Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how her Department plans to ensure that public sector digital initiatives support communities in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our roadmap for modern digital government sets out how every corner of the state is using technology to make government work for the citizens it serves. It’s an action plan for the whole of the public sector, bringing together some of the most important products, platforms and transformation initiatives planned between now and 2030. Our commitments in the roadmap include strengthening collaboration between local authorities and central government, piloting local government services in the GOV.UK App and developing a strategic vision for local government technology.
To deliver this work, we launched GDS Local in November 2025 - a new unit within the Government Digital Service that brings central and local government together to improve how digital public services are designed and delivered. GDS Local works with local authorities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support and accelerate digital transformation around key priorities which are set out in the Roadmap to a Modern Digital Government.
This new unit has already engaged with over 300 local government digital practitioners and will continue to support councils across the country to ensure public sector digital initiatives support local authorities and the citizens that they serve.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department takes to record UK public sector participation in EU-linked research consortia.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on European Commission-led programmes, such as Horizon Europe, is collected by the Commission. This data is publicly available and includes details on successful consortia, including UK public sector organisations. It can be found in the R&I Projects section of the Funding and Tenders Portal under the Key Figures page using the relevant filters: R&I Proposals - Summary | Sheet - Qlik Sense. DSIT uses this and other relevant sources to assess UK participation and measures to keep improving this.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has formalised reporting requirements for departments that experience repeated cyber incidents.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Cyber Security Policy Handbook sets clear expectations for departments to follow in the event of a cyber incident, including the communication plans that departments need to have in place to notify relevant bodies and organisations.
The Government Cyber Coordination Centre (GC3) will shortly publish the Government Cyber Incident Response Plan (G-CIRP) which reiterates departmental responsibilities during cyber incidents, including reporting.
Furthermore, DSIT expects to publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter, which sets out clear structures and actions to improve our collective response to fast-moving incidents. It also articulates how the Government Cyber Coordination Centre will provide departments with more support in understanding, detecting and responding to threats.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has a framework for evaluating cyber-security workforce shortages within the public sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT has a number of different mechanisms for evaluating the public sector’s cyber workforce.
DSIT completes an annual Cyber Security Skills in the UK Labour Market Survey, which identifies key challenges facing the public sector’s cyber security workforce, including skills gaps.
Additionally, DSIT expects to publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter which will set out our approach to tackling cyber skills across Government. To develop this approach, DSIT considered a range of data sources, such as the cross government Security Profession Workforce Commission, the People Survey, the recent National Audit Office report on Government Cyber Resilience, and Civil Service Jobs databases to understand where we are facing cyber workforce shortages, why these shortages exist, and how best to tackle them.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what procedures are in place for cross-border data exchange within UK-EU institutional partnerships.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK and EU organisations that transfer personal data in the context of institutional partnerships can rely on respective applicable arrangements that facilitate the free flow of such data. These are known as adequacy decisions
Following EU exit, the UK legislated to deem the EU institutions adequate while in 2021 the EU also adopted its own adequacy decisions for the UK. Some exchanges of personal data are also governed by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement or arrangements for specific areas of cooperation.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what mechanisms the Government uses to assess public sector compliance with national cyber security standards.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
GovAssure is the cyber security assurance scheme for assessing the critical systems of government organisations. The scheme was launched in April 2023 and DSIT recently initiated the scheme’s third year of operations.
GovAssure requires government organisations to self-assess the cyber resilience of their critical systems using the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF). Outcomes are independently verified by accredited third-party reviewers and returned to the Government Cyber Unit, providing DSIT with a clear and objective understanding of cyber resilience levels across government, including the systemic issues preventing organisations from achieving target resilience levels.
DSIT expects to publish the Government Cyber Action Plan later this Winter. The plan sets out how we will adopt a radical shift in our approach to cyber and digital resilience risks across the public sector, with a focus on strengthening accountability. It sets out the underlying milestones and a performance framework for measuring Government’s progress towards these goals, providing DSIT with a further mechanism for assessing compliance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what arrangements exist for sharing threat intelligence between central Government and local authorities.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Cyber Coordination Centre (GC3) shares intelligence across government and the public sector, enabling organisations to better understand and defend against the cyber threat
GC3 and the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) work closely together - alongside the National Cyber Security Centre and law enforcement - to share cyber threat intelligence with local authorities.
DSIT will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this winter which will set out clearer responsibilities and structures for sharing intelligence across Government.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate her Department has made of the value of research and development projects to be launched under the Tech Prosperity Deal in the next 12 months.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
During the unveiling of the UK-US Technology Prosperity Deal in September 2025, over £31 billion worth of investments and partnerships into the UK were unveiled. These will focus on building new data centres and growing AI start-ups, cutting edge tech as well as developing advanced quantum computers.
In the accompanying MoU, the UK and US committed to collaborate on further initiatives across AI, quantum and nuclear technologies. We are still in the process of scoping out these collaborations with US counterparts; it is too early to comment on their value.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to monitor delivery of partnerships under the Tech Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the UK-US Tech Prosperity Deal’s public MoU, the UK and US intend to establish and convene a Ministerial-Level Working Group within six months of the MoU becoming operative, which will serve as a strategic forum to guide bilateral cooperation, set priorities and oversee the implementation of joint initiatives agreed. The UK and US will then meet annually to continue to assess progress and determine the scope and future of collaborative programmes.