Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the new Inter-Ministerial Advisory Group on Science and Technology will be afforded the same decision-making status as its predecessor, the National Science and Technology Council.

The National Science and Technology Council was established as a Cabinet committee in October 2021 to consider matters relating to strategic advantage through science and technology. The Cabinet committee list was updated in September 2022. In October 2022, the National Science and Technology Council was established as an inter-ministerial group responsible for delivering an ambitious UK science and technology strategy and to consider key science and technology issues. Where collective agreement is necessary for issues covered by an inter-ministerial group, it is sought in the usual way through a committee or ministerial correspondence.

Cabinet committees support the principle of collective responsibility, ensuring that policy proposals receive thorough consideration and collective agreement. Cabinet committee decisions have the same authority as Cabinet decisions.