Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the decision by OpenAI to pause its Stargate UK investment on the AI Growth Zone in the North East of England, and what action her Department is taking to maintain confidence among international investors in the region.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since the announcement of the North East AI Growth Zone, there has been no change to energy pricing or the regulatory environment in the UK. We engage regularly with developers and other stakeholders for the North East AI Growth Zone and are encouraged that Cobalt Park are in discussions with a number of alternative offtake customers. The success of the AI Growth Zones programme is not contingent on any single investor. Five AIGZs have been designated with the potential to deliver £28 billion of investment from a diverse range of developers.
The Government is delivering an ambitious policy package to support build-out of AI infrastructure in the UK. DSIT will set up a dedicated AI Growth Zone Delivery Unit providing a single point of contact for investors, accelerated planning and grid connection support, long-term business rates retention for host local authorities, and targeted energy pricing support.
We are continuing to create the right conditions for investment in the UK’s AI and data centre infrastructure work with leading AI companies to strengthen UK compute capacity.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the 2026–27 police funding settlement in enabling Northumbria Police to bring officer numbers remain back to pre-2010 levels; and how many police forces in England and Wales will have officer numbers above pre-2010 levels at the end of 2026-27.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this. That is why forces should have the right resources to tackle crime and keep communities safe.
Through the police funding settlement, a total of £442.4 million will be available to Northumbria Police in 2026/27, an increase of £20.2 million compared to 2025/26. This represents a 4.8% cash increase.
We are focused on what police officers are doing, rather than achieving arbitrary officer headcount targets and are putting officers where people want to see them.
We have scrapped arbitrary officer headcounts, which has led to forces hiring officers and, in some cases, putting them in back-office roles. Some 12,000 warranted police officers are now working in support roles across England and Wales. We are instead focussed on putting 13,000 additional policing personnel in neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. By February 2026, we had delivered more than 3,100 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles. (Growth under the Neighbourhood Policing Programme, as at 28 February 2026: management information - GOV.UK)
We are also expanding police use of AI and automation technologies. In the Police Reform White Paper we announced £115m over the next three years, led by the creation of “Police AI”, a new national centre for AI in policing focused on supporting police forces rapidly but responsibly use AI to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, resulting in better public safety outcomes for local communities. Taken together this investment package is expected to free up at least 3,000 FTE (or 6 million officer hours) a year by 2028/29.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what role science diplomacy plays in the Government’s strategy for achieving UK technology sovereignty; and whether the UK intends to pursue shared leadership arrangements with international partners where appropriate.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Science diplomacy plays an important role in building UK technology sovereignty through international partnerships with partners which strengthen our shared capabilities, resilience and security.
Our Science & Technology Network, covering 65 locations, is a core pillar of the UK’s science diplomacy toolkit, which aims to develop and strengthen our partnership with international partners.
We have science and technology partnerships with a broad range of countries including the US and EU, Japan, India, South Korea, Switzerland, France and Germany. We are also active members of multilateral fora including OECD, G7 and G20. These partnerships are part of helping us ensure sovereign strengths and strengths through stable collaboration.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the British Business Bank on supporting access to capital for women‑led and ethnic minority‑led businesses.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank has numerous new and successful programmes to support access to capital for underrepresented groups, including:
The Bank is also a founding signatory to the Investing in Women Code.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional distribution of venture capital investment; and what steps she is taking to increase investment flows to the North East.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The number of equity deals in the North East increased 8.6% year on year in 2024, to 63 deals. Comparatively, London’s dominance of the UK equity market reduced slightly in 2024, with the share of deals in the capital dropping from 50.8% to 47.1% year-on-year, while the proportion of investment was 61.2% in 2024 – a reduction from 61.9% in the previous year, and from 73.3% in 2020.
The Government is addressing regional disparities in access to finance through the Nations and Regions Investment Funds, with businesses in the North East eligible for debt and equity finance from the £660 million Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
North East businesses are also set to benefit from the British Business Bank’s Cluster Champions programme, which will help strengthen financial networks and connect high-potential firms in the eight Industrial Strategy priority sectors to investors, while also providing an additional £100 million of investment.
We have also expanded the Regional Angels Programme, helping improve access to early-stage equity across the UK.