Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61224 on Government Departments: Reviews, how many lines of activity in her Department were considered as part of the zero based review.

• At Spending Review 2025, the government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.
• Through the zero-based review, DSIT carried out a line by line review of its current budgets. The review involved differing levels of granularity depending on the type and size of expenditure under review.
• To ensure consistency in approach, cross-government guidance set expectations for the level of granularity each review should consider, recommending that departments review all spending within individual programme expenditure – at a minimum reflecting any lines of spending in excess of £1m per annum.
• Savings identified through this process will support delivery of the government's commitment for all departments to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29.