Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what competitive grant funds have been launched by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology since its establishment.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The following competitive grant funds have been launched:
Open Networks Ecosystem Competition
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-networks-ecosystem-competition
Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-infrastructure-pilots-programme
5G Innovation Regions:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/5g-innovation-regions
Research Venture Catalyst
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-ventures-catalyst
Research & Innovation Organisations Infrastructure Fund:
Manchester Prize:
https://find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/manchester-prize-1
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 1,000 new PhD places in artificial intelligence identified in the UK Digital Strategy have been created.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Digital strategy referenced the 1,000 PhDs that had already been created through 16 Centres for Doctoral Training as part of the AI sector deal. The last cohort of these students has now been recruited and commenced their studies.
The strategy also re-committed to the announcement of a further 1,000 PhDs through an additional investment of £117M. This funding has been awarded to 12 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) AI Centres for Doctoral Training across the UK, leveraging an additional £110M from industry, universities and other sources. The universities hosting these centres will receive the funding to train PhD students through five cohorts. Recruitment has started for the first cohort due to start in autumn 2024 who will complete their studies in 2028.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what sectoral strategies have been produced by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology since its establishment.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The sectoral strategies produced by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology since its establishment are:
DSIT also recently published its National Vision for Engineering Biology.
Strategies produced prior to the department’s establishment that are key to our sectors include:
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Camrose on 5 December (HL474), what assessment they have made of the impact on recruitment of overseas research and development workers of the increase in the minimum salary to £38,700 for foreign workers.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
My Department supports the Government’s aim of reducing net migration, whilst ensuring the UK maintains a competitive advantage in attracting international talent in research and development, as set out in the Science & Technology Framework.
The UK’s generous and points-based immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come to the UK through a number of visa routes. Following the Home Secretary’s announcements on 5 December, my Department is working with the Home Office on the details of the policy of increasing the salary threshold for the skilled worker visa route, and will be undertaking assessments of its impacts.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking on a cross-government basis to monitor and integrate the individual departmental responsibilities set out in the Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Strategic oversight and integration of government funding for net zero research and innovation takes place through the Net Zero Innovation Board (NZIB). It is chaired by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and brings together senior representatives from government departments, non-departmental public bodies and non-ministerial departments with major climate mitigation, decarbonisation or energy-related research and innovation budgets, or related policy remits. NZIB, through its Innovation Delivery Board sub-group, also monitors progress of the programmes set out in the Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Viscount Camrose on 20 November (HL Deb col 594), what percentage of people working in research and development (R&D) are expected to be recruited from overseas by 2027; and what immigration constraints apply to those seeking to work in the R&D sector in the UK.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government does not hold any data on or set a specific target for the percentage of R&D talent it expects to have recruited from abroad by 2027.
The Government’s immigration policy applies to R&D talent wanting to locate to the UK. The Government aims to improve the UK’s attractiveness to overseas R&D talent, subject to meeting wider objectives on overall net migration to the UK.
The UK’s points-based immigration system continues to work well. For example, the Global Talent visa has seen a 76% increase in visas issued for the year ending June 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of the risks of online scams, particularly for those with limited digital skills.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government is committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable to online scams.
The Online Safety Act will require social media providers to take steps to safeguard their users from illegal scams and fraudulent advertising. In overseeing the framework, Ofcom must ensure that there are adequate protections for those that are most vulnerable to online harm.
The legislation also expands Ofcom’s duty to promote media literacy under the 2003 Communications Act. The regulator is now required to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online. It will need to publish a strategy for achieving this, which must be updated every three years.
In tandem, the Government is taking action to improve people’s media literacy more widely. In July 2021, we published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. This seeks to support the empowerment of internet users with the skills they need to make safe and informed choices online. Through the Strategy, the Government is funding multiple organisations to support the media literacy and critical thinking skills of vulnerable internet users.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 14 November (HL Deb col 472), what assessment they have made of whether they will achieve their target of at least 85 per cent of premises having access to gigabit capable broadband by 2025.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. According to ThinkBroadband, an independent broadband news and information site, over 78% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, which represents significant progress since January 2019, when coverage was just 6%. We are currently on track to achieve our target of 85% coverage by 2025.
We have created a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable. This Government has also reduced barriers to broadband rollout. For example, we passed the Product Security and Telecoms Infrastructure Act in 2022, making it cheaper and easier for companies to deploy, upgrade and share infrastructure. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 100 providers who are estimated to invest nearly £40bn by 2030 in rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.
The Government is also investing £5bn as part of Project Gigabit to ensure the hardest-to-reach areas in the UK receive coverage. Through our 12 Project Gigabit contracts and 27 current live procurements, we have made over £2 billion of funding available to suppliers to bring gigabit-capable broadband to up to 1.1 million premises in hard-to-reach parts of the country.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 5 June 2018 (HL8200), what testing and examination was carried out to ensure that any artificial intelligence software supplied for use in the Department for Work and Pensions is safe and without risks, as required by section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will continue to work in close collaboration and partnership with other government departments and bodies to align with government’s AI approach, particularly the AI Safety Institute. DWP is exploring the use of AI and how it can support better digital services in a safe, transparent, ethical and considered way. We will work with HSE as and where it is appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of R&D investment in net zero technologies; and what steps they are taking to measure the outcomes from that investment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Research and development (R&D) is critical for reaching net zero by 2050 and the government is investing £4.2 billion in net zero R&D over 2022-2025. This will support the development of the technologies and solutions needed to deliver the UK’s net zero target and to support innovative UK businesses to benefit from the growing global green economy. The Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan published in March 2023 sets out the details of this investment and an update on progress is planned to be published in 2025.