Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans his Department has to (a) reduce duplication in digital services and (b) consolidate departmental platforms.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to delivering more joined up public services, reducing duplication, and developing modern digital public infrastructure that will make public organisations more integrated. Thousands of teams across the public sector are already using our world-leading digital components such as GOV.UK Notify, Pay and Design System.
The Government will establish a ‘once only’ rule, so that if people have provided information to one service, it can be reused by others with appropriate safeguards. It will start with central government services and commonly reused data, but be designed to scale over time to the broader public sector and more information.
The Government has also committed to introducing a Digital Backbone: the integration, orchestration and instrumentation technology needed to share capabilities and build true end-to-end journeys.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 private sector technology providers on the (a) development and (b) scaling of (i) the GOV.UK application and (ii) supporting infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The GOV.UK app has been developed in-house by a multi-disciplinary Government Digital Service (GDS) led team. We are committed to iterative development and improvements, and to working in the open - a core part of the GDS culture. We're actively learning, improving, and expanding what the app can do.
The government remains committed to collaborating with industry experts to ensure that digital services are secure, efficient, and able to meet the evolving needs of users across the UK.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the potential barriers to cross-departmental data integration; and what steps he is taking to help mitigate them.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The State of Digital Government Review identified five root causes for the issues with the current state of digital government, all of which are barriers to cross-departmental data integration: Leadership, Structure, Measurement, Talent and Funding. In addition, an extensive data management discovery has recently concluded which identified strategic, cultural and technical barriers to data capability across government.
The Blueprint for Modern Digital Government sets out the first steps in the government's plans to address these challenges, including work to strengthen and extend our digital and data infrastructure. This includes developing guidance, standards and tools for fast and secure data exchange, such as a mandate for the publication of a standard set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by public sector organisations, and the development of a cross-government Data Management Hub to support the adoption of consistent best practice. We are also expanding data sharing legislation, where necessary, and creating the National Data Library to provide the trusted data foundations needed for the delivery of a modern digital economy.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to help tackle public concerns on (a) surveillance and (b) the misuse of personal data as digital identity and service integration increases.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government plans to introduce digital versions of existing government-issued documents through the GOV.UK Wallet, a secure digital service for storing government-issued credentials on users’ smartphones. By design, Government will not be keeping a record of where credentials are used.
GOV.UK One Login allows citizens to safely and securely prove their identity to access government services online. Privacy is at the core of its design; it is compliant with UK data protection and privacy laws.
In addition, measures on digital verification services (‘DVS’) in the Data (Use and Access) Act create a legislative structure of standards (the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework), governance and oversight for DVS that wish to appear on a government register, so that people will know what a good digital identity looks like.
The trust framework includes rules on privacy, data protection, and fraud management, building on existing industry standards and legislation where appropriate, to ensure user needs are put first.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to partner with technology SMEs to deliver components of the Government's digital strategy.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to partnering with technology SMEs to deliver components of the Government’s digital strategy.
To support this, the Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence in Government Digital Service is working closely with trade bodies that represent SME’s to ensure that the SME’s get regular opportunities to engage with officials and gain a detailed understanding of the digital strategy and how the SME community can help.
These communities will be able to provide insights and provide feedback to GDS, noting that any commercial engagements will need to follow procurement regulations.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of regional differences in digital infrastructure that may affect the rollout of the digital transformation strategy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Differences in digital infrastructure are regularly assessed through Ofcom’s Connected Nations reporting. We are committed to ensuring nationwide (at least 99%) gigabit broadband coverage by 2032 and to standalone 5G coverage by 2030 across all populated areas of the UK.
88% of premises already have access to gigabit-capable broadband. To extend coverage further, Project Gigabit contracts have been signed across the UK. These contracts take account of regional differences in provision of digital infrastructure.
4G coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass as a result of the Shared Rural Network, with the biggest improvements in mobile coverage being delivered across rural Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland had the lowest coverage at the start of the programme, so the biggest investment has been directed there to improve coverage.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the new GOV.UK website will allow for integration with services provided by (a) local authorities and (b) other public bodies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Blueprint for Modern Digital Government sets out the government's vision for joined-up services that span the public sector, deliver a more satisfying user experience and reduce the bureaucratic burden on citizens.
The GOV.UK website already helps users to move between GOV.UK and wider public services. Users can select their location to see information relevant to them, and follow embedded links to, for example, local government services and health-related content.
The new GOV.UK App similarly enables people to tailor their experience based on their location; after inputting a UK postcode, the GOV.UK App directs users to the relevant local council. Future iterations of the GOV.UK App will provide more personalised and integrated access.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the GOV.UK wallet will be launched as a standalone application; and what plans his Department has for the inclusion of digital driving licences within the wallet’s functionality.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is developing the GOV.UK Wallet, which will initially be released as part of the existing GOV.UK One Login app. The first credential will be the Veteran Card, followed by plans for an early version of the digital driving licence later this year. This follows on from the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, requiring services to issue a digitally verified credential alongside any paper/card-based credential or proof of entitlement eligibility by the end of 2027.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 coordinate integration of digital platforms across departments.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to delivering more joined up public services, reducing duplication, and developing modern digital public infrastructure that will make public organisations more integrated.
The Government has also committed to introducing a Digital Backbone: the integration, orchestration and instrumentation technology needed to share capabilities and build true end-to-end journeys.
The Government has also committed to launch a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence, which will negotiate whole-of-public-sector agreements and contracting once for a limited number of high value cases, including platform services such as cloud.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what role the Digital Centre of Government will play in (a) mandating and (b) monitoring digital service standards across (i) departments and (ii) public bodies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Service Standard provides the principles of building a good service. It’s made up of 14 points covering three specific areas: meeting user needs, providing a good service and using the right technology. The Service Standard is mandated for all GOV.UK services.
If a central government service is transactional, it will be assessed against the Service Standard before it can be accessed via GOV.UK. This applies even if the service is internal and will only be used by civil servants.
In ‘A blueprint for modern digital government’, the Government committed to publishing a new Digital & AI Roadmap which will set out further detail on plans to improve service standards and performance.