Written questions by Lockhart.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the paper by the Online Safety Act Network entitled Strengthening the Online Safety Act: A Ten-point plan for Government, published in January 2026.

We regularly engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society organisations, to ensure our policymaking remains rooted in evidence and responsive to emerging harms. Contributions from organisations across the sector, including the Online Safety Act Network, form an important part of this dialogue.The Online Safety Act is one of the most robust systems globally to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful content. However, there is growing agreement that more should be done to keep children safe online, which is why the Government has launched the Growing Up in the Online World consultation and National Conversation.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the role that small, high‑harm online platforms play in hosting antisemitic content that is subsequently amplified by larger platforms.

Antisemitic content is divisive, hateful and has no place online. The government expects Ofcom to use its full powers in the Online Safety Act to tackle it.Antisemitic material that meets the criminal threshold is illegal content, and the Act’s duties apply to all regulated services, regardless of size.To address risks from smaller platforms, Ofcom has established a ‘small but risky’ supervision taskforce. This focuses on identifying smaller services posing severe risks, engaging with them, assessing compliance and escalating concerns to Ofcom’s Enforcement team.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of (a) social media groups that promote surrogacy and (b) the risks posed by such groups with relation to the trafficking of children.

Human trafficking is a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. The Act places duties on services to take steps to ensure they are not used for human trafficking.Ofcom, as the independent regulator, has strong enforcement powers under the OSA, including imposing fines, and—where necessary—using business disruption measures to ensure platforms comply with their safety duties.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that rural areas in Northern Ireland have equitable access to 5G and next-generation broadband.

The government wants all areas of the UK, including rural areas in Northern Ireland, to benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile coverage, and this is reflected in our ambition for all populated areas of the UK to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. My department continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to deliver on this ambition, ensuring the investment committed by operators delivers benefits to such communities, including by removing barriers to deployment where they exist and it is practical to do so. Regarding next-generation broadband access, Project Stratum received £199 million of UK government funding and delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland. This project, delivered by Fibrus, completed delivery in June 2025.The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage predominantly targeting rural and hard to reach areas.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of AI technologies on early cancer detection.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). UKRI and NIHR support research which explores the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis, including the NIHR £11 million Edith trial (using AI to assist radiologists in breast cancer screening). AI presents significant opportunities for improving outcomes and diagnosis for cancer patients and driving faster triage of patients with suspected symptoms. Evaluations of the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis are ongoing.

Innovation and Technology, what support her Department provides to small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Ireland to improve their cybersecurity resilience.

Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many SMEs lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help SMEs implement cyber security measures, including the recently launched Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice.NCSC-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms, including in Northern Ireland, and SMEs are eligible for a free 30- minute consultation. Additionally, the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks. We recently completed a funding programme across the UK, which included supporting 170 organisations in Northern Ireland to get certified to the scheme.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in protecting children in Northern Ireland.

The Online Safety Act requires services to protect children in the UK from both illegal and age-inappropriate content. These protections are now in force, as of 25 July, children in Northern Ireland should be seeing a tangible difference in their online experiences.Ofcom are already taking robust action against non-compliant services failing to fulfil their duties. Since the children’s safety duties have been in force, over 6,000 services have implemented highly effective age assurance to prevent children seeing the most harmful online content; improving protections for millions of children online.We will continue to monitor the Act’s effectiveness and will not hesitate to take further action to protect children online if evidence shows this is necessary.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to increase investment in digital connectivity and broadband infrastructure in rural Northern Ireland.

According to the independent website, ThinkBroadband.com, 97% of premises in Northern Ireland already have access to gigabit-capable broadband. This is the highest of any of the four UK nations.Project Stratum, which has had £199 million of UK government funding, completed delivery in June 2025. This delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland that previously did not have access to superfast broadband.The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage. This will predominantly target rural and hard to reach areas.

Innovation and Technology, what recent progress his Department has made on the implementation of the UK National Quantum Strategy.

Over the past year, we’ve taken major steps to support the quantum sector and deliver on the UK’s National Quantum Missions. This includes launching new research hubs, opening the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), and funding research projects through Innovate UK.We are strengthening international collaboration through initiatives like NMI-Q (announced at the G7) to advance global standards in quantum technologies.Last month, we announced £670 million in quantum computing investment as part of the Industrial Strategy—including over £500 million for the Quantum Computing Mission and 10-year funding for the NQCC.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve cyber resilience among (a) small businesses and (b) local authorities in Northern Ireland.

Cyber security is a priority for the government. We are taking action to protect businesses, citizens and essential services against cyber threats. The forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will improve the UK’s cyber defences and ensure there are robust levels of cyber security in the digital services and infrastructure which small businesses and local authorities rely upon.The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offers a range of free guidance, training and tools to help small businesses improve their cyber resilience, including the Cyber Action Plan, Small Business Guide and Check Your Cyber Security Tool. The government’s highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme is available to help small businesses and local authorities get good technical measures in place which prevent common cyber attacks. Local authorities can use the Cyber Governance Code of Practice to manage their digital risks. The Northern Ireland Cyber Security Centre (NICSC), part of the Department of Finance, works in close partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to advance a variety of cyber initiatives aimed at strengthening cyber resilience among small businesses and local authorities across Northern Ireland.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure effective coordination between Government departments to tackle (a) the spread of child sexual abuse (i) material and (ii) harmful algorithms and (b) other online harms to children.

Government departments work together on a range of online safety matters, with child online safety and wellbeing being a particular priority.The Online Safety Act gives user-to-user and search services new duties to safeguard children from illegal content and activity, including child sexual abuse material and harmful content. Platforms’ duties to tackle illegal content began in March.The child safety duties will be fully in force from 25 July and require providers to establish significant protections for children, including requiring services to consider how algorithms and recommender systems impact children’s exposure to both illegal and harmful content.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has held discussions with the UK Space Agency on helping to support the development of Northern Ireland’s space ecosystem.

The Secretary of State has not held specific discussions with the UK Space Agency on Northern Ireland's space ecosystem, however Ministers receive advice from officials as required on a wide range of topics, including regional growth.The UK Space Agency supports regional growth, including in Northern Ireland, as a priority. UKSA has supported the Northern Ireland's space ecosystem through the Unlocking Space for Government programme, by funding a Northern Ireland-led project to explore how satellite data can improve public services in health, infrastructure, and the environment. UKSA has also delivered two Small Business Research Initiatives in partnership with Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) focused on detecting harmful algal blooms using satellite technology.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has held meetings with the Northern Ireland Space Office on the level of support for the region’s space sector.

The Secretary of State has not held meetings with the Northern Ireland Space Office on this topic, however regional growth is key to this Government's growth mission. Regional growth programmes, including for Northern Ireland, are therefore a priority for this Government.The UK Space Agency works closely with the Northern Ireland Space Office to support the development of the region's space sector. Northern Ireland Space Office is a delivery partner of the Ecosystem Development Programme, which promotes regional strengths, attracts investment, and manages the local space cluster.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to cybersecurity training for small and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Ireland.

Cyber security is a priority for the government. We are taking action to protect businesses, citizens and essential services against cyber threats. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offers a range of free cyber security training, including a free online module for small organisations called ‘Top Tips For Staff’, a cyber incident management training package called ‘Exercise in a Box’, and training for boards and directors as part of the government’s cyber governance package to help organisations manage digital risks.Cyber security training is also widely available on a commercial basis, including in Northern Ireland where there is a successful, growing cyber security sector with 128 cyber security providers supporting over £237 million direct GVA to the local economy and employing over 2,750 people.SMEs are also encouraged to take advantage of the NCSC’s Small Business Guide to improve their resilience, and to create a Cyber Action Plan for a personalised list of actions to help businesses improve their cyber security.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on early diagnosis of (a) lung, (b) pancreatic and (c) other cancers.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). UKRI and NIHR support research which explores the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis, including the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund (using AI for faster lung cancer diagnosis). AI presents significant opportunities for improving outcomes and diagnosis for cancer patients and driving faster triage of patients with suspected symptoms. Evaluations of the impact of AI on cancer diagnosis are ongoing.

Innovation and Technology what safeguards are in place to ensure that his officials do not input (a) sensitive and (b) classified information into artificial intelligence tools.

All civil servants are trained in appropriate information management practices for handling sensitive or classified information. We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI usage. For example the AI Playbook for the UK Government, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, and the generative AI framework on GOV.UK which includes a section on using generative AI safely and responsibly.OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE information can safely be included in prompts to AI tools that are hosted within the DSIT IT eco-system, or by providers with whom the department has an agreement in place around the secure processing of such data. For example, DSIT has an enterprise agreement with Microsoft to provide all staff with secure access to Copilot Chat and 1,500 staff with licenses to the cross-government Microsoft 365 Copilot experiment. Additional tool-specific guidance is provided to individuals at the point-of-use.

Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to increase the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure in Northern Ireland, in the context of recent ransomware attacks in the last 12 months.

The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK's telecommunications infrastructure. The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 introduced a robust security framework throughout the United Kingdom and requires public telecoms providers to identify, reduce, and prepare for security and resilience risks, including ransomware attacks. Ofcom is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with this framework. The Government keeps its telecoms security and resilience policies under constant review to ensure evolving risks to UK telecommunications networks are effectively mitigated.