Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the cost of technical debt to UK productivity; and what steps her Department is taking to address skills shortages linked to the retirement of personnel maintaining legacy IT systems critical to national infrastructure.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At least 28% of central government systems are classified as legacy. These outdated systems cost around 40% more to maintain than modern alternatives, slow down public services, are harder to join up and increase the risk of disruption, reducing efficiency across government and contributing to wider productivity challenges.
DSIT is committed to addressing this technical debt. We are undertaking work to identify the most cost-effective methods for modernising outdated systems, which will inform the Technology Modernisation Action Plan later this year.
By moving departments off legacy systems, we reduce reliance on retiring specialist expertise. Alongside this, through Get Tech Certified, over 9,000 public servants have accessed free certification pathways in cloud, AI and modern engineering; equipping the workforce with the skills these modern platforms require.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Security Strategy 2025: Security for the British People in a Dangerous World, CP1338, published on 24 June 2025, what progress she has made in enhancing collaboration with Canada on AI.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK is pleased to collaborate with a number of international partners through bilateral and multilateral activity, including Canada. The UK and Canada share common values and are working together to promote the safe, secure and responsible development of AI. This includes collaboration between the UK's AI Security Institute and Canada's AI Safety Institute, as well as furthering cooperation on supercomputing. In December 2025, building upon 2024's Compute MoU, the UK and Canada agreed a partnership between the UK's National Supercomputing Centre, based at the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, which will advance the delivery of large-scale compute for research.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to tackle the (a) algorithmic and (b) design features that maximise children's engagement.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Protecting children online is a priority for the Secretary of State and this government. The Online Safety Act provides strong foundations for protecting children across the UK. We have always been clear that we will build on that foundation and published a consultation and national conversation which sought views and evidence from people across the UK on measures that could further protect children online and enhance their wellbeing. As part of this, we sought views on how platform design features such as personal recommender systems may encourage children to stay online for longer. The consultation closed on 26 May 2026, and the government will respond by summer.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of the use of independent security assurance and red-team testing requirements in public sector procurement of AI systems.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK government has worked within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to create a global standard (EN 304 223) that sets baseline security requirements for the developers and deployers of AI models and systems. This standard will help provide a cyber resilient and ‘secure by design’ approach to utilising AI systems in government. We also embed baseline security requirements throughout government procurement and our supply chains, including through the use of Modular Security Schedules in contracts.
We are also considering how government can better facilitate more specific products-based assurance, including the defining of more proportionate assurance models that are aligned to supplier criticality.
Government’s most critical systems are independently assessed against the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework through the GovAssure scheme, now in its third year of operation. We have also conducted a programme of independent red teaming of critical government assets.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of AI automation on government consultancy spending.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s assessment has focused on how artificial intelligence can improve civil service roles, productivity and service delivery, including by automating routine tasks and supporting use of departmental capability. This work is being taken forward alongside controls on consultancy spending and wider reforms to strengthen efficiency and value for money.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the report by AI Forensics entitled ‘Harassment as Infrastructure’, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of payment providers facilitating payments for access to non-consensual intimate image.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act places clear duties on in-scope services to tackle illegal content, including non-consensual intimate image abuse, backed by Ofcom’s strong enforcement powers. Where services fail to comply, Ofcom can seek Business Disruption Measures to restrict access to those services, including measures which may require third-party payment providers to withdraw services from non-compliant sites.
We are strengthening the regulatory framework through new criminal offences and a 48-hour removal duty, alongside Ofcom’s use of hash-matching to prevent re-sharing.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an estimate of how much money online platforms receive from image-based sexual abuse channels on their services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Non-consensual intimate images (NCII) are completely unacceptable and tackling this abuse is a priority for this government.
Under the Online Safety Act, services must assess for the risk of NCII, take steps to prevent this content appearing and removing it swiftly when it does. This government has built on the framework by introducing a new requirement on service to remove NCII within 48 hours of a valid report.
This is complemented by Ofcom’s update to its illegal content codes on the use of hash-matching to deliver victim-centred protection from this horrific abuse.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with other departments regarding the adequacy of water supplies to AI data centres.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology engages regularly with her Government counterparts to discuss the importance of AI and its associated infrastructure. DSIT officials also engage regularly with relevant organisations such as DEFRA and the Environment Agency, recognising the need to ensure AI infrastructure does not compromise the resilience of public water supplies. The Government will continue to support AI infrastructure growth while protecting water supplies and the local environment, ensuring that the growth of the sector is stable and sustainable.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of patent trolls on the rollout of 5G networks.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and this will be achieved primarily by commercial investment from the three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
Business models in which patents are bought, and then enforced against others, may be legitimate, including in the 5G sector. Through the Intellectual Property Office, government monitors the effective functioning of the patent system to ensure that incentives to innovate are maintained. The IPO recently undertook a review of the legal framework surrounding Standards Essential Patents to identify and consider how to address a number of issues, including licensing practices. The Government expects to publish a response this summer.
Regarding whether patent trolls impact the rollout of 5G networks, this is not an issue that has been raised with Government, including through the recent Mobile Market Review call for evidence which asked stakeholders for evidence on the major developments occurring across the mobile sector.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to tackle patent trolls in the 5G standalone sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and this will be achieved primarily by commercial investment from the three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
Business models in which patents are bought, and then enforced against others, may be legitimate, including in the 5G sector. Through the Intellectual Property Office, government monitors the effective functioning of the patent system to ensure that incentives to innovate are maintained. The IPO recently undertook a review of the legal framework surrounding Standards Essential Patents to identify and consider how to address a number of issues, including licensing practices. The Government expects to publish a response this summer.
Regarding whether patent trolls impact the rollout of 5G networks, this is not an issue that has been raised with Government, including through the recent Mobile Market Review call for evidence which asked stakeholders for evidence on the major developments occurring across the mobile sector.