Written questions by Griffith.

Innovation and Technology, whether she intends to publish an updated Space Industrial Plan.

The government does not intend to update the Space Industrial Plan. Instead, a broader plan for space will be published later this year, which will build on the Space Industrial Plan and other relevant publications, including the National Space Strategy and the Strategic Defence Review. The plan will set out objectives and delivery plans for areas previously covered by the Space Industrial Plan, including skills, regulation and investment.

Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to support the development of satellite based internet to help improve rural broadband connectivity in West Sussex.

Government is committed to delivering gigabit coverage to 99% of UK premises by 2032 and will continue to consider what it can do to further enable alternatives to fibre connections for premises located in very hard-to-reach areas.The Government also works closely with Ofcom to ensure that spectrum management and licensing arrangements support the deployment of satellite broadband services, including through appropriate authorisation of satellite networks and earth stations.The Government Alpha trials, which ended in March 2025, tested the capability of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity in remote locations. The Government also ran a pilot through the Rural Connectivity Accelerator which combined satellite and wireless technologies to support connectivity needs in remote areas.The satellite market is developing at pace, with further entrants and significant changes to terminal equipment, speeds and the cost of service packages. We continue to monitor and support the development of this market.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has plans to introduce a mandatory battery back up requirements for mobile network operators.

Residents in rural areas, as well as other areas of the country, rightly expect to have reliable mobile connectivity to participate in the modern digital economy. The Government recognises that events like storms and power outages can have a particular impact on rural communities.Mobile network operators have legal obligations to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the resilience of their networks and services. This is overseen by the independent regulator Ofcom, who have powers to monitor compliance, conduct investigations, issue penalties and enforce remedial actions.Ofcom have completed a public consultation on power back-up for mobile services across the UK, which identified a particular impact on rural communities. They published an update on their work in February and announced they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures required to ensure adequate resilience for consumers. The Government will consider this analysis carefully. The Government is also supporting collaboration between the electricity and telecommunications sectors to deliver measures so that when power cuts occur the likelihood of disruption to telecommunications services is as low as possible, and where disruption does occur it should affect as few people for the shortest possible time.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to improve the resilience of mobile networks in rural areas.

Residents in rural areas, as well as other areas of the country, rightly expect to have reliable mobile connectivity to participate in the modern digital economy. The Government recognises that events like storms and power outages can have a particular impact on rural communities.Mobile network operators have legal obligations to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the resilience of their networks and services. This is overseen by the independent regulator Ofcom, who have powers to monitor compliance, conduct investigations, issue penalties and enforce remedial actions.Ofcom have completed a public consultation on power back-up for mobile services across the UK, which identified a particular impact on rural communities. They published an update on their work in February and announced they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures required to ensure adequate resilience for consumers. The Government will consider this analysis carefully. The Government is also supporting collaboration between the electricity and telecommunications sectors to deliver measures so that when power cuts occur the likelihood of disruption to telecommunications services is as low as possible, and where disruption does occur it should affect as few people for the shortest possible time.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with industry representatives on the impact of data protection requirements on SMEs.

Yes, my department has regularly engaged with businesses, trade associations and other interest groups during passage of the Data (Use and Access) Act. Many of the provisions in the Act are designed to simplify the data protection legislation for organisations, while promoting innovation and economic growth, and maintaining high data protection standards.My officials and I will continue to engage with stakeholders in the months ahead as we implement the Act. An impact assessment can be found here.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support the Government's shareholding in Eutelsat OneWeb.

Government engages with OneWeb through government’s non-executive directors and with Eutelsat Group through UK Government Investments officials who are accountable to the Secretary of State and advise the department on commercial matters. Government works with OneWeb to facilitate its commercial rollout, such as supporting international engagement with key sovereign customers. Substantial Government R&D grant schemes will help UK businesses compete for large-scale contracts, including from OneWeb. We also collaborate with OneWeb to see how its services could deliver for citizens. For example, OneWeb equipment is employed in trials for high speed broadband in very hard to reach locations in the UK.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to further the UK's strategic interest in low earth orbit satellite constellations.

Low Earth Orbit is significant for many space use-cases, including Earth Observation, In-orbit Servicing Assembly and Manufacture, and Communications. There are a range of programmes and initiatives underway across Government to support UK objectives in these. For example, the UK Space Agency's Active Debris Removal mission seeks to develop the technologies needed to rendezvous, approach, hold and manoeuvre objects in orbit which are critical for many other In-Orbit use-cases such as servicing satellites.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department offers paternity leave to its staff from their first working day.

To be eligible for 3 weeks paid paternity leave in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, an employee must have worked continuously for the Civil Service for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due, or for at least 26 weeks up to the week their spouse, civil partner or partner was matched with a child for adoption. Employees who have already completed continuous service in another Civil Service organisation at the point of joining the Department could qualify for paternity leave on their first day of service. In addition to paternity leave, fathers, civil partners or partners have a statutory right to time off to attend up to two ante-natal or pre-adoption appointments from their first day of employment. As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, what assessment he has made of the value for money of the contract for re-procurement of the Service Desk.

The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate technical support during the life of the Service Desk contract.

The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department’s Commercial Pipeline for October 2024, published on 22 October 2024, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of providing the Service Desk contract in-house.

The re-procurement of the Service Desk has been included in the Department’s Commercial Pipeline as potential activity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology makes no commitment that the requirement will be procured. Activity to assess value for money and merits of providing the service in-house will be carried out through a Delivery Model Assessment, in accordance with Government Sourcing Playbook and Department’s Commercial Assurance Process. This activity has recently commenced, and the assessments have not been completed. Any resulting contract would be supported by contractual performance mechanisms to ensure adequate technical support throughout the life of the contract.

Innovation and Technology, what his Department's budget for technical support services is for this financial year.

We have interpreted this as Digital technical support services, which are in the order of £0.8m for DSIT.

Innovation and Technology, whether the Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms's ministerial portfolio is supported by other Ministers in his Department.

All ministers in the department work as a team and support one another because we achieve far more by our common endeavour than we do by going it alone.

Innovation and Technology, if he will visit the UK Space Agency’s office in Scotland.

The Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology will consider visiting the UK Space Agency’s Scotland office as and when his diary allows, and is committed to supporting the growth of the Scottish space sector. My Ministerial colleague, Lord Patrick Vallance, visited the UKSA’s office in Scotland this week (Wednesday 23 October).

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the implementation of AI technology for Government telecoms data.

Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of the UK Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. The Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology, tasked Matt Clifford with developing an action plan to identify how AI can drive economic growth and deliver better outcomes for people across the country. The government is supporting research on advanced communications via the £70m Future Telecoms Technology Missions Fund, delivered by UKRI. This includes research into AI for telecoms.

Innovation and Technology, how many 4G masts funded by his Department have been constructed since 5 July 2024.

As part of the publicly funded element of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) we can confirm that 11 masts have been built or upgraded for the programme since 5 July 2024. These masts have already been activated and are delivering reliable 4G coverage, enabling rural businesses and communities to thrive.

Innovation and Technology, if he will publish a breakdown of (a) average download speeds in megabits per second, (b) the level of availability of superfast broadband and (c) the level of availability of gigabit-capable broadband in each constituency in (i) England and (ii) Wales as of 21 October 2024.

Information on connectivity on a constituency-by-constituency basis across the UK is available from the local broadband tracker on ThinkBroadband: https://labs.thinkbroadband.com

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2024 to Question 5708 on European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts: Finance, whether the contract for construction was advertised.

The contract was procured by the Government Property Agency through a framework (CCS RM6088, Construction Works and Associated Services, Lot 5, Construction Works & Associated Services (£80m+) National Framework) which was itself advertised. As part of this process, contractors on the framework were notified of the opportunity to tender. This approach is in line with The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and usual construction industry practice.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had meetings with the UK Space Agency to discuss the growth of Scotland’s space ecosystem.

The Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology is in regular discussion with the UK Space Agency, our key delivery partner, about Scotland's growing space sector as we recognise its crucial role in delivering our national ambitions for space. The UKSA has also opened an office in Scotland which shows its commitment to support the growth of the Scottish space sector.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2024 to Question 5708 on European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts: Finance, what estimate his Department has made of the construction cost of the project.

The contract is subject to an ongoing commercial process, and it would therefore not be appropriate to share construction cost estimates.