Written questions by Onwurah.

What steps she is taking to help improve the provision of real time information at bus stops.

The government knows how important it is that passengers have better access to information about bus services. In 2020, the Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations were passed which utilised the powers from the Bus Services Act to require bus operators in England outside of London to share high-quality, accurate and up-to-date timetables, fares and location data. To facilitate this, the Bus Open Data Service (BODS) was subsequently launched in 2020. Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops and shelters in their area, however the government will work with the sector to help drive improvements to real time information at bus stops as part of the government’s wider plans to deliver better bus services for passengers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16156 on Turing Scheme: Free School Meals, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants are from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Through the Turing Scheme, in the 2024/25 academic year, education providers and other eligible organisations from across the UK and British Overseas Territories have been allocated over £105 million to send their students on more than 43,000 study and work placements across the globe. Around 23,000 (53%) of these opportunities will be for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.Information on the number and proportion of disadvantaged students in previous years of the Turing Scheme is available at the following links:2021/22 Academic Year: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/funding-opportunities/funding-results-2021-to-2022/.2022/23 Academic Year: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/funding-opportunities/funding-results-2022-23/.2023/24 Academic Year: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/funding-opportunities/funding-results-2023-to-2024/.For the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, the figures are subject to change following quality assurance of providers’ final reports of the placements that took place. This data will be published in due course.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 between Microsoft and the Crown Commercial Service, what guidance is available to civil servants on securing official documents held online.

Everyone who works with government has a duty of confidentiality and a responsibility to safeguard any government information or data that they access or share, and all government departments are required to meet a range of mandatory security standards. The ‘Government Security Classifications Policy’ and ‘Guidance 1.1: Working at OFFICIAL’ set a range of baseline security behaviours and controls for all civil servants to follow on how to process OFFICIAL information securely, wherever it is collected, stored, processed or shared across HMG (electronically, in hardcopy or verbally) and with the wider public sector and external partners. Government departments and other public sector organisations are responsible for ensuring civil servants understand their duties and responsibilities.Departments have Knowledge and Information Management professionals, and Digital and Data professionals, to help configure access permissions and other protections within their cloud based systems, such as within Microsoft 365.Microsoft has produced various pieces of guidance for the UK government, in partnership with the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), Government Security Group and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). These have been created to support government organisations that use Microsoft 365. They outline how to configure the Microsoft 365 platform to enable a secure and interoperable experience for civil servants operating at the OFFICIAL tier.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Question 12938 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £500m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2024-25 was classified as official development assistance.

We are still in the financial year 2024-25 so the FCDO will not have final full year numbers until April 2025. However, at the start of the year, £500 million of ODA was allocated to research & development in FCDO.

Innovation and Technology, what training civil servants in his Department receive on the public sector equality duty.

In June 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published updated guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), available to all staff via the intranet. The guidance provides a clear framework on the principles of the duty, compliance expectations, and conducting equality impact assessments. Staff were encouraged to use this resource to support their work.In addition, a PSED training video was included in the Policy Foundation Programme, run on DSIT's behalf by the Integrated Shared Services. The first cohort took place on 18th November 2024.

Innovation and Technology, which Minister is responsible for the interface between innovation and business to drive growth.

The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation is responsible for Innovation across the Missions, including the Growth Mission. However, a wide range of DSIT’s policy areas support businesses and contribute to innovation-led growth, and therefore all Ministers will have an interest. A full list of Ministerial responsibilities is at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-ministers-and-responsibilities.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16157 on Railways: Nationalisation, whether her Department plans to maintain regional livery as railway franchises are brought into public ownership.

The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11881 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £335m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2025-26 will be classified as official development assistance.

Following the spending review phase one settlement letters from HM Treasury (to which PQ 11881 refers), the FCDO is running an internal process to be agreed with Ministers, to decide on internal allocations for 2025-26. This will include allocations of Official Development Assistance.

Innovation and Technology, what the budget is for the Government Office for Technology Transfer in the 2025-26 financial year.

The budget for the Government Office for Technology Transfer in financial year 2025-26 has not yet been set. Having now reached agreement with HM Treasury on an overall funding envelope for 2025-26, a business planning exercise is progressing to set budgets within the Department and for its supporting agencies and public bodies.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 13473 and the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14457 and 16158 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, what proportion of complaints about facilities on board were about wifi; and what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that wifi is not a significant cause of customer dissatisfaction.

For the period July to September 2024 London North Eastern Railway received 64 complaints relating to Wi-Fi reliability which equates to 0.75 per cent of all complaints received in that period.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 13473 and the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14457 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, whether complaints about WiFi are included in the category entitled facilities on board.

I can confirm that Wifi complaints fall into the "Quality on Train" - "Facilities on Board" category.

How many and what proportion of (a) schools that have students with Turing grants are independent schools and (b) students that receive Turing grants attend independent schools.

For the 2024/25 academic year, over £10 million in funding was awarded to 298 successful schools projects from across the UK. This will provide funding for over 7,000 pupils to participate in placements overseas. Of these, 56% will be for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.Of these 298 successful school applications, 6 were from private schools (2%), providing funding for just over 100 pupils to take part in international placements (1.6%), however this is subject to change as these projects are delivered through the year.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 14940 on Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the minimum signal strength to support remote working.

Ofcom reports that a 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed connection is needed to support video calls and a consistent connection to the internet, and our expectation is that this would support remote working. Most networks in the UK, including those delivered by Project Gigabit, offer much higher performance.The mobile signal strength thresholds Ofcom set for the Shared Rural Network are based on Ofcom’s assessment of what constitutes “good” mobile coverage which has been in place for several years and which broadly equates to successfully making a 90 second call and getting a download speed of at least 2Mbit/s. Whether this is sufficient to support remote working will depend on a number of factors, including the nature of the work being undertaken and the level of congestion on the network. We have asked Ofcom to keep under review what constitutes good 4G and 5G connectivity.In response to my letter to their Chief Executive, Ofcom is considering how to incorporate different signal strength thresholds in its reporting on the availability of mobile networks.

How many and what proportion of (a) schools and (b) students with Turing grants receive free school meals.

The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs. Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:Someone with an annual household income of £25,000 or less.Someone who has been entitled to free school meals (FSM) at any point in the past six years because of being in a low-income household.Someone with experience of being in care or who is a care leaver, including anyone who is or has been in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life.A refugee or an asylum seeker.Someone who is receiving Universal Credit or income related benefits themselves, or lives with someone who does. Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application. As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.

How many and what proportion of students with Turing grants who are eligible for free school meals attend an independent school.

The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs. Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:Someone with an annual household income of £25,000 or less.Someone who has been entitled to free school meals (FSM) at any point in the past six years because of being in a low-income household.Someone with experience of being in care or who is a care leaver, including anyone who is or has been in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life.A refugee or an asylum seeker.Someone who is receiving Universal Credit or income related benefits themselves, or lives with someone who does. Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application. As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 14940, on Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, how Ofcom tests areas for compliance with their standard for good coverage.

Ofcom’s approach to testing compliance is available on Ofcom’s website. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/cellular-coverage/It involves a combination of desk-based assessment against the mobile network operators (MNO) coverage predictions and drive testing in a sample of locations across the UK.Ofcom uses scanners installed in vehicles to capture a range of information including mobile signal strength across the UK’s road network. This provides signal strength measurement samples for each MNO across different regions and terrains. This data is then used for comparison at an aggregated level with the coverage predictions the MNOs supply to Ofcom.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.

The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reports of incidents involving (a) e-bike batteries and (b) conversion kits on consumer trust in e-bike technology.

While e-bikes and e-scooters are used safely by millions of people every day, unsafe, non-compliant or improperly used lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes can cause serious fires. Public safety is our priority, and this Department’s recent “Buy Safe. Be Safe” campaign was launched last month to raise awareness of the steps consumers can take to reduce the risk of fires. This is part of a wider programme lead by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to tackle the causes of fires so that consumers are protected and can have confidence in these technologies.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question 13205 on Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, what minimum service levels his Department expects 4G coverage delivered as part of the Shared Rural Network programme to meet.

The Shared Rural Network is delivering good 4G outdoor coverage across rural parts of the UK. For 4G networks, Ofcom defines good coverage based on the minimum signal strength required to deliver a 95% probability of making a 90-second telephone call successfully completed, and of getting a download speed of at least 2Mbit/s.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his department is taking to help increase diversity in the research workforce.

DSIT is committed to increasing diversity in the research workforce. We are supporting the pipeline of diverse talent, for example through the CREST Awards and the UKRI funded STEM Ambassador programme. We are supporting UKRI’s EDI Strategy to ensure that those with the best research ideas can access research funding regardless of their backgrounds.We are improving understanding of the issues through a second edition of the UK-wide Research and Innovation Workforce Survey in July this year. UKRI also publishes diversity data and commissions high-quality research evidence that informs policy and practice in the R&D system, e.g. through its EDI Caucus.