Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what research he has commissioned into distinguishing between goods produced in (a) the Occupied West Bank and (b) Green line Israel through scientific means.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

As I told the House and the Business and Trade Select Committee, we are actively considering a ban on trade with and from the illegal settlements, but we have not commissioned such research.

Goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements are not entitled to tariff preferences under the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement. To ensure goods were not produced in any non-eligible settlement, HMRC requires importers claiming preference to make a legal declaration stating the goods’ origin. Where HMRC is not satisfied that the requirements are met, preferential tariff is denied and proportionate compliance action is taken (warning letters first, followed by monetary civil penalties).

HMRC takes an intelligence-led approach to verify the origin of goods but does not provide specific details regarding checks, as it may serve to undermine enforcement and compliance activities.

The UK Government also encourages accurate labelling of goods to avoid misleading consumers and promote transparency.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to improve the delivery performance of first class letters in the North East region.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s quality of service has not been good enough.

Responsibility for improving local delivery performance lies with Royal Mail’s management. Royal Mail has published a quality of service improvement plan alongside a £500 million investment into frontline resourcing.

I have met with Royal Mail and Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to discuss concerns about delivery performance and will continue to make representations to ensure that customers receive the service they are entitled to.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much (i) her Department and (ii) its Arm’s Length Bodies have spent on (a) developing the Creative Content Exchange platform and (b) digitising content from partner organisations.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Creative Content Exchange (CCE) is funded by UKRI through its Missions Accelerator Programme. My Department has not directly contributed funding to the programme. An early version is already live online with a range of already digitised content.

Early adopters including partnering DCMS ALBs had the opportunity to apply for UKRI grant funding of up to £125,000 to support legal and technical aspects of making already digitised material available.

The Creative Content Exchange is in a pilot phase. The purpose of the pilot is to build an online solution and test the market for both content supply and demand from customers. The outcome of the pilot will determine how the Exchange is taken forward.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Creative Content Exchange will launch; how it will be funded; who will administer it; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Creative Content Exchange (CCE) is funded by UKRI through its Missions Accelerator Programme. My Department has not directly contributed funding to the programme. An early version is already live online with a range of already digitised content.

Early adopters including partnering DCMS ALBs had the opportunity to apply for UKRI grant funding of up to £125,000 to support legal and technical aspects of making already digitised material available.

The Creative Content Exchange is in a pilot phase. The purpose of the pilot is to build an online solution and test the market for both content supply and demand from customers. The outcome of the pilot will determine how the Exchange is taken forward.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a switch-off of terrestrial television on people's ability to watch television in the UK without a smart device.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is clear that no one should be left behind as television watching increasingly moves online. A core objective of the DCMS’s future of TV distribution work is to ensure that any transition is inclusive, and supports both the continued sustainability of the UK’s media ecosystem and the Government’s wider ambitions for digital inclusion. The Department recognises that some audiences may face challenges around affordability, connectivity, digital confidence or usability, and these issues are being carefully considered. As set out in the recent Media Green Paper ‘Watch this Space’ the Government expects an audience support package will be needed to help them move from Digital Terrestrial Television to TV watched over the internet smoothly and with confidence.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to support (a) Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (b) Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to become accredited as Living Wage Employers.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Individual National Health Service organisations are free to make local decisions to enhance pay and may choose, at their own discretion, to pursue Living Wage Employer accreditation. The Department does not have plans to provide direct support to foundation trusts to become accredited Living Wage Employers.

Following acceptance of the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation on headline pay for 2026/27, the Agenda for Change (AfC) entry hourly rate in England now sits 21p per hour above the National Living Wage.

Negotiations on reforms to the AfC pay structure are undertaken through the NHS Staff Council. We are working in partnership with them to agree changes in 2026/27, backdated to 1 April 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on NHS Workforce productivity and moral of the salaries of Band 2 and Band 3 NHS employees in the Agenda for Change being below the National Living Wage.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 12 February, we accepted the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendation on headline pay for Agenda for Change staff, which resulted in a 3.3% consolidated pay uplift to all pay points. Band 2 staff in England saw their minimum basic full time pay increase to over £25,200. As a result, their entry level hourly rate now sits approximately 21p per hour above the National Living Wage for 2026/27.

The Government amended the Low Pay Commission’s remit to ensure they included an assessment of the cost of living when making recommendations on minimum wage rates.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether companies that have breached UK copyright law are eligible for funds from the Sovereign AI Unit.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Sovereign AI Fund operates on a commercial basis and within the UK's existing legal framework. Companies supported through Sovereign AI undergo due diligence before receiving funds or other support and are expected to comply and to have previously complied with all applicable laws, including UK copyright law.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether (a) her Department and (b) its Arm’s Length Bodies have financially supported the development of any technical solutions to protect the creative industries from unauthorised AI scraping.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Department has not financially supported the development of any technical solutions to protect the creative industries from unauthorised AI scraping. The Government published a report on AI and copyright on 18 March outlining steps on the use of copyright works in AI training. This includes publishing a review of the mechanisms available for creators to control their works online.

Additionally, UK Research and Innovation funds various investments across Responsible AI development and adoption, including DECaDE: Centre for Decentralised Digital Economy. DECaDE undertook research across technologies to develop robust content fingerprinting, distributed provenance registries, and Trustmark, an open-source watermarking technology.

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 a) the US Cloud Act and b) the EU AI Act; and whether she has plans to bring forward similar legislation.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The UK’s starting point is relying on existing rules and regulations and empowering our regulators to consider how best to manage the opportunities and risks of AI. We continue to refine our approach to regulating AI and ensuring our law enforcement authorities have the powers they need to keep people safe. DSIT closely monitors international AI legislation from across the US, EU and elsewhere to ensure the UK’s regulatory approach remains suitable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his department spent on research into improving the (a) accessibility and (b) cost of dentistry in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health, and social care research and works in partnership with the National Health Service, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public, and has funded a range of investigative studies, including for dentistry. In the last 12 months, the Department, via the NIHR, has spent at least £9.1 million on many aspects of dental research including improving access for vulnerable populations and assessing the cost-effectiveness of preventative and workforce-led interventions. Further information about the awards can be found at the following link:

https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/?query=dentistry

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many robots are deployed in the armed forces and how much funding for robotic development has his department made available.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence does not have a single agreed definition of the term 'robot'. While we operate a wide variety of autonomous platforms, the Department's policy is not to publish detailed information on certain specific capabilities on the grounds of operational security.

I want to see greater use of drones and autonomous systems across our Armed Forces to enhance their lethality and survivability. The Defence Investment Plan includes measures to support this ambition.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2026 to Question 5917 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on regional productivity of this timescale.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The DFTO has developed the Business Case in accordance with Transport Appraisal Guidance, assessing the economic benefits that arise through improvements in rail passenger productivity and the likelihood of additional rail journeys. The DFTO’s assessment has been undertaken on an individual train operating company level.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of targeted wholesale discounts by Openreach on alternative network providers' investment in full-fibre infrastructure.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Ofcom, the independent regulator, is responsible for regulating the UK’s wholesale telecoms market. As part of this, it has powers to impose pricing remedies on Openreach to promote competition and protect consumers. The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications steers Ofcom to closely monitor Openreach’s commercial terms and pricing to ensure fair competition, whilst supporting investment, economic growth and the roll out of high-quality digital infrastructure. My department engages with Ofcom regularly on matters related to this market.

On 1 June 2026, Openreach notified Ofcom of its proposed wholesale offers. This was in accordance with Ofcom’s requirement for Openreach to provide at least 120 days’ notice of wholesale discounts. To inform its assessment of the offers, Ofcom has published a Call for Inputs to determine whether the discounts raise any competition concerns and is expected to reach a decision after the summer.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the potential impact of Openreach pricing on the Government’s strategic priorities for the telecoms sector.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Ofcom, the independent regulator, is responsible for regulating the UK’s wholesale telecoms market. As part of this, it has powers to impose pricing remedies on Openreach to promote competition and protect consumers. The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications steers Ofcom to closely monitor Openreach’s commercial terms and pricing to ensure fair competition, whilst supporting investment, economic growth and the roll out of high-quality digital infrastructure. My department engages with Ofcom regularly on matters related to this market.

On 1 June 2026, Openreach notified Ofcom of its proposed wholesale offers. This was in accordance with Ofcom’s requirement for Openreach to provide at least 120 days’ notice of wholesale discounts. To inform its assessment of the offers, Ofcom has published a Call for Inputs to determine whether the discounts raise any competition concerns and is expected to reach a decision after the summer.

Found: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Members present1 Chi Onwurah, in the Chair2 Emily Darlington George Freeman

Found: With best wishes, Dame Chi Onwurah MP Chair – Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Found: Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon Lord Murray of Blidworth Peter Swallow Sir Desmond Swayne Dame Chi Onwurah

Found: Technology 22-26 Whitehall London, SW1A 2EG www.gov.uk/dsit 6 July 2026 Dame Chi Onwurah

Found: Dear Dame Chi Onwurah, We are writing to provide a brief update following our previous correspondence

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; George Freeman

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; George Freeman

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; Maya Ellis

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Kit Malthouse; Freddie

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Kit Malthouse; Freddie

Found: Letter dates 14/07/2026 from Ian Murray MP to Chi Onwurah MP and Baroness Keeley regarding publication

Found: Letter dates 14/07/2026 from Ian Murray MP to Chi Onwurah MP and Baroness Keeley regarding publication

Found: Letter dates 14/07/2026 from Ian Murray MP to Chi Onwurah MP and Baroness Keeley regarding publication