Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will publish a breakdown of (a) average download speeds in megabits per second, (b) the level of availability of superfast broadband and (c) the level of availability of gigabit-capable broadband in each constituency in (i) England and (ii) Wales as of 21 October 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Information on connectivity on a constituency-by-constituency basis across the UK is available from the local broadband tracker on ThinkBroadband: https://labs.thinkbroadband.com
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his Department's budget for technical support services is for this financial year.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have interpreted this as Digital technical support services, which are in the order of £0.8m for DSIT.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate technical support during the life of the Service Desk contract.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of providing the Service Desk contract in-house.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, what assessment he has made of the value for money of the contract for re-procurement of the Service Desk.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many 4G masts funded by his Department have been constructed since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of the publicly funded element of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) we can confirm that 11 masts have been built or upgraded for the programme since 5 July 2024. These masts have already been activated and are delivering reliable 4G coverage, enabling rural businesses and communities to thrive.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will visit the UK Space Agency’s office in Scotland.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology will consider visiting the UK Space Agency’s Scotland office as and when his diary allows, and is committed to supporting the growth of the Scottish space sector. My Ministerial colleague, Lord Patrick Vallance, visited the UKSA’s office in Scotland this week (Wednesday 23 October).
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms's ministerial portfolio is supported by other Ministers in his Department.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All ministers in the department work as a team and support one another because we achieve far more by our common endeavour than we do by going it alone.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
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 merits of the implementation of AI technology for Government telecoms data.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of the UK Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.
The Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology, tasked Matt Clifford with developing an action plan to identify how AI can drive economic growth and deliver better outcomes for people across the country.
The government is supporting research on advanced communications via the £70m Future Telecoms Technology Missions Fund, delivered by UKRI. This includes research into AI for telecoms.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has met with the National Quantum Technologies Programme Strategic Advisory Board to discuss how to reduce the potential impact of regulation on the levels of innovation in the quantum sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department of Science and Innovation and Technology regularly consults the National Quantum Technologies Programme Strategic Advisory Board (SAB) on all aspects of the National Quantum Strategy, including regulation.
SAB members have advised on and inputted into the government response to the Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) report on quantum regulation.
Officials in my department have also consulted with a wide range of industry representatives from the quantum sector ahead of publication to ensure that the government’s regulatory strategy enables innovation in quantum.