Written questions by Onwurah.

What recent discussions his Department has had with trade unions on the digitalisation of Government.

The Cabinet Office regularly discusses workforce matters with trade unions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 28100 on Investment, when the Minister for Investment (a) last visited and (b) will next visit the regions.

The Minister for Investment has made several regional visits since her appointment in October, including to Edinburgh, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, Darlington and Sunderland. The Minister for Investment will continue to make several regional visits in the coming months, to continue to promote investment and identify opportunities across the United Kingdom.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of standardising the legal definition of criminal child exploitation for the purposes of having consistent national statistics on criminal child exploitation.

This Government is committed to tackling child criminal exploitation (CCE) and going after the gangs who are luring children into violence and crime. Data from the Department for Education's Children in Need statistics allow us to estimate there were around 14,500 children that have been identified as at risk or involved in child criminal exploitation in 23/24.We are delivering on our manifesto commitment to introduce a new offence of child criminal exploitation which was included in the Crime and Policing Bill. The offence will define CCE (in terms of its constituent elements) for the purpose of prosecuting offenders under this offence. A specific new CCE offence will also more clearly identify the volumes of victims and perpetrators of CCE, thus helping to improve the overall data available on this issue.As part of the CCE offence we will be taking a power for the Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance. We intend for this to also provide guidance on the definition of CCE, including illustrative examples of common forms and methods of CCE.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25215 on Driverless Vehicles, which companies are members of the industry working group; and on how many occasions has this group met.

The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV’s) Industry Working Group (IWG) aims to strengthen collaboration between CCAV and the automated vehicle (AV) industry to support the development and implementation of the regulatory framework. The IWG had its inaugural meeting in February 2025 and will have regular meetings throughout the lifetime of the AV Act Implementation Programme. The IWG forms part of CCAV’s stakeholder engagement across industry, academia and the public. The core members of the IWG include trade bodies techUK and The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd, as well as AV industry representatives from Wayve, Waymo, Oxa, Bosch, Aurrigo, Ocado, and Nissan. The membership of the IWG is kept under review and other government representatives such as delivery agencies or local government may join meetings depending on the agenda.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support growth in the video game industry.

The Government recently announced £5.5 million funding for the UK Games Fund (UKGF) for 2025/26, which will provide grants to early-stage studios to develop new intellectual property and deliver the graduate talent development programmes Tranzfuser and Dundee Development (DunDev).Video games companies can also benefit from the Video Games Expenditure Credit, and access support from the Create Growth Programme and the UK Global Screen Fund.

Whether the membership of the Technology Advisory Board has changed since June 2023.

I refer the Hon. Member to Question UIN 30994 answered on 24 February 2025.

What recent discussions he has had with the lithium (a) extraction and (b) processing industry.

DBT regularly engages with the lithium extraction and processing industry. I will visit Cornwall this Spring to see first-hand the progress that the UK’s leading extractive and processing projects have made. Government has supported growing the lithium value chain through the National Wealth Fund’s £24m investment in Cornish Lithium. Domestic production of lithium will be increasingly important as demand for resilient and responsible sources of critical minerals grows. Government will work closely with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year. This will secure our supply chains for the long term and refine our approach to maximising domestic production.

What steps he is taking to support the domestic critical minerals industry.

A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK’s economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition. Government will work hand in hand with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year. The Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure our supply chains for the long term and drive forward the green industries of the future. Government is considering policy options to secure our critical mineral supply chains and will be engaging closely with industry to realise our potential for producing critical minerals domestically. I am pleased to see the National Wealth Fund’s recognition of our domestic critical minerals industry’s growth potential, as demonstrated by their recent £28.6m equity investment into the Cornish Metals South Crofty tin mine.

With reference to the Gingerbread report entitled Child maintenance: research on the experiences and impact on separated families published on 25 November 2024, whether her Department is working with charities and others with expertise in domestic abuse to embed trauma-informed principles into the operation of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely seriously and is committed to ensuring that victims of abuse get the help and support they need to use the service safely.Incorporating views and feedback from external stakeholders with experience of domestic abuse, CMS has updated and refreshed its Domestic Abuse training which includes awareness of a Trauma Informed Approach. All CMS caseworkers have received training to help identify abuse, support vulnerable customers, and provide signposting. A Domestic Abuse Plan is in place to support caseworkers in having these conversations. Domestic Abuse training will continue to be reviewed regularly and developed with the support of stakeholders, including Gingerbread, as we develop policies and processes that support victim-survivors of domestic abuse.Additionally, there is work underway around the Trauma-Informed Approach across the Department, and CMS will, of course, be part of this work. This includes a dedicated programme that will integrate the six key pillars of the approach as defined by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (December 2022).

Communities and Local Government, what financial support the Government is providing for the redevelopment of Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.

There is no direct financial support committed for the redevelopment of Old Trafford football ground. Greater Manchester Combined Authority will receive around £630 million per annum through their integrated settlement from the start of the 2025-26 financial year.This will give the Mayor and Combined Authority much greater freedom and funding flexibility to drive forward the local economy and deliver growth. This may include support for priority regeneration schemes such as the redevelopment of Old Trafford stadium.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help ensure that tax incentives for science and technology are used to promote innovation.

Research and development (R&D) tax reliefs are vital to economic growth, and will support an estimated £56 billion of business R&D expenditure a year by 2029-30.In the Corporate Tax Roadmap, the Government committed to strengthening the administration of the reliefs by continuing to improve guidance, establishing an expert advisory panel, and publishing a consultation on widening the use of advance clearances. An R&D disclosure facility was launched at the end of 2024.HMT is the lead department for taxation policy including R&D tax reliefs. The Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have regular discussions on a range of issues.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to publish a written response to the recommendations of the independent report entitled What works to attract and retain people into R&D careers, published on 10 February 2025.

The Government does not typically publish responses to independent research reports. The recommendations made by the Behavioural Insights Team in this report will be considered as part of the Department’s ongoing policy development to support our ambitions for the UK’s R&D workforce and to drive national and regional growth through R&D.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of ending the entitlement of football clubs to claim research and development tax credits.

The Government recognises the importance of Research and Development (R&D) in driving innovation and the benefits it can bring for society, where the R&D tax reliefs play a vital role in the Government’s mission to boost economic growth.All sectors are able to claim R&D relief on projects that meet the definition of qualifying R&D set out in DSIT Guidelines. R&D claims from all sectors are checked and where risks are identified HMRC use a range of compliance approaches and powers to address them.There are currently no plans to exclude certain sectors from claiming R&D relief.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions his Department has had with trade unions on the digitalisation of Government.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology regularly discusses workforce matters with trade unions.

Who are the members of the Technical Advisory Board.

The membership of the Technical Advisory Board (TAB) is listed on the TAB’s GOV.UK webpage:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/technical-advisory-board/about/membership

When the Technical Advisory Board (a) last met and (b) last provided advice to the Government.

For reasons of national security, we do comment in detail on the activities of the Technical Advisory Board (TAB), including if and when it provides advice.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential strategic value of OneWeb for supporting Ukraine.

The UK has provided a significant number of communication systems to Ukraine, including satellite-based systems, many of which have been integrated into a range of military capabilities. We have considered OneWeb as part of our support package, but, to date, we have not provided OneWeb systems to Ukraine.The Armed Forces of Ukraine are specific on the communications systems they require, and their requests have focussed on different satellite systems. Our support remains agile, and we could switch towards more Satellite communications systems, including OneWeb, if that was deemed a higher priority.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using the UK’s plutonium stockpile to generate electricity.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) conducted substantial technical, deliverability and economic analysis to identify a preferred option for a long-term disposition solution for the UK-owned plutonium, considering options for immobilisation and reuse of the material as fuel to generate electricity. The outcome of this work recommended immobilisation as the preferred way forward to put the material beyond reach soonest and with greatest delivery confidence. The plutonium cannot be used as fuel in its current form: new infrastructure for Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel production would be required, as well as new reprocessing capabilities to sustain a closed fuel cycle. A proportion of the material is unsuitable for reuse in reactors and requires immobilisation in any scenario.

Innovation and Technology, which organisations are responsible for (a) the development and (b) the maintenance of the (i) Scout, (ii) Connect, and (iii) Humphrey AI tools.

The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI), which is part of the Government Digital Service, developed these tools. i.AI maintains Connect and the Humphrey GovAI toolkit. Scout will be maintained by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Innovation and Technology, how much public money has been allocated for the development and maintenance of the AI tools (a) Scout, (b) Connect, and (c) Humphrey; and from which departmental budgets those funds have been drawn.

One of the functions of the new Government Digital Service is to incubate AI products and scale them into cross government services. As part of this funding for the development of Connect and Humphrey will come from the budget of the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, which sits within DSIT's overall operating budget. The level of funding is subject to the department’s settlement at Spending Review. Currently other departments are not charged for use of these tools, though the department will determine an appropriate operating model on finalisation of the Spending Review. Following a handover of the tool, future budgetary decisions for Scout will belong to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.