Written questions by Mayer.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to provide regular public reporting on progress made against the recommendations of Replacing Animals in Science, published in November 2025.

Awaiting answer.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to answer 10459, whether she has had discussions with technology companies on bereaved adult partners accessing data on the deceased's devices.

Awaiting answer.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to expand access to free AI foundations training for workers.

The government is committed to building a digitally skilled workforce to support long-term economic growth, drive innovation and expand individual opportunity. As part of this ambition, DSIT has launched the AI Skills Boost campaign to upskill 10 million ...

Innovation and Technology, what progress her Department has made on supporting the upskilling of regulatory assessors as part of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy.

The delivery of the commitment to upskill regulatory assessors sits with OLS. Working with the NC3Rs Regulatory Sciences Forum, we are reviewing all existing regulatory training opportunities to identify any gaps where additional resources are needed. We ...

Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with technology companies on bereaved families accessing data on the deceased devices.

Following extensive engagement and consultation with bereaved families, civil society and industry, the government has recently brought in a number of changes to speed up the preservation of data held in social media accounts that might help explain the t...

Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the progress of the roll out of Project Gigabit in a) Bedfordshire and b) the East of England.

Through a combination of commercial market and government subsidised delivery, government is ensuring 99% of UK premises will have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032.Project Gigabit delivery across the East England region is primarily being taken...

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with mobile network operators on the rollout of standalone 5G.

Since her appointment in September 2025, the Minister for Digital Economy, the Minister responsible for digital infrastructure, has met with the Chief Executive Officers of all the mobile network operators to discuss a range of issues, including digital infrastructure rollout, the market, and challenges the sector is facing.All network operators have committed significant investment in line with Government's ambition for standalone 5G to be available in all populated areas by 2030. Government continues to work closely with operators to identify and address barriers to deployment where appropriate to do so, to support investment and improve mobile coverage and connectivity nationwide.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to coordinate policy on the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods.

The Department is working closely with colleagues across Government to strengthen coordination on the development, validation and uptake of non‑animal methods. The first cross‑departmental ministerial meeting on the delivery of the strategy is scheduled to take place next month and will provide a formal mechanism to drive progress and ensure alignment across policy areas.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on lessons learned from Australia’s introduction of a law to ban under-16s from social media platforms.

The UK and Australia signed an Online Safety and Security Memorandum of Understanding in February 2024 to share learnings and approaches to online safety.The government is looking at what is happening in Australia. The Australian government plans to monitor the impact of their ban and we are engaging closely with them on this. Both the Secretary of State and the Minister for Online Safety hope to visit Australia soon.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025 on the phasing out of the use of animals in scientific research and testing.

The Government is committed to supporting the development and uptake of alternatives to the use of animals in science and has published the Replacing Animals in Science strategy which lays out the steps we are taking to achieve that end. The strategy states that the Government will continue to support the use of animals in science where it is necessary and appropriate. The Government assesses that Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025 will have no direct impact on the phasing out of the use of animals in scientific research and testing.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what the evidential basis was for including the reduction of the use of fish endocrine disruption tests by the end of 2035 in Basket 3.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. Multiple stakeholders and experts in this area, including Defra and the Veterinary Medicine Directorate, were consulted during the development of the three baskets approach, which groups animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. They concluded that basket 3 was the most appropriate timeline for fish endocrine disruption tests.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what steps her Department is taking to expand Basket 3 to include additional animal tests for phase-out.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, and research and development priorities will be published biennially from 2026.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 on the rollout of 5G.

The Government outlined its estimates of the potential impact of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 in its de minimis impact assessment. The impact assessment can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/627a76c88fa8f57d86f3f0ce/De_Minimist_Impact_Assessment_-_Telecommunications_Infrastructure__PSTI_Bill_.pdf. A specific assessment in relation to 5G rollout was not carried out.The Act introduced a range of measures intended to optimise the use of existing apparatus and to support network deployment. Most measures are now in force, and the government is committed to implementing all remaining provisions as soon as possible.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the adequacy of the availability of land and property for new 5G infrastructure and (b) its impact on the UK telecoms market.

The department has not carried out an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of land or property for 5G infrastructure, and this is not an issue previously raised by industry. The Electronic Communications Code provides the regulatory framework by which telecommunications operators gain access to land and property to deploy infrastructure. This aims to balance the rights of site providers and operators to facilitate infrastructure deployment on public and private land, as well as encouraging the sharing of infrastructure.

Innovation and Technology, when he plans to implement sections (a) 61 to 65, (b) 67 (c) 70 to 74 and (d) other remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.

The Government is committed to implementing all remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022 as soon as possible. These measures will help deliver the benefits of advanced digital connectivity.Most provisions have been impl...

Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, published on 30 October 2024, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of human-specific tech

The Government funds research through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and many programmes, including those on organoids, cell behaviour or AI, may eventually lead to the development of human-specific technologies that can replace the need for the use of...

Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 4.94 of of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, published on 30 October 2024, whether any of the core research funding will be used for projects that involve exper

Alternative methods cannot currently replicate the complexity of an intact biological system, so the use of animals remains essential both in basic and translational medical research and in preclinical testing. Currently 32% of Medical Research Council-fu...

Innovation and Technology, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a digital champion in each local authority area.

The Government believes Digital Champions play a key role in advancing the digital connectivity agenda - and help local communities to realise the benefits advanced connectivity can bring. We strongly encourage local and combined authorities to appoint th...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) 4G and (b) 5G coverage in Bedfordshire.

This Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including Bedfordshire, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) scam and (b) nuisance calls.

The Department works closely with Ofcom, who are responsible for tackling silent and abandoned calls, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who lead on enforcement of unsolicited direct marketing calls and ensuring companies adhere to the Privac...