Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in protecting children in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act requires services to protect children in the UK from both illegal and age-inappropriate content. These protections are now in force, as of 25 July, children in Northern Ireland should be seeing a tangible difference in their online experiences.
Ofcom are already taking robust action against non-compliant services failing to fulfil their duties. Since the children’s safety duties have been in force, over 6,000 services have implemented highly effective age assurance to prevent children seeing the most harmful online content; improving protections for millions of children online.
We will continue to monitor the Act’s effectiveness and will not hesitate to take further action to protect children online if evidence shows this is necessary.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that rural areas in Northern Ireland have equitable access to 5G and next-generation broadband.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government wants all areas of the UK, including rural areas in Northern Ireland, to benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile coverage, and this is reflected in our ambition for all populated areas of the UK to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030.
My department continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to deliver on this ambition, ensuring the investment committed by operators delivers benefits to such communities, including by removing barriers to deployment where they exist and it is practical to do so.
Regarding next-generation broadband access, Project Stratum received £199 million of UK government funding and delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland. This project, delivered by Fibrus, completed delivery in June 2025.
The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage predominantly targeting rural and hard to reach areas.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support her Department provides to small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Ireland to improve their cybersecurity resilience.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many SMEs lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help SMEs implement cyber security measures, including the recently launched Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice.
NCSC-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms, including in Northern Ireland, and SMEs are eligible for a free 30- minute consultation. Additionally, the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks. We recently completed a funding programme across the UK, which included supporting 170 organisations in Northern Ireland to get certified to the scheme.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 AI technologies on early cancer detection.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). UKRI and NIHR support research which explores the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis, including the NIHR £11 million Edith trial (using AI to assist radiologists in breast cancer screening). AI presents significant opportunities for improving outcomes and diagnosis for cancer patients and driving faster triage of patients with suspected symptoms. Evaluations of the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis are ongoing.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to increase investment in digital connectivity and broadband infrastructure in rural Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the independent website, ThinkBroadband.com, 97% of premises in Northern Ireland already have access to gigabit-capable broadband. This is the highest of any of the four UK nations.
Project Stratum, which has had £199 million of UK government funding, completed delivery in June 2025. This delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland that previously did not have access to superfast broadband.
The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage. This will predominantly target rural and hard to reach areas.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress his Department has made on the implementation of the UK National Quantum Strategy.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Over the past year, we’ve taken major steps to support the quantum sector and deliver on the UK’s National Quantum Missions. This includes launching new research hubs, opening the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), and funding research projects through Innovate UK.
We are strengthening international collaboration through initiatives like NMI-Q (announced at the G7) to advance global standards in quantum technologies.
Last month, we announced £670 million in quantum computing investment as part of the Industrial Strategy—including over £500 million for the Quantum Computing Mission and 10-year funding for the NQCC.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 effective coordination between Government departments to tackle (a) the spread of child sexual abuse (i) material and (ii) harmful algorithms and (b) other online harms to children.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Government departments work together on a range of online safety matters, with child online safety and wellbeing being a particular priority.
The Online Safety Act gives user-to-user and search services new duties to safeguard children from illegal content and activity, including child sexual abuse material and harmful content. Platforms’ duties to tackle illegal content began in March.
The child safety duties will be fully in force from 25 July and require providers to establish significant protections for children, including requiring services to consider how algorithms and recommender systems impact children’s exposure to both illegal and harmful content.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 improve cyber resilience among (a) small businesses and (b) local authorities in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Cyber security is a priority for the government. We are taking action to protect businesses, citizens and essential services against cyber threats. The forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will improve the UK’s cyber defences and ensure there are robust levels of cyber security in the digital services and infrastructure which small businesses and local authorities rely upon.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offers a range of free guidance, training and tools to help small businesses improve their cyber resilience, including the Cyber Action Plan, Small Business Guide and Check Your Cyber Security Tool. The government’s highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme is available to help small businesses and local authorities get good technical measures in place which prevent common cyber attacks. Local authorities can use the Cyber Governance Code of Practice to manage their digital risks. The Northern Ireland Cyber Security Centre (NICSC), part of the Department of Finance, works in close partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to advance a variety of cyber initiatives aimed at strengthening cyber resilience among small businesses and local authorities across Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has held meetings with the Northern Ireland Space Office on the level of support for the region’s space sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has not held meetings with the Northern Ireland Space Office on this topic, however regional growth is key to this Government's growth mission. Regional growth programmes, including for Northern Ireland, are therefore a priority for this Government.
The UK Space Agency works closely with the Northern Ireland Space Office to support the development of the region's space sector. Northern Ireland Space Office is a delivery partner of the Ecosystem Development Programme, which promotes regional strengths, attracts investment, and manages the local space cluster.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has held discussions with the UK Space Agency on helping to support the development of Northern Ireland’s space ecosystem.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has not held specific discussions with the UK Space Agency on Northern Ireland's space ecosystem, however Ministers receive advice from officials as required on a wide range of topics, including regional growth.
The UK Space Agency supports regional growth, including in Northern Ireland, as a priority. UKSA has supported the Northern Ireland's space ecosystem through the Unlocking Space for Government programme, by funding a Northern Ireland-led project to explore how satellite data can improve public services in health, infrastructure, and the environment. UKSA has also delivered two Small Business Research Initiatives in partnership with Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) focused on detecting harmful algal blooms using satellite technology.