Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

The UK’s legal framework already requires that animals are only used in science where no validated alternatives exist, and we are accelerating efforts to develop and adopt these alternatives. The Government’s new strategy sets out a long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated except in exceptional circumstances. This will be achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods.

GOV.UK One Login is fully compliant with all aspects of data protection law, including in relation to the processing of biometric data under the UK GDPR. DSIT relies on Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (substantial public interest) for the processing of biometric data. The appropriate safeguards and data minimisation procedures are applied throughout GOV.UK One Login’s biometric checks and special category data is processed only where lawful, necessary and proportionate. GOV.UK One Login provides an alternative route for individuals who do not wish to, or cannot, prove their identity using biometrics.

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom’s principal duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition.

In July, we published a consultation on a draft updated Statement of Strategic Priorities to Ofcom that sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas. We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

Ofcom has powers to identify markets, determine whether a firm has significant market power (SMP) on those markets, and impose remedies as appropriate. Ofcom has not found any internet service provider to have SMP in the retail broadband market. However, in the wholesale fixed telecoms market, BT was found to have SMP and a range of pricing and non-pricing remedies were imposed on the company in order to promote network competition.

Tackling digital exclusion, which disproportionately impacts certain demographics including older and disabled people, is a priority for Government. That’s why we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which sets out our immediate actions to boost digital inclusion.

Alongside this, DSIT is working closely with HM Treasury on the implementation of the Financial Inclusion Strategy to address the barriers consumers face in accessing the financial services products they need.

The Government is working closely with industry on the commitment to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK by the end of this Parliament, which will provide individuals and businesses across the country with cash and banking services. Over 240 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 190 are already open.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. Multiple stakeholders and experts in this area, including Defra and the Veterinary Medicine Directorate, were consulted during the development of the three baskets approach, which groups animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. They concluded that basket 3 was the most appropriate timeline for fish endocrine disruption tests.

We recognise the importance of gigabit-capable broadband connectivity for residents of multi-dwelling units (MDUs) across the UK. We continue to engage with the Scottish Government to understand if any measures are required to aid deployment in these property types in Scotland.

The Online Safety Act has come into effect. As of March this year, services must remove illegal content such as child abuse material or terrorist content. As of July this year, children must also be protected from age-inappropriate content such as pornography and self-harm content. Children and others will be starting to see the effects of this.

Monitoring and evaluation are key to understanding how effective the online safety regime is. DSIT and Ofcom have developed a framework to monitor the implementation of the Act and evaluate its core outcomes.

This monitoring and evaluation work is already tracking the impact of the online safety regime and will feed into a Post Implementation Review of the Act.

We are committed to making the online world safe, particularly for children, so people can seize the opportunities it brings.

The Online Safety Act has come into effect. As of March this year, services must remove illegal content such as child abuse material or terrorist content. As of July this year, children must also be protected from age-inappropriate content such as pornography and self-harm content. Children and others will be starting to see the effects of this.

Monitoring and evaluation are key to understanding how effective the online safety regime is. DSIT and Ofcom have developed a framework to monitor the implementation of the Act and evaluate its core outcomes.

This monitoring and evaluation work is already tracking the impact of the online safety regime and will feed into a Post Implementation Review of the Act.

We are committed to making the online world safe, particularly for children, so people can seize the opportunities it brings.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.

As part of Project Gigabit, CityFibre is delivering a contract across Suffolk. This contract currently includes approximately 5,800 premises in the South Suffolk constituency, predominantly in rural areas.

We will aim to cover the remaining premises that are not currently included in Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial delivery plans as far as possible as funding becomes available, in line with the objective of achieving nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, and research and development priorities will be published biennially from 2026.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom, including on PIA, to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.

Ofcom is finalising its Telecoms Access Review that will set PIA rental charges from 1 April 2026. In the Review, they will set out whether they will introduce changes following their consultation on their proposed TAR decisions.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom, including on PIA, to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.

Ofcom is finalising its Telecoms Access Review that will set PIA rental charges from 1 April 2026. In the Review, they will set out whether they will introduce changes following their consultation on their proposed TAR decisions.

The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, noting that two LD/LC50 tests are already in basket 1 and 2 (botulinum potency and fish acute toxicity tests respectively) meaning they are among the first targeted for phase-out.

In addition, the Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has ongoing work to replace, reduce and refine LD/LC50 tests.

The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, noting that two LD/LC50 tests are already in basket 1 and 2 (botulinum potency and fish acute toxicity tests respectively) meaning they are among the first targeted for phase-out.

In addition, the Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has ongoing work to replace, reduce and refine LD/LC50 tests.

NSSIF does not currently demark a portion of its allocation for solely defence investments, as investments are made in startups with technologies relevant across NS&D use cases. NSSIF invests in dual-use advanced technology companies to provide future capabilities to National Security and Defence (NS&D). Investments are made for the purpose of NS&D, though provide wider benefits to industrial strategy sectors. As part of the recent Spending Review process, NSSIF has been awarded up to £330m to invest in the financial years 2026-27 to 2029-30, as set out in the modern industrial strategy.

NSSIF does not currently demark a portion of its allocation for solely defence investments, as investments are made in startups with technologies relevant across NS&D use cases. NSSIF invests in dual-use advanced technology companies to provide future capabilities to National Security and Defence (NS&D). Investments are made for the purpose of NS&D, though provide wider benefits to industrial strategy sectors. As part of the recent Spending Review process, NSSIF has been awarded up to £330m to invest in the financial years 2026-27 to 2029-30, as set out in the modern industrial strategy.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). UKRI and NIHR support research which explores the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis, including the NIHR £11 million Edith trial (using AI to assist radiologists in breast cancer screening). AI presents significant opportunities for improving outcomes and diagnosis for cancer patients and driving faster triage of patients with suspected symptoms. Evaluations of the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis are ongoing.

The government recognises the harm associated with scam emails and is taking action to protect the public and businesses from fraud and cyber crime. We strongly encourage the public and businesses to follow the advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on how to protect themselves from cyber threats, including scam emails and business email compromise. The NCSC provides tailored advice for the public, sole traders and businesses of all sizes. The government also offers the highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks.

Scam emails can be reported to the NCSC's Suspicious Email Reporting Service, which has blocked billions of phishing attempts and removed 232,000 scams across 415,000 malicious web addresses. The NCSC offers guidance on how to spot and report scam emails at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams. The police also offer advice on scam emails, including Action Fraud advice on payment diversion fraud and business email compromise, and the recent National Crime Agency campaign with the Law Society on payment diversion fraud in property sales. The government has committed to the publication of a new fraud strategy which will set out further details on how it will tackle fraud and protect UK residents and businesses.

Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many SMEs lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help SMEs implement cyber security measures, including the recently launched Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice.

NCSC-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms, including in Northern Ireland, and SMEs are eligible for a free 30- minute consultation. Additionally, the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks. We recently completed a funding programme across the UK, which included supporting 170 organisations in Northern Ireland to get certified to the scheme.

There is considerable debate and uncertainty around Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), but the possibility of their development must be taken seriously. The increasing capabilities of AI may exacerbate existing risks and present new risks, for which the UK need to be prepared.

The role of the AI Security Institute (AISI) is to build an evidence base on these risks, so the government is equipped to understand them. AISI focuses on emerging AI risks with serious security implications, including the potential for AI to help users develop chemical and biological weapons, and the potential for loss of control presented by autonomous systems.

The government remains committed to taking further steps, where required, to ensure that the UK is prepared for the changes that AI will bring.

The number of data protection complaints filed with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are available on ICO’s Annual Reports, which can be viewed on their website at: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-information/annual-reports/.

Data protection complaints are dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the independent regulator, which has a statutory duty to investigate data subject complaints to the extent appropriate.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduces reforms to the ICO as well as a new requirement for data controllers to respond to data protection complaints themselves, reducing premature complaints to the regulator. The ICO is also reviewing its approach to data protection complaints and has carried out a public consultation on changes to how it assesses and determines the level of investigation. It is now reviewing feedback from that consultation.

Given our recent legislative reforms and the ICO’s consultation, there are no current plans to consider a Data Protection Ombudsman. If individuals are dissatisfied with the ICO’s service (not its legal interpretation), they can escalate complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

The government wants all areas of the UK, including rural areas in Northern Ireland, to benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile coverage, and this is reflected in our ambition for all populated areas of the UK to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030.

My department continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to deliver on this ambition, ensuring the investment committed by operators delivers benefits to such communities, including by removing barriers to deployment where they exist and it is practical to do so.

Regarding next-generation broadband access, Project Stratum received £199 million of UK government funding and delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland. This project, delivered by Fibrus, completed delivery in June 2025.

The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage predominantly targeting rural and hard to reach areas.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology routinely reports its sickness absence data on gov.uk alongside the rest of the Civil Service.

Information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence

This contains statistics for sickness absence by organisation and sickness reason, including Mental Ill-Health.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. The strategy is intended to promote the use of any alternative method that is accurate and validated and so does not concentrate on every specific alternative. However, research and development priorities will be published biennially from 2026, developed collaboratively with industry and academic partners, to determine the best path forward to reduce reliance on animals in science.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

In July, we published our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices.

My officials regularly engage with Ofcom to ensure we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

In July, we published our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices.

My officials regularly engage with Ofcom to ensure we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

Ofcom is finalising its Telecoms Access Review that will set PIA rental charges from 1 April 2026. It is for them to decide whether they need to consult further following their March 2025 consultation on their proposed TAR decisions.

On 12 November 2025 the government introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to Parliament. The Bill will bring into scope more of the core services relied on across the economy, such as managed service providers, data centres and critical parts of supply chains. UK businesses and public services will be more secure and resilient as a result.

On 24 November 2025 ministers wrote an open letter to small businesses and business representative organisations with details of government support and guidance on cyber security. The letter has been published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-letter-on-cyber-security-to-small-businesses.

The National Cyber Security Centre’s Active Cyber Defence service continues to protect UK people, businesses and public sector organisations from cyber attacks, including blocking billions of phishing attempts and removing 232,000 scams across 415,000 malicious web addresses.

I also refer the honourable member to the answer of 24 October 2025 to question 82366 which explained how the government has written to Chairs and CEOs of the largest UK companies asking them to take three key actions to protect themselves from cyber threats. The letter is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-letter-on-cyber-security-to-leading-uk-companies.

The Government recognises the importance of industry adopting AI tools to drive growth and innovation. We recently announced a joint commitment with industry leaders such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to upskill 7.5 million workers with the vital AI skills they need to thrive in their jobs. This will break down barriers to opportunity and unlock economic growth.

We also recently announced further commitments to support AI adoption in industry. This includes a pledge to expand Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme to sectors across our Industrial Strategy priorities, providing hands-on training and online programmes, as well as a £5 million local skills benefits package for each AI Growth Zone, to support local businesses adopt AI.

This Government is committed to improving NHS mental health services to ensure that children and young people receive the right support at the right time for their mental health.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services, including AI chatbots, to proactively remove illegal suicide and self-harm content. Services likely to be accessed by children must take steps to prevent children from accessing suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder content.

DHSC’s 10 Year Plan has set out an ambitious reform agenda to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment and promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation.

The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations require most public sector organisations to ensure their services, websites, intranets, extranets, published documents, and apps are accessible to disabled people by meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.2 to level AA and by publishing a prescribed format accessibility statement. This includes requirements to work with assistive technologies. The regulations apply regardless of if the technology is AI enabled or not. The Government Service Standard requires Departments to make sure everyone can use the service. The standard doesn’t apply to the wider public sector.

The Solar Hospital Innovation project was funded by DSIT through UKRI’s Energy Catalyst programme, as part of the up to £1 billion Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation. DSIT provided £298,497 in funding for this project, alongside £79,343 in matched funding from local sources. This contributes to the wider Ayrton Challenge on Inclusive Energy and Leave No-One Behind. The installed 228KW solar system provided 158MW of clean energy over six months, displacing around 100 tonnes of CO2. This will save the hospital $75,000 per year which has been reallocated to a cancer drugs fund.

The Solar Hospital Innovation project was funded by DSIT through UKRI’s Energy Catalyst programme, as part of the up to £1 billion Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation. DSIT provided £298,497 in funding for this project, alongside £79,343 in matched funding from local sources. This contributes to the wider Ayrton Challenge on Inclusive Energy and Leave No-One Behind. The installed 228KW solar system provided 158MW of clean energy over six months, displacing around 100 tonnes of CO2. This will save the hospital $75,000 per year which has been reallocated to a cancer drugs fund.

The Home Secretary announced in Parliament the decision to continue the Pornography Review, and we are grateful for Baroness Bertin’s work.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Pornography Review and the valuable insights it has provided into the online pornography landscape. The Review highlights a set of complex and challenging policy and regulatory issues.

Where relevant to violence against women and girls they are being considered by the Home Office in the development of the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which aims to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. The government will provide a further update on how it is tackling the issues raised in the Review as part of its mission to tackle VAWG in due course. The VAWG strategy sits with Home Office and DSIT has been feeding in.

We want to ensure people have access to good, meaningful work. AI has the potential to transform the labour market and Government is working to ensure the UK is well prepared, so that AI drives growth and opportunities for workers, businesses, and communities.

We are closely monitoring data on the impact of AI on the workforce, such as the CIPD report, and actively preparing for a range of scenarios. We are supporting workforce readiness for AI through multiple initiatives. Including our commitment to give 7.5 million workers essential AI skills by 2030.

The Government is committed to tackling the supply of illegal drugs. We are taking a coordinated approach to tackle harmful online content, including material associated with vapes containing illegal drugs. This combines law enforcement activity, education, and also measures compelling online platforms to act.

To this end, the illegal sale of drugs is a priority offence under the illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act 2023.Ofcom is closely monitoring compliance with the regime. The National Crime Agency also works with partners in the UK and internationally to identify offenders operating online, and to take down UK-based sites committing offences.

As part of its ongoing space policy development, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is currently performing analysis of the UK’s global market share in the space sector. This involves the use of commercial data (primarily from Novaspace) to bring together economic data from a wide range of nations and international space organisations. Under our data access agreements, we cannot share any assessment using this data publicly. In its 2023 report Expanding Frontiers, the UKSA estimated that the UK accounted for 5% of global revenue in the space sector but has not published any data on the assessment of if the UK’s global market share is increasing or decreasing relative to other G7 countries.

As part of its ongoing space policy development, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is currently performing comparative analysis of the UK’s position in the global space sector. This involves the use of commercial data (primarily from Novaspace) to bring together economic data from a wide range of nations and international space organisations. Under our data access agreements, we cannot share any assessment using this data publicly. In its 2023 report Expanding Frontiers, the UKSA estimated that the UK accounted for 5% of global revenue in the space sector but has not published any data on the assessment of growth or market share in the context of other G7 countries.

The Government has ensured Ofcom has the resources it needs to deliver online safety regulation effectively, including its complaints and investigation responsibilities. £72.6 million has been allocated to Ofcom for its online safety functions and approximately 550 full time staff are working in its online safety directorate in 2025/26.

Ofcom regularly reports on its performance and activity, and the Government remains satisfied that it has the capability and capacity to carry out its complaints and investigative duties effectively. We will continue to engage with Ofcom to ensure resources remain proportionate to its remit.

NSSIF invests in dual use companies across Quantum, Space, AI, and Emerging Technologies, on a range of cheque sizes, co-investing typically at Seed or Series A. NSSIF tends to take a minority stake and not lead the rounds. Details of many of the companies in NSSIF's investment portfolio are published on NSSIF's website (www.nssif.gov.uk).

NSSIF invests in dual use companies across Quantum, Space, AI, and Emerging Technologies, on a range of cheque sizes, co-investing typically at Seed or Series A. NSSIF tends to take a minority stake and not lead the rounds. Details of many of the companies in NSSIF's investment portfolio are published on NSSIF's website (www.nssif.gov.uk).

NSSIF invests in dual use companies across Quantum, Space, AI, and Emerging Technologies, on a range of cheque sizes, co-investing typically at Seed or Series A. NSSIF tends to take a minority stake and not lead the rounds. Details of many of the companies in NSSIF's investment portfolio are published on NSSIF's website (www.nssif.gov.uk).

The Online Safety Act requires services to tackle illegal content, including terrorist content, grooming content, and content which stirs up hatred based on religion or race. They must also protect children from certain forms of legal content, including hateful or abusive material.

Services are required to take proportionate measures to mitigate these harms, including where they are enabled by algorithms. These measures are designed to ensure user safety, particularly for children whilst protecting freedom of expression. The Act requires the Secretary of State to review and report to Parliament on the effectiveness of the regime 2-5 years after the Act is fully implemented.