Julia Lopez

The Government Internal Audit Agency sits within HM Treasury. The Procurement Review Unit (PRU) sits within Cabinet Office and is responsible for the new oversight powers introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) (which commenced on 24 February 2025) which governs the award of public contracts. The PRU has not received a referral to investigate contracts awarded to Public Digital.

8 Suppliers were invited to bid for the work order through Bloom Procurement Services Ltd and all 8 of the suppliers were directly nominated.

We have secured the first and only deal with the US that delivers zero percent tariffs on pharmaceutical products – the lowest rate offered to any country.

It delivers mitigations on the US’ ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy and preferential terms for UK medtech exports – helping expand access to innovative treatments for patients and driving crucial investment in the UK.

The UK and the US have confirmed the headline terms of this deal. Further work to finalise underpinning details is ongoing.

The US has committed to ensuring that access to medicines and launches of new innovative medicines in the UK are not inadvertently impacted by the US’s ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy, thereby reducing the risk to the UK where the NHS has managed to secure lower prices for medicines.

Further work to finalise underpinning details is ongoing.

In July 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its final report on the UK cloud market. The key recommendation was for the CMA Board to prioritise commencing investigations under the digital markets regime and to consider designating the two largest providers —Microsoft and AWS — with strategic market status in relation to cloud services. The CMA is independent of Government and any decisions on initiating strategic market status investigations are for the CMA Board.

The Chancellor and Secretary of State wrote on 20 October to the British Business Bank, setting the Bank’s strategic priorities over the next five years. These include an objective to “support our most promising businesses in the Industrial Strategy priority sectors to scale and stay here.”

The letter notes “Through a two-thirds increase in its annual investments, the Bank will crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital with a particular focus on ensuring that our most promising scale-up businesses can access the capital they need to realise their ambitions here in the UK.”

The full text is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-strategic-priorities-to-the-british-business-bank

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments and provides analysis of the potential sectoral impacts of the Bill, including the retail sector.

UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) AI Research and Innovation Strategic Framework, published on 19 February 2026, sets out six priority action areas and associated outcomes to 2031.

UKRI will measure progress through the framework’s delivery plan, which it will publish and update regularly, and through its existing performance framework, including a quarterly, balanced scorecard and annual review. In line with UKRI’s commitment to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth, DSIT will work closely with UKRI to ensure that metrics include how the department is contributing to growth, the UK Industrial Strategy and other government priorities. Parliament will be updated through the normal accountability routes, including UKRI’s Annual Report and Accounts, which will be laid in Parliament, and responses to Parliamentary Questions.

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).

Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).

The UK Government has signed AI-related Memorandums of Understanding with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, NVIDIA, Cohere and Anthropic. All of these firms have significant office presence or headquarters in the UK, and many are expanding here. For example, in February 2025 OpenAI announced it is significantly expanding its presence in London, establishing the city as its largest research hub outside the United States. Google DeepMind is also opening its first automated research lab in the UK this year.

To ensure UK-based AI firms have equitable access to government procurement, DSIT has developed an AI Commercial Strategy. This provides a clear model for sourcing AI solutions, enabling government teams to select the most effective route for each need, while using mechanisms that encourage experimentation and support UK SMEs and startups.

Our Incubator for AI is also working across government to explore how AI can transform public services. Starting with planning and education, these projects combine political backing, government AI engineering capability, the agility of DSIT's commercial innovation hub, and departmental expertise to bring frontier AI into government and redesign services around citizens' needs.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner, and we are committed to ensuring that bond delivers real benefits for hardworking people on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the Prime Minister has stated, we are in daily contact with all the key figures in the US administration. We continue to have regular discussions with the US administration on resuming work on the Technology Prosperity Deal and to shape the emerging technologies of the future. This includes discussions on future governance and delivery timelines for the joint initiatives under the Deal.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner, and we are committed to ensuring that bond delivers real benefits for hardworking people on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the Prime Minister has stated, we are in daily contact with all the key figures in the US administration. We continue to have regular discussions with the US administration on resuming work on the Technology Prosperity Deal and to shape the emerging technologies of the future. This includes discussions on future governance and delivery timelines for the joint initiatives under the Deal.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner, and we are committed to ensuring that bond delivers real benefits for hardworking people on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the Prime Minister has stated, we are in daily contact with all the key figures in the US administration. Alongside Cabinet colleagues, we continue to have regular discussions with the US administration, including on resuming work on the Technology Prosperity Deal and continue shaping the emerging technologies of the future.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner, and we are committed to ensuring that bond delivers real benefits for hardworking people on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the Prime Minister has stated, we are in daily contact with all the key figures in the US administration. Alongside Cabinet colleagues, we continue to have regular discussions with the US administration, including on resuming work on the Technology Prosperity Deal and continue shaping the emerging technologies of the future.

The Secretary of State has regular engagement with relevant colleagues on the UK business environment for life sciences sector, to drive the growth of the sector and support the delivery of the Life Sciences Sector Plan.

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology regularly engages with representatives of the life sciences sector. The issue of the application of VAT on medicines supplied free-of-charge via Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) and other compassionate access schemes has been raised with Ministers.

Application of VAT is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the supply. This includes medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS.

In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.

As per the commitment made in the Written Ministerial Statement on 21 July 2025, on 15 December 2025 the Department made regulations implementing Sections 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 and published its response to the consultation which ran earlier this year.

The regulations will come into force on 7 April 2026.

As per the commitment made in the Written Ministerial Statement on 21 July 2025, on 15 December 2025 the Department made regulations implementing Sections 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 and published its response to the consultation which ran earlier this year.

The regulations will come into force on 7 April 2026.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 24 November to UIN 92927. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) continues to monitor systemic risks to UK critical national infrastructure from reliance on cloud providers, including resilience measures and contingency planning following recent service outages.

The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) has completed three Strategic Market Status investigations this year. The CMA is independent of the Government and decisions on which markets to investigate are for its Board. The CMA has published guidance on its website on how it will prioritise Strategic Market Status designations.

The Government is committed to supporting a competitive and innovative digital economy. This is why we prioritised the commencement and implementation of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (the CMA) new powers in digital markets. The CMA is independent of Government, and any decisions on which markets it next investigates is for their Board.

DSIT delivers specific policy interventions to unlock growth investment for UK science and technology firms, as well as contributing deep science and technology expertise to initiatives led by others, such as the British Business Bank’s £4bn Industrial Strategy Growth Capital Fund. A second cohort of Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellows will commence training in November, receiving specialist training overseen by DSIT to enable them to launch deep-tech venture capital funds. And, DSIT sponsors the National Security Strategic Investment Fund’s investment arm, making direct investments into companies developing strategically-important dual-use technologies, with increased funding up to £330m for 2026-30.

The DSIT Secretary of State has not met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss this particular matter.

There has been no recent law or policy change in this area.

Application of VAT is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on specific details of the nature of the supplies. This includes medicines or treatments provided for free under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS). In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement [made by the former Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms], we intend to implement the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Subject to considering the consultation responses, we intend to finalise s61-64 of the Act, relating to renewal agreements, by the end of the year.

The Honourable Member can consult FOI2024-00289, Annex F.

If the Honourable Member consults Contracts Finder, she will see that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not awarded any new contracts to Public Digital since 4 July 2024.

No payments have been made by the Department to Public Digital. Payments were made by the Cabinet Office for a pre-existing contract which was inherited mid-contract by DSIT in the Machinery of Government change. Further details can be found on Contract Finder.

The Director General, Digital Centre Design was appointed in line with Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The Civil Service Commission was provided with the relevant background information requested, including Ms Middleton’s full employment history, when approving this temporary appointment. This included Ms Middleton’s CV where the reference to the secondment was made. This text was released in FOI2024-00256 Internal Review.

The Propriety and Ethics team were contacted about Ms Middleton’s previous employment on 10 July 2024, this is shown in FOI2024-00289, Annex D.

As per released documentation, in FOI2024-00256-Annex E Ms Middleton’s appointment was approved for two years, until 15 July 2026.

Public Digital did not provide any advice to DSIT on the merits of the Machinery of Government (MoG) change.

The biography is in line with GDS guidance and contains an appropriate level of detail, similar to others in similar roles in government. Emily’s appointment is well documented and in the public domain.

Ms Middleton was appointed under Exemption 1 of the recruitment principles on the basis of immediate need and with the required specialist skills to meet government priorities. The priority role was required off the back of Machinery of Government changes, with a key requirement to develop the scope and design of the new digital centre of government, including its overall strategy and blueprint for delivering a modern digital government. This case for exceptional appointment was set out in the request for Civil Service Commission approval, which was released on 24 September 2024 (FOI 2024/00289) as Annex A and agreement for this to be pursued under exception 1 can be found in annex C.