Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many businesses Ofcom regulated (a) as of 20 May 2024 and (b) in 2016.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The government does not actively monitor how many businesses Ofcom are regulating. It is also not possible for Ofcom to provide an exact number for how many businesses it is currently regulating or regulated in 2016, as many of the companies that Ofcom regulates across a range of sectors are done so via general authorisation and notification regimes.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many businesses the Information Commissioner’s Office regulated (a) as of 20 May 2024 and (b) in 2016.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, individuals and organisations that process personal data need to register and pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), unless they are exempt.
At the end of December 2016, 457,846 organisations were registered with the ICO. The most recent figure shows that on 20 May 2024, 1,183,158 organisations were registered with the ICO.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the pay ranges at each grade are for Ofcom staff based (a) in and (b) outside London.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ofcom makes remuneration information available through its annual report and accounts, including detailed information on the pay of senior executives. These can be found online here: www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans.
Remuneration policy is set by Ofcom’s People Committee. The basic salary for all colleagues is determined by considering each colleague’s responsibilities, skills and experience, together with relevant market benchmarking analysis. Ofcom conduct an annual equal pay audit for gender, ethnicity, and disability. They do not pay London weighting.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many Information Commissioner's Office employees were seconded to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Costs for the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) budget were split equally between the DRCF member organisations. The Information Commissioner's Office contribution to the DRCF's budget for 2022-23 financial year was £81,754. This does not include costs for DRCF secondee roles funded by the ICO.
The Information Commissioner's Office provided three employee secondee roles to the DRCF over the 2022-23 financial year.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding the Information Commissioner's Office provided to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Costs for the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) budget were split equally between the DRCF member organisations. The Information Commissioner's Office contribution to the DRCF's budget for 2022-23 financial year was £81,754. This does not include costs for DRCF secondee roles funded by the ICO.
The Information Commissioner's Office provided three employee secondee roles to the DRCF over the 2022-23 financial year.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many employees work for Ofcom’s Online Safety directorate as of 25 March 2024.
Answered by Julia Lopez
As of March 2024, there are 202 colleagues in the Online Safety Directorate. Beyond the Online Safety Directorate, employees within Ofcom's Legal and Enforcement, Research and Analytics, Strategy and Research, and Corporate groups also work full time on Ofcom's online safety work.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the pay ranges at each grade are for Information Commissioner's Office staff based (a) in and (b) outside London.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Information Commissioner's Office does not operate a location-based pay policy. The pay ranges by grade (for all locations) are as follows:
| Min | Max |
Level B | 23,119 | 26,023 |
Level C | 25,383 | 32,030 |
Level D | 31,689 | 40,418 |
Level E | 40,565 | 51,730 |
Level F | 52,944 | 67,530 |
Level G | 66,068 | 85,113 |
Level G2 | 84,193 | 108,611 |
Level H | 110,624 | 157,960 |
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many Ofcom employees were seconded to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Julia Lopez
In 2022–23, Ofcom funded 4 FTE positions in the DRCF. Ofcom does not technically second employees to the DRCF, rather resources are allocated to support the core team.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding Ofcom provided to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ofcom's DRCF expenditure for 2022-23 is £82,000.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will provide a breakdown of the planned cross-government expenditure from (a) Departments and (b) arms-length bodies on (i) artificial intelligence, (ii) quantum technologies, (iii) engineering biology, (iv) semiconductors and (v) future telecommunications until financial year 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The government set out 5 critical technologies in the Science and Technology Framework, committing to develop a cross-government plan to optimise the science and technology system for each. We have publicly set out our approach to each critical technology, including spending commitments, which for most technologies cover figures for all departments. The government has spent over £2.5bn on AI since 2014. Over the next 10 years we have announced £2.5 billion for quantum technologies, up to £1bn on semiconductors and £2bn for engineering biology. The government has initially committed £70m on Future Telecoms by end of FY 2024/2025.