Lord Nash

The Domestic and Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive schemes are administered by Ofgem on behalf of the government. Given the nature of the data requested, Ofgem will write to the noble Lord and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

The Domestic and Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive schemes are administered by Ofgem on behalf of the government. Given the nature of the data requested, Ofgem will write to the noble Lord and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

The Metering and Monitoring Service Package (MMSP) was designed to support participants and installers on the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive to understand how heating systems are working in specific households and not to serve as a compliance tool. This was an optional measure for participants and was demand driven with 11,255 packages available in total. Ofgem's published data indicates that 3,530 applications were approved as of September 2023, with information for the preceding years attached.

Ministers, aides and officials meet regularly with representatives of technology companies that provide social media or gaming platforms, including their trade bodies, to discuss issues within the department’s remit.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator for online safety, publishes information on its website about the enforcement action it takes, including details of the investigations it has opened into potential breaches of online safety duties. As a result of this work, Ofcom has exercised its powers to issue financial sanctions in several cases, with at least one regulated service having already paid its fine.

Since April 2018, £267.7m commitments have been made across 304 loans (including those approved and currently in execution). £221.2m in commitments are currently live across 248 loans, of which £191.9m is drawn. Under the terms of the loans with Innovate UK repayment of all of the loans in the current portfolio is due by 2033, with over half by 2028.

31 loans have already repaid in full, recovering £18.4m in capital. 16 defaulted loans with a combined outstanding exposure of £12.7m have completed the administration / recovery process, with £400k recovered and the remainder written-off. These write-offs occurred over following financial years as follows:

A further 59 loans are currently in default against their obligations. 40 of these (£28.3m total commitment) are subject to recovery action through legal recourse and administration; 19 (£12.5m commitment) are subject to restructuring within Innovate UK Loans Limited with a view to securing a realistic plan for repayment over time.

UKRI verifies co-investment commitments at several stages of the grant lifecycle. Verification processes are managed according to the terms and conditions of specific grant awards and vary depending on the size of the awards. For large co-investment commitments, UKRI engages third parties to conduct verification.

At the application stage, UKRI portfolio managers verify co-investment commitments as part of usual due diligence checks, with host research organisation also undertaking due diligence to confirm that information included in applications is accurate. For completed awards, grant holders are able to report actual co-investment values via the research outcomes process.

The co-investment figure of £1.3 billion provided in the 2023-24 UKRI Annual Report and Accounts reflects project partner contributions declared at the point of application.

Since April 2018, £267.7m commitments have been made across 304 loans (including those approved and currently in execution). £221.2m in commitments are currently live across 248 loans, of which £191.9m is drawn. Under the terms of the loans with Innovate UK repayment of all of the loans in the current portfolio is due by 2033, with over half by 2028.

31 loans have already repaid in full, recovering £18.4m in capital. 16 defaulted loans with a combined outstanding exposure of £12.7m have completed the administration / recovery process, with £400k recovered and the remainder written-off. These write-offs occurred over following financial years as follows:

A further 59 loans are currently in default against their obligations. 40 of these (£28.3m total commitment) are subject to recovery action through legal recourse and administration; 19 (£12.5m commitment) are subject to restructuring within Innovate UK Loans Limited with a view to securing a realistic plan for repayment over time.

The reprofiling of quality-related funding payments to higher education institutions in 2023-24 complied fully with DSIT’s departmental expenditure limit control rules and Consolidated Budgeting Guidance. No payments in advance of need were made and spending across the DSIT portfolio remained within departmental control totals despite the reprofile, which is designed to ensure effective utilisation of R&D budgets within and across financial years.

UKRI makes consolidated data returns to the Public Sector Fraud Authority covering identified, recovered and prevented fraud. The data requested is in the table below.

For individual cases, investigation, recovery, and prevention activities can extend over multiple financial years. Therefore, care should be taken when comparing data points across the table below. The data provided for the last financial year (2024/25) is provisional, and final figures will be published in UKRI’s 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts.

UKRI records confirmed cases of fraud and error; however, it has not historically produced estimates of fraud and error losses. The National Audit Office published good practice guidance in February 2025 on estimating and reporting fraud and error, and UKRI is drawing on this guidance to produce an estimate for 2024/25 that will be published in UKRI’s Annual Report and Accounts.

I refer the noble Lord to my answer to question HL7598 for data on UKRI fraud recovery.

UKRI employs a team of trained counter fraud investigators working alongside an external service provider. Where appropriate, UKRI will hand over internal investigations to relevant authorities where criminal justice powers are required.

The table below sets out the total number of cases referred to the police and other authorities for financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25.

The department recognises the growing use of education technology in schools and the importance of understanding its impact on pupil outcomes. Through the Technology in Schools Survey, we track the types of devices made available to pupils and the extent to which these are used in lessons. The department is currently launching programmes such as the National EdTech Testbed programme to build the evidence base on the impact of technology. We announced in January 2026 that the Testbed Programme has expanded, and we have now partnered with the Education Endowment Foundation to deliver the £24 million multi-year programme which will build an evidence pipeline, evaluating the impact of education technology and artificial intelligence in schools and colleges, and how it can be used effectively to support teachers, improve inclusion and strengthen educational outcomes. The department will continue to support schools to make evidence-informed decisions about the use of technology.

All schools and multi-academy trusts are responsible for selecting technology that meets their own educational needs, context and supports them in meeting statutory responsibilities.

Those choices should be informed, evidence-based decisions. To support schools, our EdTech Evidence Board programme set out a framework of advice and questions schools can ask EdTech suppliers to support evidence-based decisions. We are also in the process of setting up EdTech Testbed Programme to assess and generate evidence on the effectiveness and impact of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), in real education settings. Lastly, we are developing AI benchmarks as a way to test the effective product development of AI tools.

The department does not currently recommend, endorse or encourage any specific educational technology products for use in schools.

The department supports schools to make evidence-informed decisions about technology and trends in technology use in schools and colleges through the Technology in Schools Survey.

To consider the effectiveness of these technologies the department has a series of programmes underway, including the £24 million EdTech Testbed programme, which will generate stronger evidence on the impact of educational technology in real-world school and college settings. A pilot EdTech Evidence Board has also been established and uses independent expert panels to review evidence of the quality and impact of EdTech tools. Finally, artificial intelligence benchmarks are being developed as an independent way to assess the effective development of generative AI tools for education.

The department also works with the Education Endowment Foundation to support independent evaluations of EdTech use. Decisions about one-to-one devices and specific applications remain for schools and trusts, based on their pupils’ needs, infrastructure and teaching priorities.

The government has launched work to develop practical, evidence-based guidance on screen use for parents of young people aged 5 to 18, to be published this autumn.

The guidance will cover screen use across different aspects of young people's lives, including at home and in schools. It is being informed by a recent Call for Evidence and an independent expert group chaired by Professor Russell Viner and Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner. The expert group’s membership includes a broad range of academics and sector expertise, including Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer.

The department works closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, including on regular policy and evidence exchanges on the implications of screen-based devices and education technology for pupils. This includes drawing on medical and child development expertise, and wider evidence on children’s health, wellbeing and learning.

The department established expert arrangements to inform its work on screen use, including an expert group co-chaired by the Children’s Commissioner for England and Professor Russell Viner to support evidence-based guidance for children and families.

The department has also launched a Call for Evidence on screen use for children aged 5 to 18 and exploring how to support schools and families to make informed, evidence-based decisions about technology use.

Schools are expected to use technology in a safe, proportionate and purposeful way, alongside statutory safeguarding duties, filtering and monitoring requirements, and statutory guidance that schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy, and communication. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures, which will show the progress pupils in a school make from reception until the end of key stage 2.

RBA data is owned by the department. From the 2025/26 academic year, data from the assessment will be collected via the Standard and Testing Agency’s digital assessment platform, after which the data necessary to calculate school-level progress measures will be transferred to the National Pupil Database (NPD). This data will be stored in the NPD until the relevant cohort of pupils reaches the end of key stage 2. Some data and metadata will be used to support operational delivery of the assessment, for example to support helpdesk queries. The use of the data is governed by the RBA Privacy Notice which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-baseline-assessment-privacy-notice. RBA data is not available for commercial use.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures.

The department appointed Made Tech Ltd in September 2024 on a four year contract to provide digital and data capabilities with the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to continue to deliver and build its digital assessment platform, including in relation to the RBA. This followed an open procurement, in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 process, launched in spring 2024. As with all government contracts above a certain value threshold, the contract with Made Tech can be found on the contracts finder website and accessed here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/4723159e-e752-4658-8309-b2db3552d199?origin=SearchResults&p=1.

Additionally, the department has a contract with Made Tech for Technical Architecture Services. This can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/99cb71d8-8df0-498a-b5c2-9712472f8897?origin=SearchResults&p=2.

A copy of these contracts will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department does not have a central record of all conversations with Made Tech. The department manages the relationship with Made Tech following best practice in supplier management, based on Cabinet Office guidance.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures.

The department appointed Made Tech Ltd in September 2024 on a four year contract to provide digital and data capabilities with the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to continue to deliver and build its digital assessment platform, including in relation to the RBA. This followed an open procurement, in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 process, launched in spring 2024. As with all government contracts above a certain value threshold, the contract with Made Tech can be found on the contracts finder website and accessed here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/4723159e-e752-4658-8309-b2db3552d199?origin=SearchResults&p=1.

Additionally, the department has a contract with Made Tech for Technical Architecture Services. This can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/99cb71d8-8df0-498a-b5c2-9712472f8897?origin=SearchResults&p=2.

A copy of these contracts will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department does not have a central record of all conversations with Made Tech. The department manages the relationship with Made Tech following best practice in supplier management, based on Cabinet Office guidance.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures.

The department appointed Made Tech Ltd in September 2024 on a four year contract to provide digital and data capabilities with the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to continue to deliver and build its digital assessment platform, including in relation to the RBA. This followed an open procurement, in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 process, launched in spring 2024. As with all government contracts above a certain value threshold, the contract with Made Tech can be found on the contracts finder website and accessed here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/4723159e-e752-4658-8309-b2db3552d199?origin=SearchResults&p=1.

Additionally, the department has a contract with Made Tech for Technical Architecture Services. This can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/99cb71d8-8df0-498a-b5c2-9712472f8897?origin=SearchResults&p=2.

A copy of these contracts will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department does not have a central record of all conversations with Made Tech. The department manages the relationship with Made Tech following best practice in supplier management, based on Cabinet Office guidance.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication, administered by teachers with individual pupils. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures, which will show pupil progress from reception until the end of key stage 2. ​From September 2025, some digital elements will be included in the assessment, where the pupil can point or move items on a tablet or similar device. This will provide benefits including reduced workload for teachers and better support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, using the assessment’s built-in accessibility settings.

The digital elements of RBA have been in development since 2019, and subject to extensive trials with teachers and pupils using the standards and testing agency’s internationally recognised assessment development approach. This has included item validation trials in 2020, 2021 and 2023 involving 2,801 pupils across 277 schools, and a technical pre-test trial in 2022 where 2,406 assessments were completed across a nationally representative sample of 254 schools. In November and December 2024 a voluntary trial involving over 1,000 schools took place, and participating schools undertook key activities needed to administer the assessment, including completing a sample assessment with three pupils. Input from the trials and extensive review by early years experts and teachers, has helped shape the content and the digital platform to meet the needs of schools and pupils.

The revised RBA will remain interactive and play-based and retain the use of small toys and verbal responses for other questions. Pupils can respond verbally to on-screen questions if they do not wish to interact with the screen and a paper-based alternative is available where, this is more suitable for the pupil. One moving image is included in the assessment, but this can be made static by the teacher where this is more appropriate for the pupil.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication, administered by teachers with individual pupils. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures, which will show pupil progress from reception until the end of key stage 2. ​From September 2025, some digital elements will be included in the assessment, where the pupil can point or move items on a tablet or similar device. This will provide benefits including reduced workload for teachers and better support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, using the assessment’s built-in accessibility settings.

The digital elements of RBA have been in development since 2019, and subject to extensive trials with teachers and pupils using the standards and testing agency’s internationally recognised assessment development approach. This has included item validation trials in 2020, 2021 and 2023 involving 2,801 pupils across 277 schools, and a technical pre-test trial in 2022 where 2,406 assessments were completed across a nationally representative sample of 254 schools. In November and December 2024 a voluntary trial involving over 1,000 schools took place, and participating schools undertook key activities needed to administer the assessment, including completing a sample assessment with three pupils. Input from the trials and extensive review by early years experts and teachers, has helped shape the content and the digital platform to meet the needs of schools and pupils.

The revised RBA will remain interactive and play-based and retain the use of small toys and verbal responses for other questions. Pupils can respond verbally to on-screen questions if they do not wish to interact with the screen and a paper-based alternative is available where, this is more suitable for the pupil. One moving image is included in the assessment, but this can be made static by the teacher where this is more appropriate for the pupil.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication, administered by teachers with individual pupils. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures, which will show pupil progress from reception until the end of key stage 2. ​From September 2025, some digital elements will be included in the assessment, where the pupil can point or move items on a tablet or similar device. This will provide benefits including reduced workload for teachers and better support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, using the assessment’s built-in accessibility settings.

The digital elements of RBA have been in development since 2019, and subject to extensive trials with teachers and pupils using the standards and testing agency’s internationally recognised assessment development approach. This has included item validation trials in 2020, 2021 and 2023 involving 2,801 pupils across 277 schools, and a technical pre-test trial in 2022 where 2,406 assessments were completed across a nationally representative sample of 254 schools. In November and December 2024 a voluntary trial involving over 1,000 schools took place, and participating schools undertook key activities needed to administer the assessment, including completing a sample assessment with three pupils. Input from the trials and extensive review by early years experts and teachers, has helped shape the content and the digital platform to meet the needs of schools and pupils.

The revised RBA will remain interactive and play-based and retain the use of small toys and verbal responses for other questions. Pupils can respond verbally to on-screen questions if they do not wish to interact with the screen and a paper-based alternative is available where, this is more suitable for the pupil. One moving image is included in the assessment, but this can be made static by the teacher where this is more appropriate for the pupil.