Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the broadband provider BRSK has recently contacted her Department regarding a customer data breach.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
BRSK has not recently contacted my department regarding a customer data breach. I understand BRSK has reported a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent regulator for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
Under PECR, public electronic communications service providers are required to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the security of their services. They are required to notify the ICO of any personal data breach without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of the breach.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to monitor and report on its progress towards phasing out animal testing; and whether industry stakeholders will be involved in assessing the effectiveness of the strategy once implemented.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will establish governance structures to oversee strategy delivery, including a cross-governmental Ministerial group on alternative methods, chaired by the Science Minister, key performance indicators (KPIs) and a publicly available dashboard of progress against the strategy’s key deliverables. From 2026 we will also report biennially on updated research and development priorities, alternative methods accepted by regulatory agency and priorities for future development and validation.
We will work closely with experts from across many fields including regulators, academics, industry and civil society organisations, to ensure that this strategy remains up to date, focused on the key issues and delivers on track.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Government has made of the feasibility of replacing animal testing in the UK with Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs); and if this will be reflected in the upcoming strategy to phase out animal testing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield to the answer of 01.12.2025 to Question 92600.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merit of redirecting existing funding and resources to support the transition to Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to support the phasing out of animal testing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” is supported by new funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology including £30 million to set up a translational hub and £30 million for the UK centre for the validation of alternative methods.
£11.4m has also been committed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Innovate UK’s core budgets and £4.5m from the Wellcome Trust to support strategy implementation to build a world-class UK research system by enhancing investment.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 potential impact of the recent 5CA data breach on protecting consumers online.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the UK's independent regulator for data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for monitoring compliance with the UK's data protection legislation and investigating complaints regarding breaches of the legislation. The ICO is investigating a data breach following a report by Discord.
The ICO provides guidance for the public on data protection on its website. Anyone concerned about the impact of the breach could also contact the ICO for further advice, by telephone on 0303 123 1113 and through its website: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/.
Businesses can help prevent data breaches by improving their cyber resilience using the guidance and tools on offer from the government. This includes the new Cyber Action Toolkit for small businesses, the highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme which prevents common cyber-attacks, and the Cyber Governance Code of Practice to help boards and directors manage digital risks.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the (a) total and (b) per capita public expenditure on life sciences was in each of the last five years by region.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Public expenditure on life sciences is funded by various public organisations. The Government does not aggregate data from these organisations regarding their total, regional and per capita expenditure.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department.
Answered by Feryal Clark
DSIT and its agencies do not hold any information on contracts with BFS Group Limited and its subsidiary companies.