Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps he has taken to encourage the use of innovative technologies to deliver public services; and will he make a statement.

In November 2017, we launched a £20 million, three year GovTech Catalyst to fund private sector innovators to solve public-sector challenges. To date, the programme has identified and appointed 15 challenge winners. It is now seeking to test these concepts and provide a route to market for the viable solutions.

We will shortly launch the Innovation Strategy, outlining a vision for how departments can build on those foundations to make the most of the opportunities, while understanding the risks and challenges, offered by the application of emerging technologies in public services.