Victoria Collins

The Government is committed to tackling late payments, which can cause cash flow issues for SMEs. In September 2024 we announced measures including a new Fair Payment Code, legislation requiring large companies to report headline payment performance data in their annual reports, and a public consultation on further measures.

Adoption of e-invoicing can also help improve payment times and cash flow management by reducing administrative burdens and data errors and streamlining invoicing processes.

DBT and HMRC recently ran a joint 12-week consultation to gather views on promoting e-invoicing in the UK. The Government will publish a summary of responses and provide an update on next steps in due course.

Companies House plan to implement identity verification requirements under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 for all directors and people with significant control (PSCs) from Autumn 2025. Existing directors and PSCs will have a 12-month transition period to verify their identity with Companies House.

Companies House has already launched the service that allows people to verify their identity directly or via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider in advance of the requirement coming into force.

This Government is working to ensure we have a high-quality and professional construction industry, with consumer protection at the heart of this. TrustMark, sponsored by the Department and licenced by the Government, is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme that covers work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home. In addition, the Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced competence requirements for both individuals and businesses working in the built environment.

Any action that the Government takes on licensing to protect customers and standards needs to be robust, proportionate and evidence based.

In March 2025, this Government published a response to the previous Government’s consultation on tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market, outlining our approach to regulating the sector. Responses to the call for evidence and consultation gathered data from workers, including contractors.

Through the Employment Rights Bill, we are defining the activities of umbrella companies, and allowing for their subsequent regulation and enforcement through the Fair Work Agency. We will ensure that those who work through umbrella companies receive comparable employment rights to those taken on directly by an employment business. This complements the announcement made at Autumn Budget 2024.

Hertfordshire Growth Hub provides SMEs in Harpenden and Berkhamsted with support and advice with adopting digital technology. The Government is working closely with the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. The Taskforce brings industry stakeholders together to explore how the UK can supercharge digital adoption amongst SMEs to drive productivity. Its final report will be published this summer.

In addition, the Department for Business and Trade is working with DSIT on the Technology Adoption Review led by the Government Chief Scientific Advisor and the Government National Technology Advisor.

The Taylor Review was published in 2017 and while it continues to be a valuable contribution to the debate on working practices, this Government is focused on delivering our plan to Make Work Pay.

Once implemented, our Plan to Make Work Pay will represent the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation. It will raise the minimum floor of employment rights, raise living standards across the country and level the playing field for those businesses that are already engaged in good practices.

Small businesses across the UK including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted are the beating heart of our high streets and communities. This Government is committed to supporting them through a fairer business rate system.

From 2026-27, we’ll introduce lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values under £500,000. RHL relief will be extended for 2025-26 at 40%, and the small business multiplier will be frozen for the same period.

The Business Secretary has also announced a new Business Growth Service to help businesses access more easily the support they need to thrive and grow and we will publish our strategy to support small businesses later this year.

We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses. That’s why the government has been focused on negotiating an economic deal with the US.

We will continue to engage with businesses to assess and understand the impact of these tariffs. On 3 April the government launched a Request for Input from businesses to help inform the UK’s response to US tariffs.

We continue to support businesses to grow and export across the world, including to the United States. Through the recently announced Business Growth Service, businesses can access export support via Great.gov.uk. including the Export Academy, International Markets Network, Growth Hubs and Help to Grow: Management scheme.

The accuracy of energy meters is of benefit to both energy providers and consumers and is a requirement of the Electricity and Gas Act legislation covering energy meters. To ensure the UK is taking account of the latest technological innovations the Government participates on relevant international committees that develop internationally recognised standards for ensuring consumption via energy meters is recorded accurately. Following those standards helps industry ensure they are also meeting their legal requirements.

Information provided by employers to HMRC show the number of individuals in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). This data provides a broad indication of Paternity Leave take-up but does not include those that take unpaid paternity leave. The Parental Rights Survey found that 70% of all employee fathers took Paternity Leave.

Table 1: Individuals in receipt of SPP, 2019/20 to 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available)

1. Data is collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and is subject to revision.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. Figures are based on the total number of individuals in a given year, irrespective of when the payment first started. Some individuals will be counted across two years.

Government is committed to providing redress to individuals affected by the Horizon scandal as quickly as possible. Real progress is being made; as of 30 September 2024, approximately £363 million has been paid to over 2,900 claimants across the available schemes.

We however continue to seek options to speed up redress, in discussion with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. For example, we have recently committed to providing offers in response to fully completed claims to the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme within 40 working days in 90% of cases, in line with the commitment on the GLO scheme which we are currently meeting.

The Government is committed to supporting the growth and scaling-up of green technologies, including through the creation of GB Energy, as part of its Clean Energy Superpower Mission. The Government will set out its full approach to seizing the growth opportunities from clean energy industries in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a critical tool in informing consumers about the running costs of their homes, helping them reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions. The EPC model already recognises the performance of air-to-air heat pumps. The government is reviewing the building physics model and methodology underpinning EPCs to better support net zero goals, including deployment of heat pumps. Government will shortly set out a consultation with proposals for improvements to EPCs, including proposals for improving EPC metrics.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a critical tool in informing consumers about the running costs of their homes, helping them reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions. The EPC model already recognises the performance of air-to-air heat pumps. The government is reviewing the building physics model and methodology underpinning EPCs to better support net zero goals, including deployment of heat pumps. Government will shortly set out a consultation with proposals for improvements to EPCs, including proposals for improving EPC metrics.

AI is the technology driving the next global industrial revolution - creating the economic growth which is central to our Plan for Change. Through the AI opportunities action plan, we are cementing Britain's position as a world leader on AI.

The UK is committed to international cooperation on AI safety and security. The AI Security Institute is a central example of our leadership.

The Institute has one of the world's largest teams dedicated to AI security.

Technical talent is drawn from the best AI labs in the world, including: Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind. It is the first state-backed body of its kind, and its work sets the global gold standard for AI security.

It partners internationally, with the US, Canada and many others to develop best practices on secure AI development.

The government recognises the importance of trust in AI systems. DSIT is building confidence in and driving adoption of AI by supporting a growing, competitive, and dynamic AI assurance ecosystem. AI assurance can help provide the basis for consumers to trust the products they buy will work as intended and for industry to confidently invest in new products and services.

The Department will continue to work with a range of stakeholders, including the public and businesses, as we deliver initiatives to support the AI assurance ecosystem. This includes further developing our AI Management Essentials framework for businesses as well as our roadmap to trusted third-party AI assurance, which will be published this summer.

DSIT regularly engages with Home Office on ongoing efforts to protect users from online harms, including AI-generated scams. AI generated content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes either illegal content or content which is harmful to children.

In March this year the Act’s illegal harms duties came into force, with fraud captured as a priority offence. User-to-user services must take preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from appearing and swiftly remove it where it does. Search services must minimise fraudulent content from appearing in results. This includes AI generated deepfake scams.

Sharing or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is illegal. Synthetically created content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and is illegal content or content harmful to children. Government is also legislating to ban the non-consensual creation of sexualised deepfakes in the Data (Use and Access) Bill.

Where a sexualised deepfake is of a child this is child sexual abuse material and is illegal, and Government has introduced an offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models optimised to create this content.

The Department has not conducted a Disability Impact Assessment. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration is an industry-led programme and does not result from a government decision.

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the PSTN to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK. In November 2024, at Government’s behest, all major communication providers agreed additional safeguards to protect vulnerable customers, including for people living with disabilities.

DSIT regularly engages with Home Office on ongoing efforts to protect users from online harms, including AI-Generated scams. AI generated content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes either illegal content or content which is harmful to children.

In March this year the Act’s illegal harms duties came into force, with fraud captured as a priority offence. User-to-user services must take preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from appearing and swiftly remove it where it does. Search services must minimise fraudulent content from appearing in results. This includes AI generated deepfake scams.

Draft regulations to commence sections 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 are currently subject to a technical consultation. The consultation, which launched on 7 May and is open until 23.59 on 2 July 2025, can be found on the gov.uk website.

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.

The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will set out clear objectives and measurable milestones. Any work to phase out animal testing, including the use of dogs in regulatory scientific procedures, must be science-led and in lock step with partners including regulators, so we will not be setting interim targets or arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.

The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has a diverse portfolio of investments that supports research which can lead to alternatives, such as organ-on-a-chip, cell-based assays, functional genomics and computer modelling. UKRI also invests £10 million annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and is conducting a five-year funding review to guide future investment in this area.

Following the 2017 reforms, government representatives engaged regularly with stakeholders about their impact. The changes made by the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 were consulted on and received Parliamentary scrutiny during passage of the Act. Government has no plans to conduct a formal review of the 2017 reforms before commencing sections 61-64 of the Act, which was subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.

Government’s decisions on 5G policy are informed by a wide range of evidence and information. We continue to work with mobile operators to meet our 5G standalone coverage ambition by 2030.

The aim of the 2017 reforms was to encourage investment in digital networks and improve coverage and connectivity across the UK. Based on Ofcom reporting, 4G rural geographic coverage from at least one operator has increased from 88% in May 2018 to a reported 95% in the 2025 Spring Connected Nations Update. It is a similar story for geographic 5G coverage in rural areas, with coverage from at least one operator increasing from 12% in May 2022 to a reported 58% in the same update.

We continue to work with mobile operators to meet our coverage ambitions, including rural areas.

The Government is clear that universities are a key partner in research and development, which is fundamental to kickstarting economic growth and delivering the Government’s missions. DSIT values the views of universities and engages closely with them through a programme of one to one meetings, roundtables, visits, and sector group meetings, as appropriate, to develop research policies for England and the rest of the UK.

Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The design of the advisory committee’s Terms of Reference are therefore a matter for Ofcom.

The Online Safety Act includes clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, how the regulator should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These obligations are unchanged and are duly reflected in the terms of reference for the Online Information Advisory Committee.

In 2024 the Government provided £0.5 million to expand the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ and Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’ programmes.

‘Empower’ provided media literacy education to nearly 4,000 vulnerable students aged 11-16, who were excluded or at risk of exclusion, increasing critical thinking and awareness of online harms. It also trained schoolteachers to lead media literacy within their schools.

‘Everyday Digital’ reached over 60,000 parents, helping improve their understanding of media literacy, set digital boundaries and critically evaluate online content. The evaluation showed a 45% improvement in media literacy understanding.

Both organisations evaluated their programmes’ impact and will publish reports.

The illegal content duties under the Online Safety Act came into force on 17 March 2025. Social media services must now have systems and processes in place to proactively protect users from illegal fraudulent content. Ofcom’s illegal content Codes of Practice recommended that certain services at risk of fraud have dedicated reporting channels for trusted flaggers, such as the National Crime Agency, to report fraud. Providers must take the safety measures recommended in Codes or use other effective measures to protect users.

Ofcom can take enforcement action if providers do not act promptly to address the risks on their services.

The Online Safety Act focuses on the worst kinds of mis- and disinformation - that which is illegal content or content harmful to children. For example, its Foreign Interference Offence forces platforms to take proactive action against state-linked online interference. Platforms must remove other in-scope illegal mis- and disinformation where they become aware of it.

The government is clear on platforms’ responsibility to keep their users safe and tackle harmful content, and DSIT engages with major social media platforms on issues or events that create risks for public safety or national security.

The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. UK Research and Innovation is committed to reducing the use of animals in research and provide a number of financial support mechanisms to do that. This includes, for example, core funding to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, and supporting ‘human-specific’ research through the MRC Experimental medicine programme.