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, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the exclusion of UK tech companies from the EU Cloud and AI Development Act.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The PM has been clear that UK-European collaboration in science and technology is extremely important to the UK. We are engaging with European Commission to understand the development of the proposed EU Cloud and AI Development Act and assess its impact on the UK. We will utilise opportunities such as the upcoming UK‑EU Summit to discuss any issues we foresee with the EU Cloud and AI Development Act.
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, whether she has considered which aspects of (a) AI, (b) quantum, (c) space and (d) bioengineering the UK will seek to lead in.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government made a series of long-term commitments to developing UK leadership on AI, quantum, space and engineering biology through the Industrial Strategy and the AI Opportunities Action Plan.
We have established the £500m Sovereign AI Fund to support UK AI companies at key parts of the AI value chain. Focus areas will continuously evolve but could include compute, novel model architecture, AI for science and AI safety and assurance.
We recently announced the £1 billion commitment to procure a first-of-its-kind, large-scale quantum computer and announced on 4 March that DSIT will prioritise four space subsectors for development - Satellite Communications, Assured Access to Space, In Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing, and Space Domain Awareness.
We are investing £644m into supporting the ecosystem for Engineering Biology including R&D, infrastructure and regulatory reform, to realise the potential of engineering biology across multiple applications.
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, whether she has held discussions with (a) Microsoft, (b) Amazon Web Services and (c) Palantir regarding the potential implications of the (1) US Cloud Act, (2) Patriot Act and (3) entity‑list controls for UK data sovereignty and access to cloud services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State has not held specific discussions with these companies on these matters.
The Government takes a balanced approach to cloud services, ensuring public sector systems are secure, resilient, and effective, while benefiting from global innovation. This is underpinned by data protection law, UK security standards, and established commercial rules.
Supplier risks are managed through established security and resilience processes, with procurement decisions based on value for money, security, and the effective delivery of public services, including for critical infrastructure.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available through his Department and Jobcentre Plus to help single parents with childcare responsibilities find suitable part-time employment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in our Child Poverty Strategy, this Government is committed to boosting family incomes, supporting single parents and reducing the earnings gap within couple households by transforming employment support and removing barriers to work. The Government recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours, which is why we offer financial assistance and 30 hours of free childcare a week through the Free Childcare for Working Parents scheme. Following the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy, we are continuing to engage across the voluntary and community sector to understand and address issues facing parents and carers, including single parents.
In Universal Credit, working families can claim up to 85% of eligible childcare costs each month, up to a maximum of £1071.09 a month for a single child and £1836.16 a month for families with two or more children at the 2026/2027 rates. At the Budget, we announced that in 2026-27 we will help parents in work who have larger families by providing UC childcare support for each additional child beyond the first. Lead carers within Universal Credit also have different conditionality requirements that reflect their childcare responsibilities.
We are also supporting parents to balance work and childcare through the Make Work Pay legislation, which strengthens rights to request flexible working arrangements. We are rolling out free breakfast clubs in schools across the country, helping parents manage work schedules whilst ensuring children have a positive start to the day. Parents and carers can also benefit from our wider employment support initiatives including Inactivity Trailblazers in England and Wales, Skills Bootcamps, the Sector-based Work Academy Programme, the Adult Skills Fund, and personalised help for sick and disabled people through Pathways to Work. Further to this, DWP currently deploys around 300 Family Community Work Coaches in England to support the most vulnerable families in society with multiple, complex needs to make significant, positive changes in their lives that move them towards employment.
As we design and develop the new Jobs and Careers Service, we will ensure support is more personalised to meet individuals’ needs and help them overcome their specific barriers to work. We are also testing bringing services and support into the heart of communities, for example through partnership delivery in Family Hubs, Jobcentre vans and community pop-ups.
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, what minimum UK capabilities she has identified as necessary across (a) AI computing, (b) cloud infrastructure, (c) cybersecurity and (d) data governance to reduce dependence on foreign technology providers.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has identified the need to strengthen capability across a range of critical technologies, as set out in the Modern Industrial Strategy (2025) and the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan (2025), including building UK capacity in AI computing through investment in advanced compute infrastructure.
Alongside this, we are developing a National Cloud Strategy, as outlined in the Roadmap for Modern Digital Government (2026). It will assess how to strengthen the security and resilience of UK cloud infrastructure and improve the cloud ecosystem.
These efforts are supported by robust data governance structures, such as the UK's data protection legislation and Data and AI Ethics Framework, which help protect UK interests while enabling innovation.
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, whether her Department must approve IT spend above a certain value.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Yes. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, must approve all digital and technology spend above certain values.
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, whether her Department requires the use of open‑source software, open standards or open interfaces as part of its oversight and approval of major IT procurement across Government.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As of February 2025, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), through its incorporation of the Government Digital Service (GDS), requires full consideration be given to the use of open standards and open-source software.
DSIT oversight and approval processes for major IT spend is governed by the requirements and guidance contained in several key GDS publications:
Oversight Mechanisms
From 1 April 2026 onwards, each department is accountable for applying all functional standards as set by DSIT, regarding Digital, Data and Technology spends. Functional assurance will only be conducted by DSIT where the spend exceeds the Department’s Delegated Authority Limit (DAL) set by HM Treasury.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available through his Department and Jobcentre Plus to help disabled people find suitable part-time employment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to providing disabled people who want to work with the right support to find employment, including part-time work and self-employment, that meets their specific circumstances and ambitions.
In addition to Work Coach support, our Pathways to Work Advisers provide one-to-one personalised support to disabled customers to help them move towards, and into, work. More than 65,000 people have already chosen to receive support from these advisers over the last year.
Outside of Jobcentre Plus-based support, our voluntary and locally-commissioned, £1bn Connect to Work Supported Employment programme offers specialised employment support to disabled people, those with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment. The programme provides participants with tailored support, including vocational profiling, finding good job matches and on the job coaching. It will support around 300,000 people across England and Wales by March 2030. We are also expanding the WorkWell programme to cover all of England by autumn 2026, to provide integrated, holistic early help to up to 250,000 people with health-related barriers to work.
The Department for Work and Pensions also works with employers to encourage them to adopt flexible recruitment practices, including reduced-hours roles, alternative shift patterns and other adjustments that make jobs more accessible, including through the use of assistive 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, what assessment he has made of the UK’s level of dependence on foreign manufactured Common Information Models (CIMs); and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the resilience and sovereignty of UK infrastructure that depends on CIM‑enabled connectivity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Common Information Models are used across a range of UK CNI sectors. This includes telecommunications, where CIMs enable interoperability between different network management and operational systems. They support efficient operation and automation in complex, multivendor networks, but do not themselves control telecommunications networks.
The Government keeps under review the resilience and security of the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure, including potential dependencies on overseas technologies and suppliers.
As the government set out in its response to the Telecommunications Supply Chain Diversification (TSCD) Advisory Council report, security and resilience risks can arise when critical network functions may rely on a limited range of suppliers or technologies, including software based systems used for network monitoring, configuration and management.
The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 and the National Security and Investment Act 2021 provide frameworks through which the Government can assess and address national security risks in the telecommunications sector, including risks associated with hostile state interference. The government response to the TSCD Advisory Council report also sets out the steps the government is taking to manage the risks associated with vendor concentration in UK telecoms networks.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen the resilience of the UK's critical infrastructure, including by strengthening duties on operators of essential services to manage risks in their supply chains. The Bill will also provide the Secretary of State with a power of direction, enabling the government to act where necessary and proportionate to address national security risks to regulated entities.
The government works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre to assess and manage risks to UK critical national infrastructure, including those arising from dependence on foreign-manufactured technologies
The Government seeks to build sovereign capability in critical technologies, as set out in the June 2025 Modern Industrial Strategy and the accompanying Digital and Technologies Sector Plan.
More broadly, on the development of global digital standards, the UK supports an open, inclusive, multistakeholder approach and is actively engaged to ensure our interests and values are well-accounted for. DSIT, NCSC and other government departments and agencies engage directly in standards development where the UK has critical interests to seek to ensure that UK needs are met.
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, whether the Government plans to increase technology collaboration with like‑minded international partners to support the UK’s sovereign capability in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is pleased to be working with international partners to support a thriving AI ecosystem in the UK, seizing the benefits of partnership and driving accelerated adoption of AI.
Through international collaboration, including initiatives like EuroHPC, and actively attracting inward investment, including more than £30 billion announced during the 2025 US State Visit to boost the UK’s AI infrastructure and cutting-edge tech, the UK is positioning itself at the forefront of global AI.
The launch of the £500 million Sovereign AI Fund on 16th April will build on this and ensure the UK’s world-class talent, research and data assets translate into long-term benefits for the UK and further consolidate our sovereign capability.
The Government looks forward to exploring opportunities to go further, promoting collaboration on AI and emerging tech and unlocking opportunities for UK citizens and businesses.