Written questions by Onwurah.

What his planned timeline is for the rollout of innovation and growth hubs in London; what level of economic investment is expected to be allocated to those hubs in London over the next five years; and what criteria will be used to determine the location and focus of innovation and growth hubs in the UK.

The government is supporting innovation clusters nationwide, including the Department for Science and Innovation and Technology (DIST) led £500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, with at least £30 million allocated to London and additional funding available through competitive bidding for other regions.The Department for Business and Trade provide core funding to 41 Growth Hubs across England, with £15 million (including £540,700 for Grow London Local) committed for 2025/26. These offer businesses support and advice across all sectors and stages.

What assessment she has made of the contribution of science and discovery centres to (a) UK STEM education, skills and career pathways, (b) inclusion and (c) public understanding of science.

The department has no formal relationship with science and discovery centres and has therefore not made an assessment of their impact on education. We know many schools work with partners to enrich and supplement students’ core curriculum.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the 10-Year Plan for Health delivers equitable access to (a) palliative and (b) end of life care across all communities.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.One of the three shifts that the 10-Year Health Plan will deliver is the shift of healthcare from the hospital into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all- age palliative and end of life care, in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

What steps she is taking to ensure that (a) training and (b) education pathways align with the skills required in the (i) artificial intelligence, (ii) fintech, (iii) medtech and (iv) green industry.

Through our Industrial Strategy, published in June 2025, this government will ensure the skills system and employment support align with strategic economic priorities, including the needs of priority growth sectors such as digital and technologies, clean energy, financial services and health, and for emerging technologies and transformative opportunities such as artificial intelligence (AI). For example, new short courses in areas such as digital, AI, and engineering will be introduced in England from April 2026, funded through the growth and skills levy. Skills England has been established to identify skills gaps across the economy, including in these priority growth sectors, and use these insights to improve and simplify skills provision so that people and business can best benefit from training. Skills England will work across government to ensure young people starting out in their careers, as well as adults who need to reskill, have clear education and training pathways.

If his Department will publish further details on plans to expand the provision of (a) palliative and (b) end of life care in community settings as outlined in the 10-Year Plan for Health.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. ICBs, including the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, which covers the Stafford constituency, are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.As set out in the Government’s recently published 10-Year Health Plan, we are determined to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift, and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that, in future, services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining how to operationalise the required shifts in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Government’s free breakfast club early adopter programme on children’s (a) welfare and (b) educational outcomes.

The government is committed to delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children.Breakfast clubs offer much more than just food, serving as a welcoming space for children, providing valuable opportunities for them to play, learn, and socialise at the beginning of the school day. This will set them up to be ready to learn and supports working parents, boosting household incomes.Schools running breakfast clubs report improvements in behaviour, attendance, concentration and attainment, and a universal breakfast club offer has been found to be a less stigmatising way to reach those who need it the most.We are working closely with our early adopter schools during the test and learn phase to understand how schools are delivering the new free clubs, pupil take-up and impact. We will publish findings from the test and learn phase in due course.

What estimate her Department has made of the average market value of off-road bikes that have been (a) seized and (b) destroyed under powers introduced in 2025 to help tackle antisocial behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.The Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles, including off-road bikes, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Crime and Policing Bill is expected to secure Royal Assent around the turn of the year.On 28 May 2025, we published a consultation on amendments to secondary legislation on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles such as off-road bikes, which have been used anti-socially from 14 days to 48 hours. We expect any changes to secondary legislation to come into force in early 2026.The Home Office does not hold data on the number or value of off-road bikes that have been seized or destroyed under existing powers.

Which technologies will deliver improved wifi access on the East Coast Main Line.

The Department continues to work closely with Network Rail and industry to look at solutions to improve connectivity on trains, which includes rolling out rail 5G on the rail network. Following the spending review, funding has been made available to invest in low earth orbit satellite connectivity, to improve passenger mobile connectivity. We also continue to work closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to develop further interventions on the railway. The department has been working with Network Rail to deliver improved connectivity on the rail corridor. Project Reach, which will renew fibre optic cables & address signals in mainline tunnels and stations was signed 26 June 2025 between Network Rail, and telecoms companies, Neos Networks and Freshwave .

What discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and (b) civil society as part of negotiations towards digital trade ambitions outlined in the General terms for the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Economic Prosperity Deal, last updated on 20 June 2025.

The UK and US are continuing talks on a wider UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal which will look at increasing digital trade, improving access for our world-leading services industries and improving supply chains. The deal opens the way to a future UK US technology partnership through which our science-rich nations will collaborate in key areas of advanced technology, for example biotech, life sciences, quantum computing, nuclear fusion, aerospace and space.This landmark economic agreement comes off the back of close collaboration between DBT and DSIT Ministers and officials. The PM, Business Secretary, and other Ministers across government have regular engagement with industry, civil society and businesses on a range of priorities.We will continue our engagement with stakeholders from across the UK, including civil society, on the EPD throughout these remaining negotiations and the implementation of the deal.

How many and what proportion of Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme payments have been paid to the loaning bank following (a) default and (b) bankruptcy by the business to which the loan was made; and what the value was of each of those loans.

As at 31 March 2025, 8,755 (9.0% of the total) Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS) loans have had the government guarantee paid out. The monetary value of the guarantees paid out is £996.3mn, or 3.9% of the total the CBILS draw down value. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold data detailing the reason for borrower default, including where bankruptcy is the reason for default.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to require social media platforms to enable users to transfer their (a) data, (b) content and (c) connections between competing services, in the context of the Digital Choice Act in Utah, US.

Article 20 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) already provides individuals with a right to ‘data portability’. It applies where an individual has provided their personal data to one data controller based on consent or a contract and wants that organisation to transmit it directly to another data controller. The right only applies to personal data that is being processed by automated means and where the transmission would be technically feasible.The Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independent regulator for data protection, has published guidance for organisations on the right to data portability, which can be viewed at Right to data portability | ICO.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps through a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence to (a) mandate safety-by-design principles, (b) mitigate potential harms and (c) prevent AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working proactively with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.On Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) specifically, creating, possessing, or distributing AI-generated CSAM is illegal, and the Online Safety Act requires services to identify and remove it. We are also taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models which have been optimised to create CSAM.

Innovation and Technology, what the differences in remit are between the (a) AI Security Institute and (b) Alan Turing Institute.

The AI Security Institute (AISI) was set up to equip governments with a scientific understanding of the risks posed by advanced AI. AISI researches these risks, their potential impacts, and develops potential risk mitigations.The Alan Turing Institute is the national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. It aims to develop world-class research, contribute to training to build skills for the future, and drive informed public conversation on AI.The Secretary of State has proposed a shift in its remit towards national security, defence, and sovereignty. The ATI is an independent organisation, and this realignment process is being handled internally.Realising the economic potential of Artificial Intelligence is a priority for this Government. The Alan Turing Institute and AI Security Institute work is complementary to ensure we fully exploit the benefits of AI while mitigating risks.

With reference to the correspondence to the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of 10 April 2025, for what reason the projected £45 billion in annual savings from the digitalisation of public services was not included in the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025.

The figure of £45 billion in annual savings and productivity gains, published in ‘A blueprint for modern digital government’, represents a long-term estimate of the potential benefits for the digital transformation of the public sector. Spending Review 2025 sets out plans for a step change in investment in digital and artificial intelligence (AI) across public services. Over the Spending Review period, the government will build strong digital and technology foundations, tackle urgent cybersecurity and technical resilience risks, modernise public service delivery, and drive a major overhaul in government productivity and efficiency. All departments will deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028‑29. The Office for Value for Money has worked closely with departments to agree bespoke and stretching technical efficiency targets, underpinned by credible delivery plans.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulatory standards for the marketing of consumer DNA testing kits.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is aware that there are a number of DNA test kits on the market. The majority claim to provide information on ancestry, and in general these would not be regarded as medical devices.However, those that make medical claims in relation to predisposition of medical conditions would be regarded as in vitro diagnostic medical devices and would require the relevant CE mark or a UK Conformity Assessed marking.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the emergence of deepfake videos depicting government ministers; and whether the forthcoming legislation on deepfakes will include specific provisions to protect public figures from impersonation and misinformation online.

The Government takes the threat posed by harmful deepfakes very seriously. Deepfakes, and other manipulated media, are regulated by the Online Safety Act where they are shared on an in-scope service and constitute either illegal content or content which is harmful to children. For the largest user-to-user services, AI generated content is captured where it contravenes terms of service. The Data (Use and Access) Act, which received Royal Ascent on 19 June, introduces a new offence for the non-consensual creation of sexually explicit deepfakes. It is already a criminal offence to share, or threaten to share, such content without consent.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a just energy transition in Africa.

Promoting access to clean energy in Africa is vital for supporting growth and reducing poverty across the continent. Through British International Investment, the UK has provided access to clean energy for over 26 million people. We support multilateral initiatives like Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much of the Official Development Assistance budget is allocated to global health programmes in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (d) 2028-29.

We will publish the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's final 2025/26 Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts in July. Over the coming months, we will work through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.Reducing the overall size of our ODA budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. We will sharpen our focus on humanitarian, health and climate and nature.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to coordinate with other (a) donor governments and (b) implementing country partners to mitigate the potential impact of reductions to the (i) United States Agency for International Development and (ii) other global health funds.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers and officials regularly meet international partners on a number of global health and international development issues, both in the course of their duties and as part of our role as a board member to a number of global health bodies.Discussions will continue to take place through bilateral meetings and other key multilateral fora, including with the G20 under the Presidency of South Africa, with whom we will be co-hosting the Global Fund replenishment later in the year, and at the High-Level Summit on 25 June, where the UK announced our new investment in Gavi.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) data protection and (b) ethical implications of commercial DNA testing services used by minors without age verification.

All companies providing DNA testing kits or DNA testing services must comply with the provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004 relating to consent. This provides the ethical framework for DNA testing. Under the Act, a person who has not attained the age of 16 years old cannot give consent for a DNA test. Any company failing to appropriately verify that a person using a DNA testing service is legally able to give consent, may be liable for prosecution under the act.