Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK-US trade deal on the (a) science and (b) technology sectors.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) includes a number of provisions that will in future benefit UK science and technology sectors. These include, for example, provisions on future negotiations on significantly preferential tariff treatment for pharmaceutical products, and an ambitious set of digital trade provisions.
Given detailed negotiations on these provisions have not yet concluded, it is not possible to undertake an impact assessment at this point.
As the Prime Minister has said, the Economic Prosperity Deal “opens the way to a future UK-US technology partnership through which our science-rich nations will collaborate in key areas of advanced technology”.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 the potential impact of the targeting of Iranian scientists by the IDF on British (a) science and (b) scientists.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Science, innovation and technology are inherently international. The UK continues to work closely with international partners to harness the power of science and tech for global benefit.
We remain focused on ensuring stability in the Middle East. It is crucial that we now de-escalate the situation, stabilise the region, and get all parties back around the table to negotiate.
We have taken all necessary measures to protect UK interests, UK personnel, and to work with our allies to protect their interests as well. We urge all British Nationals, including scientists, to register their presence and monitor FCDO Travel Advice.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the financial support available for sole traders applying for a patent.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government provides a range of support to inventors, including sole traders, so they may identify, protect and commercialise their intellectual property through tools found on GOV.UK.
The Government considers the fees charged by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to apply for patents to be accessible and comparatively low compared to other jurisdictions.
The IPO works in partnership with a range of organisations that can help inventors bring ideas to market. In addition, the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, provides a range of support services to help innovators.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 20 May (HL7143), whether the Government Digital Service has guidance and policies on cost-effectiveness and value-for-money achieved by reporting departments.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
GDS publishes policy and guidance, including the Technology Code of Practice, Cloud First Policy, and Government Service Standard that departments must adhere to and that support cost-effectiveness and value for money objectives. Where departmental submissions are not deemed cost-effective or value for money GDS can halt further progression using the digital spend controls process that is required for all citizen-facing digital services with a value of more than £100,000, and all technology spend with a value in excess of £1 million.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that telecoms providers engage transparently with local (a) communities and (b) authorities before installing telegraph poles for broadband infrastructure in (i) areas with no historical precedent for such infrastructure and (ii) other areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003 include requirements for operators to share apparatus where practicable, to use underground lines where reasonably practicable and to minimise the impact on the visual amenity of properties as far as reasonably practicable.
In addition, following my call for operators to consider revising the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice, the industry’s Telecommunications Poles Working Group has published best practice recommendations setting out expectations that operators should explore existing sharing opportunities and minimise the visual impact of poles. It also includes guidance on how to enhance communication with the public.
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, what recent discussions he has had with academics on the (a) development, (b) validation and (c) uptake of alternative methods to animal testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State has had no meetings on alternative methods. However, as the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Minister Vallance and officials have met with academics including at Alternative Methods to Animals in Science Strategy Roundtables and at meetings run by the Home Office. Lord Vallance has also engaged with academics developing non-animal alternatives, including the Harries lab at the University of Exeter.
The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 20 May (HL7143), how much they spent in total each year since 2019–20 on (1) digital systems delivered from public cloud, and (2) the entire digital systems estate.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The historical data requested is not held centrally, however the State of Digital Government report, published in January 2025, confirms that the UK public sector spends over £26bn annually on digital technology. Additionally, GDS is currently working with public sector organisations to understand their annual spend on public cloud services.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the distribution of allocations from the Northern Ireland Life and Health Sciences Launchpad is equitable.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme is aimed at supporting clusters of SMEs and the most innovative businesses to progress their ideas toward commercialisation, contributing to local economic growth. Social equity and UK-wide impact are important features of the programme.
The Health and Life Sciences Launchpad in Northern Ireland is run in partnership between Innovate UK and Invest NI. Funding has so far been offered to over forty-five projects, across digital health, biotech therapeutics and diagnostics and medical technologies disciplines. During the competition period, Innovate UK and Invest NI raised awareness across different areas through media channels and hosting several in-person sub-regional workshops.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with the Welsh Government to ensure full gigabit coverage by 2030 in Brecon, Radnor and Cwm-Tawe constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has recently reconfirmed its commitment to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage and now expects 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.
As part of Project Gigabit, Openreach is already delivering a contract across North West, Mid and South East Wales to bring gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses that would otherwise miss out. This contract currently includes approximately 3,500 premises in the Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government to improve broadband connectivity across Wales as we refresh our delivery plans for the remaining premises in the UK.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to protect creatives from copyright infringements by Artificial Intelligence developers.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.
The Government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on the use of copyright material in AI model development. This consultation closed on 25th February.
The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and its proposals will be set out in due course.