Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help reduce waiting times for complaints and enquiries to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While DSIT acts as the ICO’s sponsor department within government, it is an independent regulator and accountable to Parliament.
To address their backlog, the ICO has introduced a new data protection complaints framework that sets out how it assesses and prioritises each case and determines the extent to which it is appropriate to investigate. This approach is designed to help the ICO focus its resources on the most serious issues and provide more timely outcomes. The framework can be viewed at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-framework/.
From 19 June 2026 when relevant provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 come into force, controllers will also be required to have a process in place to acknowledge data protection complaints from members of the public within a month of receipt and respond to the complaint without undue delay. If complaints are dealt with effectively by organisations, this will further reduce pressure on ICO’s resources.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to increase the recruitment of parents in the AI and data science sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government recognises the importance of diversifying the AI talent pool, and we will support this goal this through the design and delivery of our skills and talent programmes.
DSIT is standing up the new TechFirst programme that will reach 1 million young people across the UK with AI and tech educational opportunities. This will also support more of our most promising home talent into scholarship and PhD routes that they would not otherwise have accessed.
To further strengthen the UK’s AI skills base we are launching the prestigious AI Spärck scholarships and are expanding the Turing AI Fellowships. We are committed to ensuring that these programmes offer opportunities to a diverse range of participants.
UKRI is the primary funder of data science research and innovation in the UK. They required to show how they will ensure diversity of recruitment and support inclusion within their operations.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to increase the recruitment of women in the AI and data science sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government recognises the importance of diversifying the AI talent pool and we will support this goal this through the design and delivery of our skills and talent programmes.
DSIT is standing up the new TechFirst programme that will reach 1 million young people across the UK with AI and tech educational opportunities. This will also support more of our most promising home talent into scholarship and PhD routes that they would not otherwise have accessed.
We support initiatives such as the AI and Data Science Conversion Courses, which have successfully attracted a higher proportion of women than comparable STEM programmes.
To further strengthen the UK’s AI skills base we are launching the prestigious AI Spärck scholarships and are expanding the Turing AI Fellowships. We are committed to ensuring that these programmes offer opportunities to a diverse range of participants.
UKRI is the primary funder of data science research and innovation in the UK. They required to show how they will ensure diversity of recruitment and support inclusion within their operations.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation in areas without mayoral devolution agreements.
Answered by Feryal Clark
We want to support local leaders to unlock their regions’ innovation potential – ensuring everyone benefits from innovation-led growth. Regardless of whether they have a Mayor or are a local authority. That’s why UK Research and Innovation invests in innovation across the UK, including through the £316 million Strength in Places Fund and £80 million Launchpads programmes. These are bolstering clusters in areas with and without devolution agreements. UKRI has awarded £85,000 to Ultraframe UK in the Ribble Valley, to develop high quality retrofit solutions.