Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress has been made in increasing the number of digital and data professionals in the civil service.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In April 2025, the Prime Minister made the commitment that one in 10 civil servants will work in technology and digital roles by 2030. When like-for-like roles are compared over the 6-months from April to October 2025, the digital workforce has grown by 0.3% of the civil service - from 4.9% to 5.2%. However, for the first time, we are now also able to report on cyber and other digital roles (the majority of which are included in the one in 10 definition), which uplifts the October figure to 5.7%
The next workforce commission will take place in April 2026, in which we hope to see further growth.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps have been taken to reduce fragmentation of digital systems across departments, as identified in the State of Digital Government Review.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At the same time as publishing the State of Digital Government Review, the Government set out the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government. In January 2026, the Government published the Roadmap for Modern Digital Government, translating that vision into a practical delivery plan and setting out further action to join up services and strengthen shared digital infrastructure. This included establishing the Technical Design Council, comprised of technical experts from across the Public Sector, to provide strategic direction on shared strategies and technical solutions.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress has been made implementing the recommendations of the State of Digital Government Review since its publication in January 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since January 2025, the Government has united digital, data, and AI teams into one centre to tackle identified systemic blockers to transformation. Government has also launched the GOV.UK app, the digital HM Armed Forces Veteran Card, and 13.2 million people have now proven their identity using the single sign-on system OneLogin.
In January 2026, the Government published ‘A Roadmap for Modern Digital Government’, its plan to make government more user-focused, efficient and resilient to deliver better outcomes for the public and the economy. It provides a public-facing, whole-of-government commitment to digital transformation and holds departments accountable for progress, updates on which will be regularly published.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with infrastructure providers about the compatibility of fibre-to-the-premises broadband and telecare products.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Yes, the Government engages regularly with communication providers and network operators to ensure that the industry-led transition from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely.
I have written to all telecare suppliers with Stephen Kinnock MP (Minister for Care, DHSC) urging them to stop selling analogue telecare devices that are reliant on the PSTN and do not function over fibre-to-the-premises broadband. On November 18th I hosted a roundtable specifically to discuss the protection of telecare users during the PSTN migration. At this meeting major communication providers agreed to extra safeguards to protect telecare users ahead of restarting non-voluntary migrations.