government recognises OpenAI’s decision to pause Stargate UK as part of a wider recalibration of its global Stargate programme, rather than a reflection of conditions specific to the UK.
The Government remains committed to supporting large-scale AI infrastructure through the AI Growth Zone programme, including action to reduce energy costs and address regulatory barriers.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of cellular IoT modules used in areas of smart tech, healthcare medical devices and other connected systems on national security.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.