Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of potential levels of (a) financial and (b) carbon savings from (i) estate and (ii) digital budgets through consolidation of disparate legacy IT systems located at (A) fewer, (B) more energy efficient and (C) AI-enabled data centres.

Government is looking to understand what Legacy IT systems it currently has, and how to best prioritise and mitigate the risks they carry. By their nature, Legacy IT often underpins complex and critical services that have unique requirements, informing how they need to be treated.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has recently published the AI Opportunities Action Plan and A blueprint for modern digital government. This describes how the Government will work across Government and the wider public sector to ensure digital services - including legacy IT - are delivered efficiently and take advantage of AI.