Written questions by Onwurah.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on religious minority groups in the North East.

The Department monitors the implementation and impact of the grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator. Since 2010, the grant scheme has returned over £350 million to listed places of worship across the UK. The scheme has supported both rural and city based places of worship, and places of worship of a range of denominations. As well as making awards to Christian places of worship, since August 2022, the Listed Places of Grant Scheme has awarded more than £3 million to 416 Non-Christian listed places of worship. This includes Buddhist, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and other denominations.

Pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 19694 on Department for Work and Pensions: Artificial Intelligence, what period of time her Department considers a regular interval.

Machine learning for tackling fraud is used to flag cases that require further examination. The departments Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) provides an annual assessment to Parliament on the impact of machine learning on protected groups and vulnerable claimants. Outside of the ARA the department will review its fairness analysis if new models are developed or there are changes to the existing model. There is no single timescale across the development, testing and operation of models.

What recent discussions her Department has had with the Port of Tyne on it's responsibilities to the Swing Bridge.

The department engages actively with many UK ports, including the Port of Tyne. However, the department has had no recent discussion with the port of Tyne on those specific points.

What recent discussions her Department has had with the Port of Tyne on the navigability of the River Tyne and its performance as a navigation authority.

The department engages actively with many UK ports, including the Port of Tyne. However, the department has had no recent discussion with the port of Tyne on those specific points.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) cultural impact of the (i) state and (ii) inability to swing of the Newcastle upon Tyne Swing Bridge.

Responsibility for the mechanism and structure of the Swing Bridge lies with the Port of Tyne. Any such assessments are matters for the Port and relevant local authorities for the surrounding area. Whilst the Department engages actively with many UK ports, no recent discussions have been held with the Port of Tyne on this matter. If any specific issue is raised with the Department, then it will discuss with the Port as appropriate.

Innovation and Technology, how many full-time equivalent members of staff at UKRI work on (a) local and (b) regional innovation partnerships.

UKRI’s leadership and staff routinely engage with stakeholders across the UK. Additionally, UKRI has several teams focussed on regional engagement, including:Innovate UK’s place engagement team, including a Director, Deputy Director and ten full time manager positions at Innovate UK, who work with around 400 regionally-organised business growth advisers.EPSRC has a team of eight regional managers.Research England has a team of five engagement leads.Members of staff focused on the investment delivery of place programmes, such as the Strength in Places Fund and Innovation Accelerators.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, within what timeframe UKRI expects to deliver a future regional innovation funding programme.

We are developing a new local innovation funding programme to support high potential innovation clusters across the country, with delivery timelines subject to the outcome of the next phase of the Spending Review.Our new programme will build on our experience of delivering initiatives such as the Innovation Accelerator pilots. At Budget, we announced these would be extended into 2025/26, delivering funding and bespoke support to bolster high-potential innovation clusters in Greater Manchester, Glasgow City Region, and the West Midlands.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting non-Mayoral Strategic Authorities to increase regional innovation activity.

Building on our experience of delivering the UK-wide Strength in Places Fund, Innovation Accelerators and Launchpads programmes, we will develop a new local innovation funding programme that will bolster high potential clusters across the UK, including in non-Mayoral Strategic Authorities. We will work with areas that choose not to adopt the mayoral model, to increase innovation activity in regions both with and without devolution.

What her plans are for higher education reform; and what the role is of innovation in that process.

The government is committed to setting out a plan for reform of the higher education (HE) sector by the summer, focused on five priorities. We will expect our HE providers to:Play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students.Make a stronger contribution to economic growth.Play a greater civic role in their communities.Raise the bar further on teaching standards, to maintain and improve our world leading reputation and drive out poor practice.Drive a sustained efficiency and reform programme.My noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, is working closely with Lord Vallance to build on HE providers’ already significant contribution to innovation, increasing their contribution to the UK economy.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 69 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, how much funding will be available to UK Research and Innovation to extend regional partnerships.

Our ambition through the innovation commitments announced in the English Devolution White Paper is to generate innovation-led growth across the country, and help places make stronger contributions to a thriving national innovation ecosystem. Through UK Research and Innovation, we will support more local leaders, working in partnership with businesses and universities, to unlock their regions’ innovation potential.The Spending Review settlement set out the overall R&D budget for my department, which is £13.9 billion for 2025/26. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course, and the next phase of the spending review will confirm multi-year budgets for innovation funding.

With reference to the Institution of Civil Engineers' report entitled ICE policy position statement: How can the UK’s infrastructure system be made more climate resilient?, published in March 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using digital twins to improve understanding of risks to infrastructure assets.

The National Digital Twin Programme aims to determine how digital twins can support improvements in all aspects of the operation and performance of individual infrastructure assets, as well as networks and systems. This includes climate resilience in relation to both specific events, as well as the longer term impacts of changing weather patterns. Information about the NDTP can be found at National Digital Twin Programme NDTP - GOV.UK.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024 , what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including local universities in engagement between UKRI and Strategic Authorities.

Universities are central to generating local economic growth. As magnets for talent and investment and anchors for clusters, they create centres of research and innovation excellence across the country. Enabling partnership working between local government, universities and businesses will be at the heart of our future regional innovation funding programme.Enabling partnership working between local government, universities and businesses will be at the heart of our future regional innovation funding programme.

Innovation and Technology, how much Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure has been provided to the (a) Newton Fund and (b) Global Challenges Research Fund (i) in total and (ii) in each year since their launch; when each fund will close; and how ODA funding previously allocated to each fund will be redirected once these funds close.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend, by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) on research and development (R&D) is as follows:(£m)20192020202120222023TotalGCRF391379220139841,430Newton Fund11999722415450Due to the Machinery of Government change, and reporting of previous years’ spend alongside spend now reported under the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, disaggregated data for solely DSIT’s share pre-2019 is not currently available.Both GCRF and the Newton Fund will come to a natural close by 31st March 2025. The Government will allocate future ODA to Departments as part of its standard Spending Review process.

How the Official Development Assistance expenditure managed by the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was redistributed following the machinery of Government changes in February 2023.

No Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget was allocated to my department when it was created in February 2023 through the machinery of Government changes.

If she will publish the equality impact assessment carried out prior to the introduction of the Advances Model artificial intelligence system.

DWP has considered the benefits and risks of publishing the results of Equality Impact Assessment. DWP has concluded it is not in the public interest to do so because it will undermine the effectiveness of the model as a fraud prevention control and therefore erode the ability to protect the public purse. You can find further information in the ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023-24 (publishing.service.gov.uk) page 112.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release of 12 December 2024 entitled £100 million public-private health research boost from which budget is the public sector funding coming; and what proportion is public investment.

The Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access, and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme is enabled by circa £400m of funding from scheme members over 5 years.Approximately 75% of total Investment Programme funding will boost commercial clinical trials across the UK, including through the new Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs).The CRCDs are a public-private investment which include funding from the VPAG Investment Programme and £71m additional funding in England from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

What timetable her Department has for conducting a fairness analysis on the Advances Model artificial intelligence system in respect of potential bias according to race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, pregnancy, maternity or gender reassignment status.

DWP is committed to continue iterating the fairness analysis method and improving the data available for future analyses for the machine learning Advances model. Fairness analysis will be completed at regular intervals, the results of which will continue to inform regular decisions on the continued operation and improvement of the model as a reasonable and proportionate fraud prevention control.

What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on visas for (a) scientists and (b) researchers.

The Government is committed to ensuring scientists and researchers have access to visas that work for them. The United Kingdom has a strong immigration offer for scientists and researchers, including the Skilled Worker and Global Talent routes, and we continually keep our policies under review.The Home Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are in regular communication on a range of issues.

With reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, and his Department's press release entitled Pat McFadden vows to make the state more like a start up as he deploys reform teams across country, published on 9 December 2024, which Department’s budget allocation the £100m Innovation Fund will be drawn from.

I refer the hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 11936 on 8 November 2024. The Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund allocates £165 million to a range of projects in 2025-26, including support for foster care, delivering apprenticeships and planning reforms. Partnering with Mayors and local leaders, the Autumn Budget 2024 allocated a further £100 million over the next three years to public service reform with a focus on experimentation and learning. This will complement and inform ongoing reform programmes being delivered by departments. The Government will announce more details on this in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what training has been provided to civil servants in his Department on the public sector equality duty.

In June 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published updated guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), available to all staff via the intranet. The guidance provides a clear framework on the principles of the duty, compliance expectations, and conducting equality impact assessments. Staff were encouraged to use this resource to support their work.In addition, a PSED training video was included in the Policy Foundation Programme, run on DSIT's behalf by the Integrated Corporate Services. The first cohort took place on 18th November 2024.