Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, how much of the £500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund will be spent in Huntingdon constituency.

The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund will invest up to £500 million in growing high-potential innovation clusters across the UK. Ten regions have been earmarked to receive at least £30 million each, with other parts of the UK – including Huntingdon – able to bid for support. The application window will open shortly and UKRI has published initial guidance to help prospective applicants.The fund complements UKRI’s wider investment in R&D, and in 2023-24 UKRI invested £756 million in East Anglia. This included grants to Huntingdon businesses like BG Research, which is exploring in-field detection of veterinary pathogens to advance farming innovation.

Innovation and Technology, 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.

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.

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 create more national capacity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of removing legislation that requires the Intellectual Property Office to seal patents with wax on (a) money and (b) time savings.

Legislation requires that certified office copies, which verify the content of patent applications, are provided with a physical seal but the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) does not use wax. The IPO is exploring measures to modernise its services, this includes giving users the option of choosing between digital and paper certified copies. A consultation on this has revealed that the majority of users support the introduction of digital certified office copies alongside paper, with some highlighting that this would make processes more efficient, quicker and cheaper. Legislation to remove the requirement would be accompanied by an impact assessment in which these matters would be addressed.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2025 to question 64795 on MBR Acres, what are the nature of the national security concerns regarding the site.

MBR Acres is a critical part of the UK’s preclinical research infrastructure, which in turn is crucial for domestic pandemic preparedness. Another pandemic is the top rated risk in the National Risk Register and discovery and development of therapeutics and vaccines, which relies on preclinical research, is one of the outcomes of the UK Biological Security Strategy.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 63169 on MBR Acres, what support his Department is providing to MBR.

Due to national security concerns, I cannot provide more detailed information.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the potential closure of MBR Acres in Wyton Cambridgeshire on the UK pharmaceutical industry.

The Government continues to support MBR as a vital part of the system, helping sustain a strong pharmaceutical sector and life sciences ecosystem, while also looking to reduce animal testing where scientifically viable. The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation, and adoption later this year.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with academics on the (a) development, (b) validation and (c) uptake of alternative methods to animal testing.

The Secretary of State has had no meetings on alternative methods. However, as the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Minister Vallance and officials have met with academics including at Alternative Methods to Animals in Science Strategy Roundtables and at meetings run by the Home Office. Lord Vallance has also engaged with academics developing non-animal alternatives, including the Harries lab at the University of Exeter.The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help phase out the use of animals for antibody production.

The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.The Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has a collaborative programme of work investigating accelerating the adoption of non-animal derived antibodies and resources to support researchers to adopt these technologies.Further steps supporting alternative methods, including any targets to phase out specific applications of animal testing, will be outlined in the upcoming strategy.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to phase out the use of dogs in (a) scientific and (b) regulatory procedures and replace them with human-specific technologies.

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment 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 will publish a strategy later this year to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, which will set out clear objectives and measurable milestones. Any work to phase out animal testing, including the use of dogs in scientific and regulatory procedures, must be science-led and in lock step with partners including regulators.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the 2020 EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing's recommendation on non-animal derived antibodies.

The Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals In Research is leading work to accelerate uptake of non-animal derived antibodies (NADA), in collaboration with members of the EU Reference Laboratory Committee for animal testing alternatives that developed the NADA recommendation. In 2021, in response to the recommendation, the Animals in Science Committee reviewed antibody licence applications to assess how 3Rs are being implemented.The Government will publish a strategy later this year to support the development, validation, and adoption of alternative methods, which will set out any targets to phase out specific uses of animal testing.

Innovation and Technology, whether he is taking steps (a) at the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use and (b) in other international regulatory forums to help increase the global (i) adoption and (ii) validation of human-specific technologies.

The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) adopts guidelines published by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The Government regularly engages with international regulators with a view to influencing guidance updates. Further details will be highlighted when the plan is published later this year.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to replace animal testing in the development of (a) monoclonal antibody therapies and (b) other drugs with more effective human-specific methods.

Regulatory approval processes already permit human-specific methods for drug testing where humans are the only relevant pharmacological species and the drug’s mechanism of action is well-defined and clinical monitoring is in place. This can include monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapies. Where animals are still required for mAb testing, the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) collaborates with industry and regulators to minimise their use. (https://nc3rs.org.uk/our-portfolio/re-evaluating-need-mab-chronic-toxicity-studies)The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and adoption of alternatives later this year, including any targets to phase out specific animal testing.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the document by the Food and Drug Administration entitled Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies, published on 10 April 2025, and the announcement by the National Institutes of Health on 29 April 2025 on animal testing.

The Government has reviewed the FDA roadmap and is engaging with the MHRA on how to accelerate the science-led adoption of alternatives to the use of animals for drug development and testing. The Government will publish a strategy later this year that will support this ambition and accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods across the biosciences.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to p.20 of the Plan for Change, CP 1210, published on 5 December 2024, what steps he is taking to support the diffusion of technologies.

The Chancellor, Business Secretary and I asked the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and National Technology Adviser to carry out a Review of the barriers to the adoption of transformative digital technologies. The Review has almost concluded, and the findings and recommendations are feeding into the Government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper and sector plans. The Industrial Strategy will take a holistic view across innovation, skills, regulation, finance and other policy enablers and barriers to improving the diffusion of technology and hence business productivity.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to p.22 of the Plan for Change, CP 1210, published on 5 December 2024, what progress he has made on capturing the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution through the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan.

AI offers the most powerful lever we have for national renewal; it underpins the Government’s plan to drive economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.The Government has welcomed the Action Plan and accepted all 50 recommendations to deliver these benefits.Progress has been made across a range of actions, including holding the first AI Energy Council meeting, signing an MOU with Anthropic, and opening the formal AI Growth Zone application process. We will continue to work on all recommendations, such as bringing the AI Research Resource online; this includes the Isambard-AI and Dawn supercomputers and is expected to increase the UK's AI compute capacity by 20 times.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of AI on the graduate job market.

We are already witnessing AI’s impact on the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and changing the landscape. We remain mindful of this impact and its effect on the UK workforce, whilst working to harness the benefits that AI can bring.As part of our response to the Action Plan, DSIT will be working closely with Skills England to develop a clear assessment of the country’s skills needs for AI, and map pathways by which they can be filled. We expect to publish our first assessment before the autumn and periodic publications thereafter.

Innovation and Technology, what geoengineering projects the Advanced Research and Invention Agency have (a) underway and (b) planned in financial year 2025-26.

Details of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, are available on ARIA’s website: https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/future-proofing-our-climate-and-weather/exploring-climate-coolingARIA is intending to publish further details of projects within this programme shortly.