Written questions by Dewhirst.

Innovation and Technology, how much money has been allocated through the the UK Research and Innovation fund to research into mitochondrial diseases in each of the last five years.

The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), committed £55,650,000 since 2020 to research into mitochondrial disease.2020£9,283,0002021£11,063,0002022£13,416,0002023£9,738,0002024£12,150,000Additionally, MRC awarded the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit (MBU), which focuses entirely on mitochondrial disease, £39,489,000 over this period.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New mapping tool launched to help bring healthy food to those who need it most, published on 8 July 2025, who will run the state-subsidised eateries in (a) Dundee and (b) Nottingham; and if he will publish the project (a) specification and (b) plan for the DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ piloting public restaurants scheme.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has funded six projects under its “Health inequalities in the food system” programme, announced on 8 July 2025. These projects aim to understand the causes of dietary health inequalities and explore interventions for equitable, healthy consumption. ‘DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ is a funded project within this programme, which will examine different models of public restaurants in Dundee and Nottingham to assess their feasibility in current UK contexts. The project is led by an academic principal investigator. Full grant details will be published on the UKRI Gateway to Research website in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what funding (a) the Government Digital Service and (b) his Department has provided to DigiGov Expo 2025.

No funding has been provided to DigiGov Expo 2025 by either the Government Digital Service or the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Innovation and Technology, what guidance the National Protective Security Authority has provided on using Virtual Private Networks.

As part of our ongoing monitoring of the potential impact of circumvention techniques on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act, Government is engaging with relevant bodies. However, the National Protective Security Authority has not provided the department with guidance on the use of VPNs.The child safety duties are newly implemented and represent a major milestone in the protection of children online. It is now much harder for children to accidentally or intentionally access harmful content. Services that deliberately target UK children and promote VPNs to circumvent online safety measures could face enforcement action under the Act.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54390 on Data Statistics Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, if he will make a statement to Parliament with a formal government response to that report.

As outlined in previous Answers of 3 June to Question 54390 and 2 May 2025 to Question 47834, relevant departments and policy teams will consider the findings in light of their ongoing policy work.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Government Procurement Card spend over £500 - April 2025 (Spending by Business Units no longer part of Cabinet Office), published on 29 May 2025, what the spending at Wolleys was for.

The expenditure at Woolley's, as recorded in the Cabinet Office’s Government Procurement Card data for April 2025, covered catering (tea and coffee) for URCON 25, the cross-government User Researcher Conference held in April 2025. The event brought together approximately 500 user researchers from across the public sector for a full day of in-person learning, collaboration, and professional development.

Innovation and Technology, what guidance his Department has issued on the use of third-party AI tools in relation to topics with a security classification; and what assessment he has made of whether such AI tools transfer information outside of government further to their terms and conditions.

The AI Playbook for the UK Government acknowledges the use of third-party AI tools, offering high-level guidance on commercial, legal, and security aspects. Principle 8 advises consulting Commercial colleagues on procurement (p. 39) to ensure that expectations around responsible and ethical AI use are the same for in-house and third-party systems. The legal section (p. 61) covers intellectual property considerations when using third-party tools, while the security section (p. 74) examines risks and opportunities in third-party tools and embedded AI solutions.As with any third-party tool, departments are required to undertake necessary risk assessments, including data protection impact assessment (DPIA) when using third-party AI tools. The DPIA process is designed to identify different types of sensitive data to be processed in different phases of use, including inputs and outputs. The AI Playbook outlines a section on data protection, which covers the importance of undertaking DPIAs for risk mitigation. The DPIA process would identify data governance risk areas, which would be covered in the terms and conditions of the suppliers' contract. Breaches of contractual clauses are legally binding. Security classifications are derived from the Government Security Classifications Policy (GSCP), and that the principles set out in the GSCP must also be adhered to for use of all tools.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the speech entitled PM remarks on the fundamental reform of the British state, published on 13 March 2025, on what methodological basis the Prime Minister said that the Government would make £45 billion savings in efficiency; and over what time period this would be.

The Government’s £45 billion estimate is based on a detailed analysis employing three levers: automating routine tasks (£36 billion), migrating services online (£4 billion) and reducing fraud via digital compliance (£5 billion). This work scaled bespoke analysis conducted on the Civil Service to the wider public sector, with overlaying case studies. A more detailed methodology will be published online in due course.The £45 billion therefore represents the steady‑state annual savings / productivity gains achievable once these efficiency measures are fully embedded across the public sector.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on UK participation in the EU Space Programme.

A Government priority is for a ‘reset’ in relations with the European Union, with a particular focus on driving economic growth, and improving our security and trade relationship.Space has a fundamental role to play in achieving these ambitions, and we will continue to work closely with EU counterparts to identify areas to strengthen our space cooperation for mutual benefit. Discussions are taking place across Government regarding future UK participation in the next EU Space Programme, ahead of the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). We will continue to engage with the EU Commission as this work progresses.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26614 on Center for Countering Digital Hate, what the methodology is used to check whether (a) direct or (b) indirect funding has been provided previously, including by predecessor departments.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s financial systems were checked for record of any payments to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. Other departments were not consulted.

Innovation and Technology, which government departments and agencies are responsible for (a) civil contingency planning, (b) warning and (c) mitigation in relation to (i) Near-Earth Objects and (ii) space debris.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is responsible for civil contingency planning, warning and mitigation in relation to Near-Earth Objects and space debris.Risks associated with these events are considered as part of the national risk assessment process and proportionate mitigation activity identified. Risks are published in the National Risk Register.Contingency planning and event warnings are delivered through the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC).

Innovation and Technology, whether (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom has provided funding to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

As far as we are aware, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ofcom have not provided funding to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

Innovation and Technology, what the cost to the public purse is of AI training programmes for civil servants.

Learning in the civil service can be sourced either at a department level or centrally via a cross government learning framework. We are unable to share total consolidated spend but the spend associated with AI training purchased via the learning framewor...

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7011 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Official Cars, if she will publish a list of senior officials in his Dep

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7010 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Official Cars, how many of those vehicles are electric.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Innovation and Technology, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) his officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have (i) been allocated a ded

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations. The Departmen...

Innovation and Technology, what his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted ac

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles.The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the Government Car Service is ...