Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to tackle the (a) algorithmic and (b) design features that maximise children's engagement.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Protecting children online is a priority for the Secretary of State and this government. The Online Safety Act provides strong foundations for protecting children across the UK. We have always been clear that we will build on that foundation and published a consultation and national conversation which sought views and evidence from people across the UK on measures that could further protect children online and enhance their wellbeing. As part of this, we sought views on how platform design features such as personal recommender systems may encourage children to stay online for longer. The consultation closed on 26 May 2026, and the government will respond by summer.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 cost of technical debt to UK productivity; and what steps her Department is taking to address skills shortages linked to the retirement of personnel maintaining legacy IT systems critical to national infrastructure.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At least 28% of central government systems are classified as legacy. These outdated systems cost around 40% more to maintain than modern alternatives, slow down public services, are harder to join up and increase the risk of disruption, reducing efficiency across government and contributing to wider productivity challenges.
DSIT is committed to addressing this technical debt. We are undertaking work to identify the most cost-effective methods for modernising outdated systems, which will inform the Technology Modernisation Action Plan later this year.
By moving departments off legacy systems, we reduce reliance on retiring specialist expertise. Alongside this, through Get Tech Certified, over 9,000 public servants have accessed free certification pathways in cloud, AI and modern engineering; equipping the workforce with the skills these modern platforms require.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Security Strategy 2025: Security for the British People in a Dangerous World, CP1338, published on 24 June 2025, what progress she has made in enhancing collaboration with Canada on AI.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK is pleased to collaborate with a number of international partners through bilateral and multilateral activity, including Canada. The UK and Canada share common values and are working together to promote the safe, secure and responsible development of AI. This includes collaboration between the UK's AI Security Institute and Canada's AI Safety Institute, as well as furthering cooperation on supercomputing. In December 2025, building upon 2024's Compute MoU, the UK and Canada agreed a partnership between the UK's National Supercomputing Centre, based at the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, which will advance the delivery of large-scale compute for research.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the report by AI Forensics entitled ‘Harassment as Infrastructure’, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of payment providers facilitating payments for access to non-consensual intimate image.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act places clear duties on in-scope services to tackle illegal content, including non-consensual intimate image abuse, backed by Ofcom’s strong enforcement powers. Where services fail to comply, Ofcom can seek Business Disruption Measures to restrict access to those services, including measures which may require third-party payment providers to withdraw services from non-compliant sites.
We are strengthening the regulatory framework through new criminal offences and a 48-hour removal duty, alongside Ofcom’s use of hash-matching to prevent re-sharing.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an estimate of how much money online platforms receive from image-based sexual abuse channels on their services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Non-consensual intimate images (NCII) are completely unacceptable and tackling this abuse is a priority for this government.
Under the Online Safety Act, services must assess for the risk of NCII, take steps to prevent this content appearing and removing it swiftly when it does. This government has built on the framework by introducing a new requirement on service to remove NCII within 48 hours of a valid report.
This is complemented by Ofcom’s update to its illegal content codes on the use of hash-matching to deliver victim-centred protection from this horrific abuse.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the progress of the roll out of Project Gigabit in a) Bedfordshire and b) the East of England.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through a combination of commercial market and government subsidised delivery, government is ensuring 99% of UK premises will have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032.
Project Gigabit delivery across the East England region is primarily being taken forward through several Project Gigabit contracts, including those covering Suffolk, Norfolk and Bedfordshire, Northampton and Milton Keynes, alongside wider cross-regional interventions to reach remaining premises.
As a result of these Project Gigabit contracts, over 43,740 premises across the East England region have already received a gigabit-capable connection, with an additional 72,420 still expected to be given coverage. Across the county of Bedfordshire, over 5430 premises already have access to a gigabit-capable connection, with a further 1140 expected to receive a gigabit-capable connection via Project Gigabit contracts.
For the remaining premises which are not within the scope of suppliers’ commercial plans or existing Project Gigabit contracts, Building Digital UK (BDUK) is working to put in place further coverage solutions as soon as possible. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in Bedfordshire and other areas of central, eastern and south-eastern England.
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, how much her Department has spent on advertising on podcasts in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held in the requested format.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with other departments regarding the adequacy of water supplies to AI data centres.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology engages regularly with her Government counterparts to discuss the importance of AI and its associated infrastructure. DSIT officials also engage regularly with relevant organisations such as DEFRA and the Environment Agency, recognising the need to ensure AI infrastructure does not compromise the resilience of public water supplies. The Government will continue to support AI infrastructure growth while protecting water supplies and the local environment, ensuring that the growth of the sector is stable and sustainable.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of patent trolls on the rollout of 5G networks.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and this will be achieved primarily by commercial investment from the three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
Business models in which patents are bought, and then enforced against others, may be legitimate, including in the 5G sector. Through the Intellectual Property Office, government monitors the effective functioning of the patent system to ensure that incentives to innovate are maintained. The IPO recently undertook a review of the legal framework surrounding Standards Essential Patents to identify and consider how to address a number of issues, including licensing practices. The Government expects to publish a response this summer.
Regarding whether patent trolls impact the rollout of 5G networks, this is not an issue that has been raised with Government, including through the recent Mobile Market Review call for evidence which asked stakeholders for evidence on the major developments occurring across the mobile sector.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to tackle patent trolls in the 5G standalone sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and this will be achieved primarily by commercial investment from the three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
Business models in which patents are bought, and then enforced against others, may be legitimate, including in the 5G sector. Through the Intellectual Property Office, government monitors the effective functioning of the patent system to ensure that incentives to innovate are maintained. The IPO recently undertook a review of the legal framework surrounding Standards Essential Patents to identify and consider how to address a number of issues, including licensing practices. The Government expects to publish a response this summer.
Regarding whether patent trolls impact the rollout of 5G networks, this is not an issue that has been raised with Government, including through the recent Mobile Market Review call for evidence which asked stakeholders for evidence on the major developments occurring across the mobile sector.