theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Gregor Poynton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the availability of international trade show funding on the competitiveness of (a) exports and (b) exports by the (i) construction and (ii) natural materials sectors. \p Blair McDougall: Though our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we are putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led business growth.

We continue to review how we can improve our support, and as part of this process, we target resources that will have the greatest impact for UK businesses.

From tailored market advice and free training to UK Export Finance and our on-the-ground international network, we are helping connect firms to new opportunities, and build the capability to seize them.
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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the time taken to award compensation payments to victims of the Horizon Scandal. \p Blair McDougall: This Government has greatly accelerated redress. We have launched the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process. We have begun payments of a £75,000 fixed offer for those postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who want to accept it. We deliver 89% of offers within 40 working days of receiving full claims. The total amount of redress paid under all schemes has more than quadrupled since July 2024. As of 29 August 2025, approximately £1,176 million has been paid in total redress to over 8,600 claimants across the three live Horizon schemes.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with representatives of the hospitality industry on job losses in the West Midlands since the Autumn Budget 2024. \p Blair McDougall: The Government recognises the vital role hospitality businesses play in driving employment and supporting local economies including in the West Midlands. We also understand the pressures they face. That’s why our Plan for Small Businesses delivers the most comprehensive support package in a generation, cutting red tape and increasing access to finance.

The Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with representatives from the hospitality sector, through the Hospitality Sector Council, to co-create solutions to the issues impacting business performance, including jobs and skills. In addition the Hospitality Fund is backing projects that will include addressing skills gaps in the sector and boosting productivity.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support pubs. \p Blair McDougall: The Government recognises the vital role pubs play in supporting local economies and fostering community cohesion, as well as the pressures they face.

That is why we established the Licensing Taskforce in April, bringing together representatives from the hospitality sector to help shape reforms. We published the Government’s response on 31 July, setting out a new National Licensing Policy Framework to simplify outdated rules and protect long-standing venues from noise complaints. These reforms form part of the recently announced Small Business Strategy, which aims to tackle late payments, boost access to finance, and remove red tape to enable small businesses, including pubs, grow and thrive.

Additionally, we’re creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street and supports investment, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value. We’ve also launched a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with DBT and Hospitality Sector Council priorities such as Pub is The Hub to encourage local investment.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of large businesses repaying SME invoices 60 or 90 days after receipt of the invoice on levels of interruption to SME cashflow. \p Blair McDougall: On 31st July DBT published new research showing that late payments cost the UK economy £11bn per year and closes down 38 UK businesses every day, with a disproportionate impact upon small businesses.

Government is putting in place the most significant legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years, giving the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7. The consultation on stronger new legislative measures to ensure small businesses are paid promptly closes on 23 October.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year. \p Kate Dearden: In the last year, the Department has expanded the use of artificial intelligence for a growing range of purposes within an AI governance framework consistent with the AI playbook for the UK Government. AI is being used to allow businesses to get tailored advice on export finance via business.gov.uk. A dedicated AI team has been exploring over 30 potential purposes such as conducting rapid evidence assessments and improving correspondence processes. In addition, the Department has made available approved AI tools and training to nearly 4,000 DBT officials around the globe, enabling them to benefit from AI in their own individual work.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to reply to the correspondence from the Rt hon. Member for Braintree of 18 June 2025. \p Kate Dearden: The Rt.hon Member’s correspondence has been transferred to the Department of Health and Social Care as the department responsible for the topic of enquiry.
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Valerie Vaz:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to update the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 to (a) remove chemical flame retardants, (b) provide additional support to furniture manufacturers, (c) improve fire safety, (d) increase recycling and (e) align with international best practice; and if she will publish a timetable for updating those regulations. \p Kate Dearden: The policy paper ‘The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, published on 22 January, set out that the Government is committed to delivering reforms to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 that maintain a high level of fire safety while facilitating a reduction in the use of chemical flame retardants.

The Department for Business and Trade has been carrying out extensive, targeted stakeholder engagement this year to inform decision making, and the Government will provide an update in due course.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the (a) sale and (b) production of skimming devices used fraudulently steal card details. \p Kate Dearden: The Home Office announced that an expanded fraud strategy will be published later this year, as part of the government’s Plan for Change, with a key focus of the strategy being combatting tech-enabled fraud.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025. \p Kate Dearden: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence.

The next update will be for the year ending 31st March 2025.
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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025. \p Kate Dearden: Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.
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Jeremy Corbyn:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his arms licensing policy in relation to Indonesia of the human rights situation in West Papua. \p Chris Bryant: HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust export control regimes in the world.

We assess all export licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including Criterion 2 which requires us to consider the current human rights situation in the country which is the final destination of controlled exports, as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law. The Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We also keep extant licences under constant and continual review on this basis.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence of July 2025 from the Leader of Kent County Council on visas for social care workers from overseas, if she will publish her Department's response to Kent County Council. \p Mike Tapp: The Government does not routinely publish Ministerial correspondence.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the UKVI waiting times for answering enquiries regarding (a) UK passports and (b) British National status. \p Mike Tapp: For customer enquiries made to the Passport Adviceline, in August, the average speed to answer passport related calls was 16 seconds.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 67814 on Borders: Personal Records, whether her Department has an accurate count of the number of people leaving the UK. \p Mike Tapp: As a consequence of the Common Travel Area arrangements, including travellers who leave the UK via the land border with Ireland, there is a marginal difference between the number of individuals recorded leaving the UK and the overall number of individuals who leave the UK.
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Chris Philp:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have had Indefinite Leave to Remain status revoked in each of the last five years. \p Mike Tapp: In order to respond to your request, a manual data extraction would be required. Under section 12(1) of the FOIA, the Home Office is not obliged to comply with an information request where to do so would exceed the appropriate limit. We estimate that the cost of locating and collating any relevant information and extracting the information to meet your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £600 specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. We are therefore unable to comply with it. The £600 limit is based on work being carried out at a rate of £25 per hour, which equates to 24 hours of work per request. The cost of locating, retrieving and extracting information can be included in the costs for these purposes. In this case, the time taken to identify and review the information held in relation to the question would exceed the cost limit.

Where section 12 is engaged in relation to part of a request it is applied to the whole request. This is in line with good practice recommended by the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please note that even if a revised request were to fall within the cost limit, it is possible that further relevant exemptions in the Act might still apply.
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Sir Edward Leigh:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reason for the increased number of asylum seekers in hotels on 30 June 2025 compared with the same date in 2024. \p Alex Norris: This government inherited a hotels policy which saw 400 hotels opened and a staggering £9million spent a day housing migrants across the country.

Instead of clearing the asylum backlog to reduce those costs, the previous government allowed asylum decision-making to fall by 70 per cent in their last months in office.

I have been clear that I will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and end the use of hotels. This includes exploring the use of Ministry of Defence sites to get people out of hotels fast.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect civil liberties. \p Shabana Mahmood: The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to UK democracy but must be balanced with the need to maintain public safety.   To achieve this, public order legislation has been developed that both safeguards freedoms of expression and assembly and upholds the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights

Ultimately, operational decisions lie with the police, who are required to act lawfully and proportionately at all times.
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Carolyn Harris:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the exploitation of people working illegally. \p Alex Norris: As already announced, through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government is introducing tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working.

We have expanded our work across government and with law enforcement partners to target, investigate and enforce penalties on unscrupulous employers who illegally employ those with no right to work here.

We are stopping exploitation by criminal gangs, ensuring vulnerable people receive the correct support and making sure that those who break the law face serious consequences.
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Tristan Osborne:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help counter hostile state threats. \p Dan Jarvis: We are ensuring the UK is a harder target for states that seek to harm our people and interests

We have established a cross-Whitehall Joint Unit for state threats, launched the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme on 1 July, placing Iran and Russia on the enhanced tier, and are taking forward recommendations from the comprehensive review of transnational repression.
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Louise Haigh:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that police forces implement changes in practice following Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel findings. \p Sarah Jones: Keeping children safe is a priority for this Government and we are committed to implementing improvements in practice, including through introducing multi-agency child protection teams in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection launched in April 2025 will improve the police response to child protection and we will also deliver a cross-government strategy as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support collaboration between police forces. \p Sarah Jones: We are making sure that every penny spent within policing delivers improvement for the public through a Collaboration and Efficiencies Programme. Force-to-force collaboration remains an important part of this work.

In addition, an ambitious White Paper published later this year will outline significant reforms to allow policing to collaborate further to deal with the changing threats we face.
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Josh Newbury:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing international cooperation to help tackle organised immigration crime. \p Alex Norris: This government has strengthened co-operation on organised immigration crime with countries near and far – forging new and deeper partnerships through action such as our landmark border security statement with Iraq.

Deals have been struck that no other government thought possible, including the returns deal with France and new agreements with Germany to stop the warehousing of small boats by criminal gangs.
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Mr Richard Quigley:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using a UK-based manufacturer to build the Border Force’s replacement cutters and coastal patrol vessels. \p Mike Tapp: Border Force Maritime Command is the UK’s national sea-going law enforcement body. Its Cutter and CPV fleet tackles the whole range of law enforcement duties, including preventing and deterring importation of illegal drugs, organised people crime and other threats.

Renewal of the Border Force fleet remains a key Departmental priority.

A dynamic UK shipbuilding sector has potential to play a key role in creating and sustaining jobs and in ensuring shared prosperity around the country.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support awareness campaigns on violence against women and girls in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is treating is treating violence against women and girls as a national emergency. We have set out our unprecedented ambition to halve the prevalence of VAWG within a decade, using every lever available to us.

We are going further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve VAWG, underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy to be published as soon as possible. We are actively considering the contribution that communications campaigns can play and will work closely with stakeholders on this.
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Jess Asato:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided guidance for multi-agency staff on non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour of older victims. \p Jess Phillips: Coercive and controlling behaviour (CCB) is a particularly insidious form of domestic abuse and I recognise the long-term emotional and psychological distress it can cause victims, including older people.

Statutory guidance on CCB has been issued to the police and other agencies, which can be found here [Controlling or coercive behaviour statutory guidance]. In addition, the Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance is clear that older victims may face additional challenges and barriers in accessing support and that it is crucial that they get the support they need.

Multi-agency safeguarding hubs have a crucial role to play in the safeguarding system by keeping vulnerable adults, including vulnerable people, safe. Multi-agency safeguarding hubs are non-statutory, and models and ways of working vary between areas. As these are local initiatives, local authorities are best placed to make decisions on the training and guidance required for staff.

The Government is committed to tackling the abuse of older people. We are providing the specialist organisation Hourglass with £532,121 this year. This funding will provide enhanced helpline support with a focus on reaching marginalised communities across England and Wales by providing more training to staff in their organisation and external agencies.
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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of measures to protect women and girls from harassment, abuse and intimidation. \p Jess Phillips: Everyone has the right to both feel safe and be safe going about their day-to-day lives and the scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable.

We recognise that public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is very much an important part of our ambition to halve VAWG in a decade.

Once in force, the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 will help tackle this issue and ensure women both feel and are safer on our streets.

We are also working tirelessly across Government to deliver a new VAWG Strategy, which will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver the Government’s objectives on VAWG.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on tackling livestreamed child sexual abuse. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes ensuring that we are working to combat livestreamed abuse and ensuring that offenders cannot use technology to harm children with impunity.

The Home Office continues to invest in a network of Undercover Online Officers (UCOLs) in Regional Organised Crime Units. UCOLs deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to sexually exploit children, including those who consume and facilitate livestreaming of child sexual abuse. Home Office funding supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt high harm offenders, including those based overseas who seek to livestream abuse.

The UK is leading the way in supporting the building and developing thematic knowledge and operational capabilities of other international law enforcement agencies to work together to pursue offenders and safeguard children. In addition, the NCA is leading a number of initiatives with industry and engagement with the financial sector, to specifically prevent and detect livestreaming offending. This includes work to build on the UK-supported report by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) ‘Detecting, Disrupting and Investigating Online Child Sexual Exploitation’.

The Online Safety Act introduces world-leading protections for children. It places robust duties on tech companies to prevent and swiftly remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, and to take proactive steps to protect children from harm. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.

We also recognise the importance of device-level protections in preventing livestreaming abuse and we support the development and deployment of safety technologies that can help prevent abuse before it happens. This includes exploring the role of on-device tools that can detect and disrupt livestreamed abuse and other image-based harms, while respecting users’ privacy and maintaining end-to-end encryption.

The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of AI-driven detection technologies in preventing online child sexual abuse. \p Jess Phillips: The Home Office, in collaboration with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Accelerated Capability Environment has led the Deepfake Detection Challenge. This initiative brought together experts to develop and evaluate detection tools, which are essential in addressing serious harms including online child sexual abuse. As offenders increasingly exploit AI, we must harness its potential for good.

A key outcome has been the creation of a tool which enables scientific evaluation of detection technologies, offering actionable metrics to support informed procurement decisions and helping end users select the most effective solutions. This capability is now being considered as a potential global standard.

The next phase of the Challenge will continue to identify and benchmark AI-driven solutions. The Government remains committed to investing in innovation to combat this appalling crime.

The Home Office has also introduced world leading measures by becoming the first country in the world to criminalise the possession, creation and distribution of AI tools to generate child sexual abuse material, and criminalised the possession of paedophile manuals that teach others how to create tools for this purpose.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to enable (a) private coaches, (b) education tutors and (c) other self-employed people to apply for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate with the relevant barred list check, in line with Recommendation 4 of the Bailey Review. \p Jess Phillips: On 9 April 2025, the Government published an update on its work to tackle child sexual abuse, available on GOV.UK: Tackling Child Sexual Abuse. As part of this, by the end of 2025, we will introduce secondary legislation to create the ability for self-employed individuals, working in sensitive roles with children and vulnerable adults, to access higher-level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. This change will apply in England and Wales.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to introduce a legal requirement for people undertaking regulated activity to obtain an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate with a barred list check. \p Jess Phillips: Outside of specific sectors such as health and education, where Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are mandated, the decision to carry out DBS checks lies with the employer. DBS checks apply in England and Wales; other parts of the UK have their own arrangements.

Whilst some sectors do set requirements for enhanced checks for some roles and/or settings where regulated activity takes place. Home Office legislation around regulated activity and DBS checks only provides eligibility for checks; it does not make them a requirement.

However, if an individual has been barred, then they will be committing a criminal offence if they knowingly engage, or seek to engage, in regulated activity with a vulnerable group from which they are barred. This is punishable by imprisonment and/or fine. The same is true for employers who knowingly employ somebody who is on the barred list. This is why employers are expected to undertake regular checks for those in regulated activity otherwise they risk committing that offence.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect people from identity fraud through impersonation. \p Dan Jarvis: Cifas, a not-for-profit fraud prevention organisation, holds records of first and third-party fraud risk, including identity fraud. In the first six months of 2025, Cifas reported that over 118,000 identity fraud cases were reported to their NFD in their Fraudscape 2025 six-month update (Fraudscape 2025 - Cifas).

Identity theft is not a standalone criminal offence and not included in official crime statistics The Independent Review of Fraud Offences will consider whether a specific offence for identity theft is needed.

We also recognise that one of the most effective ways of preventing identity theft enabled fraud is to improve the safety and security of the identity systems we use. The Government is developing proposals for a digital identity system, to enable people to prove their identity securely, without physical documents, with the aim of reducing identity-enabled fraud and crime. Information on digital identity and the Trust Framework can be found here: UK digital identity and attributes trust framework - GOV.UK.

It is also important to empower the public to protect themselves and keep their identities safe. That is why we have introduced a checklist, providing advice and steps on how to prevent the misuse of identities: Identity fraud victims' checklist.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on the number of people who were (a) referred to the Prevent programme for an initial assessment and (b) did not live in the UK (i) 3 and (ii) 5 years ago in the latest period for which data is available. \p Dan Jarvis: Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions and support, and that communities are protected against radicalising influences.

The Home Office produces annual statistics on GOV.UK and provides official statistics on the number of individuals recorded as having been referred to and supported through the Prevent programme in England and Wales, from 1 April to 31 March each year which can be found here: Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme statistics - GOV.UK.
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John McDonnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the proposed funding by the European Commission for the development of new approach methodologies which do not involve the use of live animals in experiments. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Government is committed to supporting alternatives to animals in science and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. We have reviewed the European Commission's (EC) Life Sciences Strategy and engaged with the European Medicines Agency on accelerating the science-led adoption of alternatives for a range of uses of animals in science, including chemicals, medicines and cosmetics. Government officials regularly attend international meetings to collaborate on best practice and consider approaches to reducing reliance on animal testing, including attending European Commission workshops on the EC roadmap to phasing out animal testing for chemicals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on making the UK the third most important life sciences economy globally by 2030. \p Kanishka Narayan: Since publishing the Life Sciences Sector Plan in July, we have moved rapidly into delivery. The Plan sets out 33 concrete commitments, each with clear metrics, milestones and a named Senior Responsible Officer to drive accountability. Robust assurance mechanisms are being established to track the delivery of the Plan, including progress reporting into the Life Sciences Delivery Board every four months, and a stakeholder engagement plan to ensure sector views on delivery are captured. Delivery is already underway – with recruitment going live for the Chair and CEO of the Health Data Research Service with the Wellcome Trust, and the recent launch of both Europe's first Biofoundry for mRNA manufacturing and the £85m Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme with Eli Lilly – all part of building the UK into Europe’s leading life sciences economy by 2030.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_297

Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to phase out the use of animals in scientific research. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Labour Manifesto commits 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 invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of 3Rs approaches. A significant amount of research funding in the UK also goes to underpinning technologies that have the potential to deliver the 3Rs, driving forward innovation.

The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_298

Mohammad Yasin:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) legislation and (b) policy relating to technology is informed by experts with technical knowledge. \p Kanishka Narayan: The internal policies associated with technology (such as the AI Playbook) used within government, are directly informed by industry leading technical experts, which include digital and data civil servants, specialist third parties and expert non-exec board level advisors with extensive experience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_299

Bobby Dean:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulations governing the use of (a) CCTV and (b) other video recording devices on domestic buildings. \p Ian Murray: The UK’s Data protection framework is technology-neutral. If domestic CCTV or other video recording devices capture someone else's property or communal space, then the UK’s data protection legislation applies as the images and voices of other people will be captured and this is classified as personal information.

The UK’s Data protection legislation is monitored and enforced independently of Government. The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance on domestic use of surveillance equipment, including CCTV.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_300

Bobby Dean:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to introduce measures to ensure that (a) privacy and (b) data protection standards are maintained for the use of (i) CCTV and (ii) other video recording devices on domestic buildings. \p Ian Murray: The UK’s Data protection framework is technology-neutral, with its principles, namely, transparency, accountability and fairness, applying to all technology which uses personal data, including CCTV. There are also general rules on how personal data should be processed and safeguarded.

If domestic CCTV captures someone else's property or communal space, then the UK’s data protection legislation applies as the images and voices of other people will be captured and this is classified as personal information.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance on domestic and commercial use of surveillance equipment, including CCTV.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_301

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what funding streams are available for SMEs offering (a) patented and (b) environmentally beneficial technologies in the water sector. \p Kanishka Narayan: There are a number of funding schemes available to innovative companies and SMEs in the water sector. Since 2020, Ofwat’s £600m Innovation Fund has supported 109 projects and facilitated almost 300 collaborations between companies, universities, charities, and other organisations. The Government is also supporting innovation through Ofwat’s £100m Water Efficiency Fund, which seeks to stimulate a reduction in water demand across England and Wales. Furthermore, UKRI runs a range of competitions open to SMEs in the water sector. For example, Innovate UK’s Growth Catalyst supports innovative start-ups, particularly those in the clean energy and climate technology sectors. There are also opportunities for firms developing water innovations within Horizon Europe programmes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_302

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to consolidate the gov.uk app with the (a) gov.uk one login, (b) gov.uk ID check and (c) HMRC app. \p Kanishka Narayan: The GOV.UK app is designed to sit alongside existing government applications, including those operated by HM Revenue and Customs. My officials continue to work closely with colleagues across government to ensure these services complement one another.

We have already integrated GOV.UK One Login functionality into the GOV.UK app to enable a signed-in experience for users.

Utility and the user experience are key priorities, and we are committed to ensuring a seamless and cohesive experience for all users when interacting with government products and services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_303

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 36 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, what improvements have been made as a result of science and technology collaborations with New Zealand. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Prime Minister has set out that national security is the first duty of our Government and international cooperation with like-minded countries is in the national interest. Science and technology are essential to delivering this: technologies are increasingly dual use, offering broad strategic advantage and improving our ability to tackle transnational challenges. The UK and New Zealand are long-standing partners on defence and security and have shared ambitions to deepen cooperation. This includes recent agreements to work together on Earth Observation from Space and protecting Antarctica as a place for peace and science.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_304

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 12 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made in building the UK national security agenda for (a) AI and (b) other frontier technologies in order to accelerate adoption in key sectors. \p Kanishka Narayan: DSIT is supporting the implementation of the National Security Strategy by identifying, nurturing, and protecting the UK’s sovereign strengths in science, technology, and innovation, and by aligning objectives and metrics to achieve measurable results.

The government's response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out a comprehensive programme of work to build national capacity and accelerate adoption. This includes our commitment to 20x public compute, establishing the sovereign AI unit backed by up to £500 million, and our investment into cutting edge research via the AI security institute. We have also committed to publishing an AI for Science strategy.

DSIT has also committed to work with the Ministry of Defence to pull through innovative capabilities to mission at speed and foster a thriving and world-leading UK defence technology sector through collaboration in multiple areas e.g. on the creation of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) and closer working on National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) investment programmes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_305

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of social media on children’s mental health in rural areas. \p Kanishka Narayan: The government is working to expand the evidence base on the impact of social media on children across the UK. In December 2024 DSIT commissioned a feasibility study into research to understand the impact of smartphones and social media on children. The report will be published in due course.

In addition, Ofcom has a large programme of work underway to help build further understanding of the impact of online services’ features and functionalities on children.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_306

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department has taken since the Spending Review to improve online safety on social media platforms in rural areas. \p Kanishka Narayan: Making the UK a safer place to be online is a priority for the government, including in rural areas. As such, the government is committed to implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible to ensure that all UK users, particularly children, benefit from its wide-ranging protections.

The illegal content and child safety duties are already in force and we anticipate that adults and children will see a tangible and positive difference in their experiences online. Ofcom is already investigating services in relation to compliance, including with the recent requirements to introduce age checks for pornographic content.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-15 conversation_307

Dave Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with (a) landowners (b) Wireless Infrastructure Providers and (c) Mobile Network Operators on the implementation of sections 61-64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022. \p Ian Murray: A technical consultation on draft regulations to commence Sections 61 – 64 of the Act, dealing with certain Renewal agreements, was published on 7 May 2025 and closed on 2 July 2025. The department received submissions from a range of stakeholders in response to the consultation, including landowners, Wireless Infrastructure Providers and Mobile Network Operators.

Officials have kept these stakeholders updated on progress to implement outstanding provisions of the PSTI Act, including sections 61 – 64. This has been done through group sessions, which site providers, operators and infrastructure providers have all been invited to attend. Officials have also shared these updates and listened to feedback as part of their routine engagement with stakeholders. This engagement has included regular and ad hoc meetings with specific organisations and representative groups.