Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many (a) full-time and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed by the National Security and Online Information Team.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Previous (but not quite the same question) 16125-6 Dan Jarvis - NSOIT staffing & Publication.docx
Also see response to similar question answered by Minister Clark
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households that do not have internet access in (a) South Holland and The Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 93% of premises in the South Holland and The Deepings constituency have access to superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and 69% can access a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) connection. In Lincolnshire, 95% of premises have access to superfast broadband speeds and 72% can access a gigabit-capable connection.
Approximately 2.8% of premises in South Holland and The Deepings and 2.6% of premises in Lincolnshire cannot access a decent broadband connection, defined by the Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) as less than 10Mbps.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost-benefit return of the projected Edinburgh supercomputer.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The exascale project was announced at the March Budget 2023, but no new funding was allocated for it. Future investment decisions will be informed by a long term plan and subject to business case approvals. We will provide further updates in due course.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 help improve mobile phone coverage in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving mobile coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s most recent coverage data for the constituency of South Holland and The Deepings shows 94% 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators and that 5G is available from at least one mobile network operator outside 79% of premises, and our ambition is for nationwide coverage by 2030.
I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks at a local level, and I am intent on ensuring Ofcom takes all necessary steps to improve the accuracy of its coverage data.
Alongside this, the Government intends to reform the planning system in a way that will make it easier to build digital infrastructure.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether Ministers in his Department met representatives of X in 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a range of platforms, including X. Details of Ministerial meetings are published on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to monitor and remove harmful online deepfake material.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media are captured by the Online Safety Act where they constitute user generated content that is illegal content, or content which is harmful to children. Category 1 services will also need to remove content, including deepfake content, which they prohibit in their terms of service.
The Government is also taking steps to empower users with the skills they need to engage critically with online content and make informed decisions. Media literacy is a key tool to build citizens’ resilience to misinformation, disinformation and AI-generated deepfakes.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 help align UK Research and Innovation priorities with Government priorities.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
As the UK’s largest funder of research and innovation, UKRI is central to delivering the objectives the government set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework, including across our portfolio of five critical technologies. UKRI is investing £250 million in Technology Missions to enable new and existing capabilities and capacity in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and engineering biology, with a further £70 million announced to support future telecommunications. On levelling up, UKRI is helping to deliver our ambition to raise domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East, through its £100 million Innovation Accelerators programme. Furthermore, through UKRI’s declaration on support businesses to grow and scale, they will simplify and expand their support for innovative firms, aiming to reach a million innovators by the end of the year and halve the average time it takes companies to go from application to receiving grant funding.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of (a) cars and (b) other vehicles used by her Department were made in Britain.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government Car service (GCS) provides vehicles to a number of Government departments. Due to logistical and operational reasons the type of vehicles deployed at each department can vary on a daily or weekly basis. The GCS fleet currently has 122 vehicles, 58 (48%) of which are vehicles made in Britain.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Department is onboarded to the Government Property Agency (GPA). GPA is the landlord or building manager at the Department’s office occupations, where the space is often shared with several other tenant organisations. The Department buys catering services, or a share of, direct from GPA alongside all other building services.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) BT and (b) Ofcom on the adequacy of provision of public phone boxes in rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ofcom, the UK’s independent telecommunications regulator, is responsible for the regulation of public call boxes (PCBs). Under the telephony universal service obligation (USO), providers such as BT, are required to provide telephony services throughout the UK, including PCBs. BT is required to ensure the adequate provision, repair and maintenance of PCBs. Ofcom’s rules and regulations regarding PCBs can be found on Ofcom’s website.
As Ofcom is responsible for monitoring this requirement of telecoms companies, DSIT has not had recent discussions on this matter.