Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, what estimate he has made of the number of legacy digital systems in use across government; what timetable exists for decommissioning the highest-risk systems, what resources are available to support “secure by design” requirements; and what assessment has been made of the impact of the government vulnerability scanning service.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The most recent assessment of the scale of legacy systems across the public sector was conducted as part of the State of Digital Government Review, which found that 28% of public sector systems were identified as legacy IT. Individual departments remain responsible for addressing their highest risk systems. While DSIT provides oversight, it does not hold central information on all these plans.
The Secure by Design approach provides delivery and project teams with clear principles and activities to follow to increase the cyber resilience and security of new and emerging systems, services and technology infrastructure. A central DSIT team supports them through a community of champions, nominated by their respective organisation.
Over 700 public sector organisations have now signed up to the vulnerability scanning service, with the service finding and helping fix over 100 critical vulnerabilities a month.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, whether he will publish annual progress reports against the roadmap, department-level performance metrics for digital services, and information on major digital programmes assessed as high risk.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The roadmap is an iterative and transparent record of government’s digital priorities and will be updated regularly as projects progress and delivery milestones are met. The Government Digital Service (GDS) is also developing the Digital Performance Framework to provide a single, cross-government way to measure and understand digital and technology performance. Departments will start sharing annual outcome-based data on the performance of their services with each other, with Secretaries of State held accountable in regular reviews. This will encourage open working and drive evidence-led improvements across digital government.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, what productivity gains and cash-releasing savings are expected from the digital government roadmap by 2030; how those savings will be measured; and how benefits will be shared between central government and local public bodies.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Work undertaken by the Office for Value for Money at SR25 identified total annual efficiency gains of almost £14bn by 2028-29, of which the Government expects digital to contributes a substantial portion of this. The Government Digital Service (GDS) will work with HM Treasury to measure central government departments’ contributions to this by tracking the digital efficiencies they’ve identified in their delivery plans by the end of the spending review period. GDS will also draw on productivity and efficiency information from across the public sector to understand how government is driving wider efficiency.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, what steps are being taken to prevent digital exclusion arising from the expansion of the GOV.UK app, GOV.UK Wallet and GOV.UK One Login; how access to offline or assisted services will be protected between 2025 and 2030; and how progress on digital inclusion will be measured.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All new GDS products are designed and tested to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards and support users with diverse access needs, skills and devices. In addition, the Government is taking coordinated action to reduce digital exclusion. Through the Digital Innovation Fund we are supporting locally led projects that test new approaches to help people gain skills, confidence and access to digital public services. This forms part of the wider Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which brings together work across accessibility, connectivity, skills and affordability to ensure those facing the greatest barriers are supported to get online.
Departments will continue to offer offline, phone and assisted‑digital routes so people who cannot or prefer not to use online services can still get help. No essential service will become digital‑only without suitable support.
Progress on digital inclusion is measured through accessibility assessments, user research and service performance data to ensure services work for everyone.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83837 on Broadband: Rural Areas, what progress she has made on Project Gigabit in the West Midlands; how many premises in Aldridge–Brownhills constituency do not have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection; what proportion of the £2.4 billion in signed Project Gigabit contracts has been disbursed; and whether Building Digital UK plans to publish data at constituency level in its monthly reporting.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Approximately 89,000 premises in the West Midlands region have received access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection through Building Digital UK (BDUK) funding.
According to the independent website, ThinkBroadband.com, 95% of premises in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection, indicating only 5% (approximately 2,200 premises) do not.
As of 31 October 2025, £302 million of the £2.4 billion committed to signed Project Gigabit contracts has been paid to suppliers for their work. Supplier payments for Project Gigabit contracts are made in line with agreed contract milestones and validated delivery.
BDUK does not plan to publish data at constituency level in its monthly reporting; BDUK publishes at a contract level every month, and at a constituency level as part of the annual official statistics.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve broadband (a) speed and (b) quality in underserved areas; and how his Department plans to (i) monitor and (ii) report on progress.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the independent website, Thinkbroadband.com, 89% of premises in the UK have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection. Our goal is for nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032, ensuring at least 99% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable connection.
As part of Project Gigabit, the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans, more than £2.4 billion of contracts have already been signed to connect over one million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) reports on delivery progress through its annual report and quarterly official statistics. BDUK has also committed to publishing monthly reports on how many premises are contracted and built under each of its gigabit contracts.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 53867 on Innovation: Aldridge-Brownhills, what the names are of the (a) members and (b) local (i) leaders, (ii) research organisations and (iii) industry that comprise the local partnership.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The West Midlands Innovation Board is responsible for developing, coordinating and supporting the delivery of plans for the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator pilot. A full list of the board’s members and observers can be found on the West Midlands Combined Authority website: https://www.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/economy-and-innovation/west-midlands-innovation/west-midlands-innovation-board/. I encourage you to reach out to the West Midlands Combined Authority directly with any further questions about its governance arrangements.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49740 Innovation: Aldridge-Brownhills, how much Innovation Accelerator pilot grant funding has been allocated to businesses in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Feryal Clark
£33m was allocated to the West Midlands pilot of the £100m Innovation Accelerator programme. This has been supplemented by an additional £10m through the funding extension for 2025/26.
UKRI does not collect data on Innovation Accelerator funding by Parliamentary constituency. The delivery team are not aware of any grant recipients headquartered in Aldridge-Brownhills, but that does not mean that funded activity is not taking part in Aldridge-Brownhills.
Decisions on how to invest the funding in the West Midlands were led by a local partnership made up of local leaders, research organisations, and industry. This partnership has worked closely with UKRI to ensure that the projects receiving public funding will be effective in developing the local innovation ecosystem.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits for businesses in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency of the £10m grant issued to the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator this year.
Answered by Feryal Clark
We were delighted to extend the Innovation Accelerator pilot into 2025/26, investing an extra £30 million in growing high-potential clusters in the West Midlands, Glasgow City Region and Greater Manchester.
The West Midlands Innovation Accelerators is supporting a range of projects focused on business innovation. For example, Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator is helping companies navigate “pinch-points” in the medical translation process, and Clean Futures is supporting SMEs to develop, demonstrate and grow clean-tech solutions in partnership with the wider ecosystem.
Innovate UK will continue to work collaboratively with each regional partnership to maximise the impact on their regions.