Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to support the use of combinatorial genomic analysis techniques, such as those used by Precision Life to identify novel ME genetic associations, within government-funded research programmes.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), funds a broad portfolio of health research, including researcher led proposals using combinatorial genomic analysis. MRC has prioritised research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) for many years, investing over £4.65 million since 2020, and continues to welcome high quality applications in this area.
UKRI supports collaboration between Government funded bodies and private sector researchers across its councils and Innovate UK. This includes funding the LOCOME study led by Precision Life, through Innovate UK’s Advancing Precision Medicine programme, which supports the development of digital and data tools to improve diagnosis and treatment. MRC also enables academic-industry partnerships through its Industry Collaboration Framework.
UKRI does not typically maintain disease‑specific research strategies, instead providing open funding routes for the most impactful research across disciplines. Targeted work can be supported where needed. For example, in 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHCR), the Scottish Government and MRC funded the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership to identify ME/CFS research priorities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to develop a long-term research strategy into under-researched health conditions that reflects the scale of emerging genetic evidence identified by private-sector research organisations, including Precision Life’s LOCOME study.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), funds a broad portfolio of health research, including researcher led proposals using combinatorial genomic analysis. MRC has prioritised research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) for many years, investing over £4.65 million since 2020, and continues to welcome high quality applications in this area.
UKRI supports collaboration between Government funded bodies and private sector researchers across its councils and Innovate UK. This includes funding the LOCOME study led by Precision Life, through Innovate UK’s Advancing Precision Medicine programme, which supports the development of digital and data tools to improve diagnosis and treatment. MRC also enables academic-industry partnerships through its Industry Collaboration Framework.
UKRI does not typically maintain disease‑specific research strategies, instead providing open funding routes for the most impactful research across disciplines. Targeted work can be supported where needed. For example, in 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHCR), the Scottish Government and MRC funded the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership to identify ME/CFS research priorities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what mechanisms are in place to support collaboration between Government-funded bodies and private-sector researchers following the identification of multiple biological pathways implicated in ME by the LOCOME study.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), funds a broad portfolio of health research, including researcher led proposals using combinatorial genomic analysis. MRC has prioritised research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) for many years, investing over £4.65 million since 2020, and continues to welcome high quality applications in this area.
UKRI supports collaboration between Government funded bodies and private sector researchers across its councils and Innovate UK. This includes funding the LOCOME study led by Precision Life, through Innovate UK’s Advancing Precision Medicine programme, which supports the development of digital and data tools to improve diagnosis and treatment. MRC also enables academic-industry partnerships through its Industry Collaboration Framework.
UKRI does not typically maintain disease‑specific research strategies, instead providing open funding routes for the most impactful research across disciplines. Targeted work can be supported where needed. For example, in 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHCR), the Scottish Government and MRC funded the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership to identify ME/CFS research priorities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how he plans to update hon. Members on the progress of the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
The Secretaries of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are convening the first meeting of these stakeholder working groups on 16th July. Information relating to this group will be published on GOV.UK, which will include further details and a list of working group members.
The Government has also committed to set up a Parliamentary working group for members to engage with and feed views into this process.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made on the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
In line with debates in Parliament on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the Secretaries of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are convening the first meeting of these stakeholder working groups on 16th July. The Government will publish details and a list of working group members in due course.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how he plans to update industry stakeholders on the progress of the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
The Government is currently finalising plans for the stakeholder working groups and will publish information relating to this group on GOV.UK, which will include further details and a list of working group members.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
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 people in rural areas remain connected during the digital switch over.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The digital switchover is an industry led programme, but we do not want anyone to be excluded by virtue of the programme. That is why customers, including in rural communities, will not have their landlines migrated to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) without an available stable internet connection (VoIP only requires a minimum speed of 0.5mbps) and communication providers agreed a checklist of steps to protect vulnerable customers during the migration in November 2024. This includes landline dependent customers in rural communities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
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 help ensure the safety of young people on social media.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so that users benefit from its wide-reaching protections.
The Act requires all services in scope to take steps to protect users, including children, from illegal content and criminal behaviour. In addition, those likely to be accessed by children will also need to provide additional safety measures to protect them from harmful and age-inappropriate content.
Ofcom also has duty to promote media literacy to help the public understand the nature and impact of harmful content and online behaviour.