Every parliamentary written question tabled by Chi Onwurah this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 341–360 of 377 · this parliament
Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to consult the research sector on the Government’s plans for 10 year budgets for R&D activities.
We recognise the importance of stakeholder engagement and are actively involving stakeholders from the research sector throughout the process. Further details on ten-year budgets will be set out in the Spring as part of the next phase of the Spending Review.
What steps his Department is taking to support (a) innovation and (b) growth in the bicycle manufacturing industry.
Small businesses and manufacturers are vital to high streets and communities, and essential to the success of the Government’s growth mission. At the Budget, the Government announced we would be continuing funding for key business support programmes in 2025-26: Growth Hubs in England, and the Help to Grow: Management programme. We also announced we are extending Made Smarter Innovation with up to £37m funding. Funding for the Made Smarter Adoption programme will double to £16 million in 2025-26, supporting more small manufacturing businesses to adopt advanced digital technologies and enabling the programme to be expanded to all nine English regions.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 13206 on Government Departments: Finance, which Departments are included in the first tranche; what the new system is; and how the new system is being procured.
The first full tranche includes Cabinet Office, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Department for Business & Trade, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology and Department for Energy Security & Net Zero plus associated Arm’s-Length Bodies in scope. Workday is the Technology (alongside System Integrator Cognizant). It’s an AI-enabled, cloud-based, user-friendly software that brings together HR and Finance into one application. Workday & Cognizant were identified as the preferred bidders following the conclusion of an 18-month Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN). Which was in full compliance with Public Contract Regulations and aligned with commercial best practices throughout.
What data his Department holds on the potential impact of non-EU bicycle imports on (a) cycle distributors in the North East and (b) the bicycle manufacturing sector.
The Department does not hold data on the potential impact of non-EU bicycle imports on cycle distributors in the North East or the bicycle manufacturing sector. At the Budget, the Government announced we would be continuing funding for key business support programmes in 2025-26: Growth Hubs in England, and the Help to Grow: Management programme. We also announced we are extending Made Smarter Innovation with up to £37m funding. Funding for the Made Smarter Adoption programme will double to £16 million in 2025-26, supporting more small manufacturing businesses to adopt advanced digital technologies and enabling the programme to be expanded to all nine English regions.
What assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of safety standards of imported e-bikes from outside the EU and (b) implications for his policies of risks associated with non-EU lithium-ion batteries.
UK product safety legislation requires manufacturers or importers placing products on the UK market, including e-bikes to ensure those products are safe. Those importing international products must ensure that they comply with UK product safety rules. Earlier this year, OPSS banned certain models of Unit Power Pack-branded e-bike batteries manufactured in China, and they and local regulators have powers to prevent any unsafe goods identified from entering the UK at the border. The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will preserve the UK’s status as a global leader in product regulation, supporting businesses and protecting consumers.
Representing the House of Commons Commission, what progress the Commission has made in making AI technology available to help hon. members in their constituency work.
The House Administration actively considers how AI can benefit Members. This consideration has a number of threads:(1) Exploring the use of AITeams across Parliament are working together through Parliament’s AI Working Group to consider how AI may be used in a Parliamentary context (in line with the response provided on 17 October). The intent is to work closely with Members to identify opportunities for the use of AI, including to support their constituency duties. The House Administration will work with Members to assess whether AI is viable for the opportunities that are identified.(2) Guidance and learning for Members and their staffAI is increasingly embedded into the services and digital tools we all use. The Parliamentary Digital Service is producing guidance to support Members and staff to use these new technologies safely. This guidance will be considered by the relevant governance bodies in coming weeks.In addition, resources developed by the House of Commons Library for Members and their staff to learn more about AI are being promoted. PDS and the House of Commons Library have also developed an interactive seminar for Members and their staff to participate in. The first such seminar took place on 19 November as part of the New Parliament Fair and teaches Members what AI is, how to use it safely and how it can be applied to Members’ work.(3) Learning from other parliamentsMany other parliaments are exploring how AI may support their Members. We have ongoing engagement with them to identify potential uses and learn from others about how AI is being used to support Members in their parliamentary and constituency duties.All Members will be invited to share ideas for where AI might be useful in supporting them, and the AI Working Group is preparing engagement plans with Members and their staff to assess what might be viable.
Pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2024 to Question 13473 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, what period the most recent report covers; and whether that report is publicly available.
The Office of Rail and Road publishes complaints data on a quarterly basis for all rail operators. London North Eastern Railway also undertakes its own research to understand and respond to passenger needs. The latest Office of Rail and Road passenger complaints data is available on its website at the following link: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/passenger-experience/passenger-rail-service-complaints
Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Shared Rural Network.
The Shared Rural Network (SRN) has already delivered substantial improvements to outdoor 4G mobile coverage across the UK. 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator has increased from 91% when the programme was agreed in March 2020 to 94.9% according to Ofcom coverage reporting. This progress includes upgrading and activating Emergency Services Network (ESN) masts which are delivering new 4G coverage in the harder to reach areas across Britain and building new masts in areas that currently have no signal at all to having coverage from all four mobile network operators.Ofcom recently assessed that all four mobile network operators had met their 88% coverage obligation for completion of the partial not-spot programme. This part of the SRN targets areas where there is currently coverage from at least one but not all four mobile network operators.
Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to increase the amount spent on research outside the Greater South East by 40%.
This public R&D regional investment target is set out in the statement of missions laid in relation to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.Increasing productivity right across the UK is fundamental to our mission to kickstart economic growth. Through our Industrial Strategy and the development of Local Growth Plans, we will build on local strengths to ensure that public and private R&D investment right across the UK helps local places to reach their potential.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Assuring a Responsible Future for AI, published on 6 November 2024, what assessment he has made of the role that Government procurement can have in driving demand for AI assurance.
We know that Government procurement is a powerful lever to drive innovation, giving businesses confidence to invest in and shape markets by signalling Government needs and intent, and this is no different with AI assurance. By embedding them in public sector procurement, Government can likely drive demand for proven AI assurance practices and support improvements in the quality of the AI supply chain. We are continuing to assess this potential, and last week we launched a public consultation on our AI Management Essentials tool, with questions as to the potential market effects of including these practices in Government procurement processes.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 12054 on Department for Business and Trade: Finance, whether the figures referenced are included in the £20.4 billion mentioned on page 65 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October.
The £20.4bn referenced on page 65 of the Budget document refers to all departmental research and development budgets for 2025/2026.This includes a research and development allocation for the Department for Business and Trade for 2025/2026 of £329m. This includes part of the over £2bn for the automotive sector and £975m for the aerospace sector announced over the next 5 years to 2029/2030 at Budget. The £520m announced for life sciences is not included in the overall figure as it is not research and development.The overall allocations for the automotive and aerospace sectors in the Budget are multi-year commitments, with detail to be agreed through the second phase of the Spending Review. This multi-year allocation includes R&D and Capital funding.
Whether she has made an assessment of the quality of wifi on London North Eastern Railway services; and if she will have discussions with that company on improving that wifi.
The Department is working closely with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to ensure all aspects of onboard experience, including WiFi, meet customers’ expectations. LNER reports on customer satisfaction to the Department every rail period and their most recent report indicates that Wifi is not a significant cause of customer dissatisfaction. We remain open to new innovations which improve the provision of onboard Wi-Fi and LNER and NR are leading a project to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on the approach to Kings Cross.
Innovation and Technology, what the (a) annual and (b) consolidated take up is of cyber essentials by small and medium sized businesses.
a) Cyber Essentials certificates awarded to small and medium sized businesses:i. November 2023 to October 2024: 41,162, including 9,680 Cyber Essentials Plus certificates.ii. November 2022 to October 2023: 26,674, including 7,966 Cyber Essentials Plus certificates.iii. November 2021 to October 2022: 20,773, including 4,938 Cyber Essentials Plus certificates.iv. November 2020 to October 2021: 18,136, including 3,694 Cyber Essentials Plus certificates. b) From 1 May 2020 to 31 October 2024 (the period for which IASME Consortium have been government’s sole delivery partner for Cyber Essentials), 131,339 Cyber Essentials certificates have been awarded to small and medium businesses. This includes 27,217 Cyber Essentials Plus certificates.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Assuring a Responsible Future for AI, published on 6 November 2024, what assessment he has made of the role of legislation in driving the AI assurance market.
AI assurance supports organisations to demonstrate their compliance with existing – and future – standards and regulations. To complement the existing focus on proportionate, sector-specific regulation, the UK Government remains focused on its intention to introduce binding requirements on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems, as announced in the King’s Speech. These proposals will build on the voluntary commitments already secured at the Seoul and Bletchley AI Safety Summits and build on the government’s ongoing commitment to ensure that the UK’s regulators have the expertise and resources to effectively regulate AI in each of their respective domains.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.96 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, by what process the figure of £500 million to invest in Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network was arrived at; and what that funding is expected to achieve.
The Autumn Budget set out funding of over £500m in 2025/26 for Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network. This only referred to the capital funding for these programmes, resource is allocated separately. The funding allocation is based on estimated delivery for the two programmes. For Project Gigabit this is based on the contracts we have signed and have planned. We remain committed to delivering gigabit connections to at least 99% of premises by 2030. Funding for the Shared Rural Network is based on agreements with the mobile industry to roll out new and upgraded masts to meet our target of hitting 95% geographic 4G coverage next year.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 August 2024, HC 295, whether this applies to all UK universities; and what metric she will use to assess whether a university is world leading.
The Autumn Budget 2024 announces at least £6.1 billion of funding for core research, growing this allocation at least in line with inflation. Core research funding directly and indirectly supports universities through a range of programmes, including competitive research grants through UKRI’s research councils, investment in PhDs and fellowships, and Quality-Related research funding provided through Research England, informed by the outcomes of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). DSIT will work closely with the sector to effectively prioritise our R&D settlement, and will announce further details on funding allocations in due course.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 August 2024, HC 295, whether he has made an estimate of the return on investment in Horizon (a) this year and (b) in the future.
We expect to contribute over £8bn to Horizon Europe between 2024-2027, and are aiming for UK researchers to be awarded the maximum amount possible through successful funding bids. Our priority is to boost UK application and success rates to maximise this return. As we re-joined the programme in January of this year, and there is a lag between applications and awards, it is too early to properly assess UK success in the programme.We have secured financial protections that ensure the UK can clawback funds if contributions to Horizon Europe exceed receipts that go to UK researchers and businesses and researchers by 16%.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.99 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, over what period will £80 million be invested in corporate services across Government; and whether this investment will be in (a) IT, (b) human resources and (c) training.
The multi-year investment relates to the Matrix Shared Services Transformation programme, which plays an important part in driving a modern digital government, giving people a more satisfying experience and their time back in nine government departments. The £80m investment will take place in the year from April 25 to March 26 inclusive with the programme running through to FY27/28. The scope of the investment covers the implementation of a new system, the associated service transformation and the staff costs to prepare for and enact the changes for the first tranche of departments. With this investment we'll move closer to reaching our overall ambition - to transform shared services and technology to enable civil servants to focus on what they value most, serving the public.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, how much he plans to spend over what time period on an extension of the Innovation Accelerators programme to continue to bolster high-potential innovation clusters in the Glasgow City Region, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands; and whether the programme will be extended to other places.
The Government will extend the Innovation Accelerators pilot for a year to continue to bolster high-potential innovation clusters in the Glasgow City Region, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. We will announce further details on the allocation of the R&D budget in due course. Any future extension of the programme to other places will be subject to decisions taken through the second phase of the Spending Review.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, by what process the figure of £37 million for the Made Smarter programme was arrived at; how many firms that figure is planned to cover; and what the expected return is.
We will announce further details on the allocation of the R&D budget in 2025/26 in due course. We will ensure we continue to build on the success of the Made Smarter Innovation Challenge, which has supported more than 400 organisations, of which over half are SMEs.