Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Digital and Tech Policy 2021 Fund.

The Digital and Tech Policy Fund 2021 was used to deliver two programmes.

Firstly, the fund supported the delivery of HutZero, an accelerator programme for cyber security entrepreneurs. As a condition of funding, the HutZero delivery partner was required to provide an annual report demonstrating impact and progress against KPIs. The programme supported 6 cohorts from 2016 - 2020, totalling 146 participants and resulting in the formation of 17 new cyber security companies. Upon evaluation of the programme, 100% of participants agreed that the HutZero programme improved their knowledge and skills relevant to product commercialisation.

Secondly, the fund was used to support the Tech Talent Charter, a not-for-profit organisation leading a movement to address a lack of diversity in the tech sector. DSIT (formerly DCMS) has both funded and supported the TTC since 2017, helping it grow from 18 signatories to an organisation with over 800 signatories across 42 industry sectors and representing 160,000 people in technology roles across the UK.

With funding from the Digital and Tech Policy Fund 2021, Tech Talent Charter were able to increase their signatory base and deliver sector-wide insights and resources on diversity and inclusion. They grew from 475 to 700 signatories and had a significant positive impact on their members, which employed 33% more women in tech roles than comparable tech companies. They launched an ‘open playbook’ including best practice and resources to support tech companies’ work on diversity and inclusion. They also launched their 2021 Annual Diversity in Tech report, the only comprehensive source of diversity and inclusion data on the tech sector, which was used by 1500 professionals.