Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her timeline is for rolling out the data sharing project between her Department, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs; and what impact that project will have on energy bills.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I am pleased to say that we have been working on this project since September and are currently conducting a three-month discovery exercise to inform the development of potential data solutions. Depending on the solutions identified, we intend to commence a pilot phase in the spring. Once a suitable solution is developed and tested, we will work with departments to explore the potential to integrate improved household income data into new and existing energy bill and other support schemes. Better data will allow government to target energy bills support more accurately, allowing us to reduce the bills of those who most need help.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to set out the strategy’s priority areas for the targeted replacement of animal tests.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s new strategy sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances, achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods to using animals in science. We will provide regular updates on strategy delivery including through a publicly available dashboard. Recognising that the legal framework in the UK already requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no validated alternatives available, the government currently has no plans to legislate further on this matter.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, which specific topics or scientific areas the proposed foundational training programme for PhD students and early-career researchers in non-animal technologies will cover.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
These will be developed with stakeholders during the implementation of the Government’s strategy to support replacing animals in science. The strategy also commits to publish biennially from 2026 a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities, coalescing UK scientists around these areas and incentivising partnerships between research organisations, CROs and industry. We would expect this process to inform the topics for the training programme.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 79133 on universities: research, what assessment she has made of the impact of the MRC funding model changes on universities.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The change to the Medical Research Council's (MRC) funding model was informed by the findings of the 2020 MRC Unit and Centre Review. This found that a new model could support more strategic investment in medical research, enable closer collaboration with industry, and help researchers be more agile in their work.
MRC Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) are a new way of funding bold and ambitious science, tackling the most important challenges by delivering transformational impact in biomedical and health research. Establishment of the new CoRE funding model is a change in the mechanism of support and does not in any way change MRC’s intent to continue supporting high quality research. Existing units are invited to secure continued, long-term investment through the new CoRE model, while other research activities are invited to transition onto MRC grant support. The MRC continues to provide routes for sustained research investment, mitigating the risks to universities as much as possible.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support universities affected by the withdrawal of Medical Research Council funding.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Following a review, the Medical Research Council (MRC) is changing how it supports research within its units and centres to maximise impact. New MRC Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE) investments will improve how MRC coalesces the best science, skills, and leadership and focus on the challenges that will transform biomedical and health research. All existing units can seek funding through the MRC CoRE model and/or transition into regular MRC grant funding. MRC continues to engage with unit staff and their host universities to best support them during this transition.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 (a) applicant tracking systems and (b) artificial intelligence-based CV screening on the (i) fairness and (ii) accessibility of job applications.
Answered by Feryal Clark
AI assurance is crucial to ensuring that AI systems are developed and deployed responsibly and safely. That is why we have designated AI assurance as a key pillar of support for meeting the commitments made in government’s response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan.
To help organisations address the potential risks associated with the use of AI in CV screening, DSIT published its ‘Responsible AI in Recruitment’ guidance in 2024, setting out good practice for the procurement and deployment of AI systems for HR and recruitment. DSIT also ran the Fairness Innovation Challenge, funding the development of novel solutions to address bias in AI systems. One of the winning projects focused on detecting and reducing bias in CV screening algorithms.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will meet with Silver Voices to discuss their safety concerns in relation to the digital switchover.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This is an issue that the new Government takes especially seriously, which is why my officials have been in regular contact with Silver Voices and met them on two occasions.
I will write separately with further detail on the Public Switched Telephone Network to Voice over Internet Protocol migration and the actions we have taken to ensure people transition safely.