Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of AI automation on government consultancy spending.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s assessment has focused on how artificial intelligence can improve civil service roles, productivity and service delivery, including by automating routine tasks and supporting use of departmental capability. This work is being taken forward alongside controls on consultancy spending and wider reforms to strengthen efficiency and value for money.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 through the Industrial Strategy's research and development missions to expand innovation capacity in regional manufacturing hubs.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government is delivering the Industrial Strategy by directing billions of pounds into high-growth, strategic sectors, such as advanced manufacturing - bridging the gap between university research and commercial scaling.
The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan launched by the Department of Business and Trade last year planned R&D investment of up to £2.8 billion for innovation, over 5-years. UKRI will invest £1.34 billion over this Spending Review period through their advanced manufacturing programme.
Through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, we are investing £500m across 17 regions across the UK to grow their high-potential innovation clusters. This includes supporting advanced manufacturing capabilities in places like the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, and the East Midlands.
Additionally, the government's Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF) – launched in October 2024 and consisting of up to £520m – is providing grant support to medicines and medical devices manufacturing projects across the country, incentivising investment and creating high-quality jobs. Of the 8 projects supported by LSIMF to date, 6 are outside London and the South East.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on aligning AI-driven electricity demand forecasts with available grid capacity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology engages regularly with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to ensure the UK energy system supports growing digital and AI‑driven demand. The Government recognises that rapid growth in AI and data centre infrastructure, driven in part by energy‑intensive computing, is increasing current and future electricity demand, and is taking steps to manage this appropriately.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking through the Data and AI Ethics Framework to ensure the transparency and accuracy of generative AI in the drafting of ministerial advice.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Data and AI Ethics Framework provides detailed guidance and a self-assessment for government and public sector teams on how to use data and data-driven technologies responsibly. It bridges the gap between high-level ethical principles and practical actions, considering themes such as transparency, accountability, fairness, societal impact, security and privacy through an ethical lens. It does not replace technical or regulatory guidance in these areas, but instead complements and connects to them.
The AI Knowledge Hub is more relevant to the use of generative AI for the drafting of ministerial advice. Launched in May 2025 in response to a commitment in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, it helps UK government departments make better use of available tools through curated, sector-specific prompts and practical use cases. This includes guidance on prompting for creating draft Ministerial Submissions and states that officials must read through the suggested draft to make sure the answers are accurate and relevant to their policy work, as well as checking that all sources are verified.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 impact of the Sovereign AI Fund on reducing UK reliance on overseas AI infrastructure.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Sovereign AI Fund is designed to strengthen the UK’s capability in strategically important parts of the AI value chain, including compute and infrastructure. Backed by around £500 million, it combines equity investment, access to public compute, R&D funding, procurement pathways, talent support and wider government support to help strategically significant AI companies start, scale and remain anchored in the UK.
The Fund does not seek total self-sufficiency or to turn away from trusted international partners. Its purpose is to increase UK resilience, choice and influence in a global AI economy. Since launching in April, the Fund has already announced 3 direct equity investments in Callosum, Ineffable Intelligence, and Isomorphic Labs, as well as 6 more compute offers. The Fund complements wider Government action to expand public compute and AI infrastructure.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 requiring platforms to detect and label AI-generated content.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act takes a proportionate approach to this issue by requiring in-scope services to tackle the most harmful content that is illegal or harmful to children, including where it is AI-generated.
The Government will conduct a full statutory post-implementation review to assess effectiveness expected between 2028 and 2031, once the regime is fully in force. We continue to explore technical solutions to support transparency of AI-generated content, including through the Deepfake Detection Challenge. We will also establish an AI Labelling Taskforce, to put forward proposals on best practice for labelling AI-generated content, and will publish an interim report in autumn.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 adequacy of progress toward achieving 99% gigabit accessibility in the West Midlands region by 2032.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through a combination of commercial market and government subsidised delivery, government is making good progress towards our gigabit coverage target.
Based on Ofcom’s Connected Nations reporting for gigabit coverage in the West Midlands, as of January 2026, 90.2% of West Midlands premises had access to gigabit-capable broadband, which is up from 89.2% in July 2025 and is above the UK gigabit coverage average of 88%. The figures have been calculated by summing the total number of premises and gigabit-capable premises in the 30 local and unitary authorities in the West Midlands region.
Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. Delivery across the West Midlands is primarily being taken forward through several Project Gigabit contracts, including those covering Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire, alongside wider cross-regional interventions to reach remaining premises.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate her Department has made of the compliance costs for small and medium-sized enterprises resulting from the audit and assurance requirements in the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Impact Assessment of the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill considers the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises. This is available on gov.uk.
The Bill is also explicit that small and micro-sized managed or digital service providers are exempt from being designated as Regulated Managed or Digital Service Providers and can only be regulated if they are designated as critical suppliers, for which there will be a high bar for designation. This is by design, to ensure proportionality.
The government will take a proportionate approach to implementation, including the design of the secondary legislation, which will be consulted on and impact assessed. Small organisations will be able to respond to the consultation, and we welcome their views on these matters. This will be followed by an implementation period and guidance from government and regulators.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the resources required for essential service providers to comply with the mandatory incident reporting requirements of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Impact Assessment of the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill provides estimates of the additional costs for businesses that will be impacted by the Bill and is available on GOV.UK.
The government is developing further detail on how the incident reporting regime will operate in future implementation proposals and will continue to work closely with regulators and industry to identify opportunities for the streamlining the reporting process. This will support organisations in meeting the improved incident reporting requirements and other duties.
The Bill will require regulators to publish sector-specific guidance to regulated entities to support compliance and address sectoral nuances.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will set out what support is available to small businesses to strengthen cybersecurity to prevent economic disruption.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Improving the cyber security of our nation's small businesses is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many small businesses 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 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) implement cyber security measures, including the Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice on protecting their business.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms 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 and provides them with free insurance. All of this information is available on the NCSC website.
More broadly across government, the Home Office funds a network of Cyber Resilience Centres which provide free resources, guidance and training to SMEs to strengthen their cyber security.