Written questions by Reynolds.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the consistency between the number of beagles licensed for use in scientific experiments approved by the Home Office between January and December 2025 and the Government's Replacing Animals in Science strategy published in November 2025.

No assessment has been made of the of the consistency between the number of beagles licensed for use in scientific experiments approved by the Home Office between January and December 2025 and the Government's Replacing Animals in Science strategy. The Labour Manifesto commits to partnering with scientists, industry and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing. It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements for their use. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the impact of delays to competition solutions in the cloud services market on market concentration; and what consideration she has given to the implications for growth and innovation in the technology sector.

In July last year, the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) cloud market investigation identified a number of potential competition concerns. The CMA recommended that its Board consider prioritising a future Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into cloud services under its new digital markets powers. The Government is committed to promoting a competitive and innovative digital economy and therefore prioritised the commencement of these powers last year, alongside a clear expectation that they be used to support competition and innovation in digital markets. The CMA is independent of Government, and decisions on which markets to investigate are a matter for its Board alone

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the resilience of UK critical digital services in relation to the level of concentration in the cloud infrastructure market.

In July last year, the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) cloud market investigation identified a number of potential competition concerns which may impact the resilience of UK’s digital infrastructure. The CMA recommended that its Board consider prioritising a future Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into cloud services under its new digital markets powers. The Government is committed to promoting a competitive and innovative digital economy and therefore prioritised the commencement of these powers last year, alongside a clear expectation that they be used to support competition and innovation in digital markets. The CMA is independent of Government, and decisions on which markets to investigate are a matter for its Board alone.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions her Department has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on the proposed timetable for the next stages of its cloud market investigation; and what assessment she has made of the implications of that timetable for competition enforcement in digital infrastructure markets.

In July last year, the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) cloud market investigation identified a number of potential competition concerns. The CMA recommended that its Board consider prioritising a future Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into cloud services under its new digital markets powers. The Government is committed to promoting a competitive and innovative digital economy and therefore prioritised the commencement of these powers last year, alongside a clear expectation that they be used to support competition and innovation in digital markets. Neither the Secretary of State nor Ministers have discussed future SMS prioritisation decisions with the CMA. The CMA is independent of Government, and decisions on which markets to investigate are a matter for its Board alone.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of levels of competition in the UK cloud infrastructure market; and what implications that assessment has for investment in UK cloud and AI infrastructure.

The Government prioritised the commencement of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) new powers in digital markets last year to boost competition and fairness in the digital tech sector. Although the CMA operates independently of Government, the Government gave a clear steer for the CMA to use these new powers collaboratively and proportionately.In March, the CMA announced a package of actions to strengthen competition in business software and cloud services. This includes a Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software under the UK’s digital markets regime, alongside voluntary actions from Amazon and Microsoft that will improve interoperability, reduce data egress fees and make switching easier in cloud services.

Innovation and Technology, how many directors with responsibility for human resources are employed across his Department and its executive agencies; and how many of those directors hold professional HR qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development or equivalent professional bodies.

There are a total of 4 Directors at SCS Pay band 2 with responsibility for human resources in DSIT and the department’s Executive Agencies.The majority hold CIPD accreditation or equivalent HR qualifications.Number of Directors with responsibility for human resources (HR)Number of Directors delivering non-HR technical activity e.g. Shared ServicesNumber of Directors with CIPD membership>5>5>5

Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the cost of cyber attacks to the economy in 2025.

In November 2025, the government published a set of independent research reports quantifying the impact of cyber attacks on the UK economy. These reports demonstrate the scale of the potential cost of cyber attacks to UK businesses, with KPMG’s report Economic Modelling of Sector Specific Costings of Cyber Attacks estimating the average cost of a significant cyber attack for an individual business in the UK to be almost £195,000. Scaled to an annual UK cost to businesses, this amounts to an estimated £14.7 billion.The Government has developed tools for businesses to protect themselves, including:The highly effective Cyber Essentials Scheme, shown to reduce the likelihood of a cyber insurance claim by 92%,The Cyber Governance Code of Practice, to help boards and directors manage cyber risks, andA wide range of free NCSC tools and support, including training for boards and staff, the Early Warning system and the Cyber Action Toolkit for small businesses.The Government is also taking further action to protect the economy. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will boost our cyber defences and better protect our essential services. This year, we will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan setting out how Government will respond to the cyber threat and work with industry to raise resilience across the economy.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of memory chip shortages on consumer technology prices.

No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of memory chip shortages on consumer technology prices, but the Government continues to regularly engage with businesses to understand supply chain challenges. The Government is also working closely with international partners to develop shared approaches and solutions that improve global semiconductor supply chain resilience.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to reduce UK reliance on concentrated semiconductor supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.

The semiconductor industry has complex global supply chains. As part of the Industrial Strategy’s Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, the Government is taking measures to foster growth of the UK semiconductor sector where it is strong, enhance national security and strengthen supply chain resilience. Given the global nature of semiconductor supply chains, the UK is also building resilience through collaborating with a wide range of international partners, both bilaterally and through fora such as the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network and the G7 Semiconductor Point of Contact Group.

Innovation and Technology, what consideration her Department has given to the potential merits of competition policy measures to prevent the monopolisation of semiconductor components by large technology companies.

The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor technologies for UK growth and security, as outlined in the Industrial Strategy Digital & Technologies Sector Plan. The Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for investigating anti-competitive practices. Any concerns regarding anti-competitive conduct can be raised directly with the CMA.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that broadband infrastructure providers complete full fibre rollout in areas where initial deployment was incomplete; and what steps she is taking to ensure that residents in those areas have access to adequate broadband connectivity.

We are committed to ensuring 99% of premises receive gigabit coverage by 2032. We will continue to work in partnership with industry to deliver the fibre rollout and will maintain a stable pro-competition regulatory environment to encourage private investment.However, where network operators choose to deploy their services in commercially viable areas is a commercial matter, and the government will not intervene in private business decisions.Through Project Gigabit, we are addressing gaps in coverage by delivering gigabit-capable connections to premises not included in suppliers’ plans. As of the end of September 2025, over 1.3 million premises in hard-to-reach communities across the UK had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.Alongside this, over one million further premises have been included within contracts to provide access to gigabit-capable broadband, with funding of over £2.4 billion through Project Gigabit.

Innovation and Technology, what is the Government's proposed timeline for implementing the Competition and Markets Authority's recommendation to designate Microsoft and AWS with Strategic Market Status under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 following the Cloud Services Market Investigation published on 31 July 2025.

The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) has completed 3 Strategic Market Status investigations this year. The CMA is independent of the Government and decisions on which markets to investigate is for its Board. The CMA has published guidance on its website on how it will prioritise Strategic Market Status designations.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) increases in costs and (b) recent trends in levels of economic uncertainty on the ability of (i) small and micro-businesses and (ii) other businesses to invest in cybersecurity measures.

Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and micro organisations is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many smaller organisations 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. 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 supporting over 1,000 SMEs to get certified to the scheme.Early next year, the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan which will set out further work to help protect our nation’s smallest organisations.

Innovation and Technology, what steps the she is taking to support (a) small and (b) micro-businesses to prioritise cybersecurity spending.

Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and micro organisations is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many smaller organisations 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. 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 supporting over 1,000 SMEs to get certified to the scheme.Early next year, the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan which will set out further work to help protect our nation’s smallest organisations.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact of the rollout of digital street infrastructure on (a) public digital connectivity, (b) local amenity, and (c) compliance with telecommunications licensing conditions.

As a result of commercial market and publicly funded rollout, over 88% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, up from less than 10% in 2019. In their Connected Nations Spring update, published 8 May 2025, Ofcom reported that as of January 2025, 5G coverage was available outside of 96% of premises across the UK from at least one operator, up from 69% in May 2022.The impact of digital infrastructure on local amenity is assessed by local planning authorities on a case by case basis. Planning conditions in legislation ensure that operators minimise the visual impact of new network development on the surrounding area as much as possible.It is the responsibility of Ofcom to ensure operators comply with their telecommunications licensing conditions.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people can effectively exercise their legal right to object to the use of their personal data for direct marketing.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published information on the right to object to the processing of personal for the purpose of direct marketing here: Right to object | ICO.Anyone concerned about the handling of their personal data by any organisation has the right to complain to the ICO. The ICO has a range of tools to tackle the unlawful processing of personal data, including powers to issue substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation. Information about the ICO’s enforcement action can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/.

Innovation and Technology, if his Department will take steps to ensure that (a) X and (b) other social media platforms prevent their artificial intelligence systems from promoting (i) racist and (ii) anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

The Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties took effect on 17 March. These duties require user-to-user and search services to implement robust measures designed to reduce the risks that users encounter illegal content and activity, including from illegal anti-Semitic content.These duties apply to AI generated content in the same way as ‘real’ content - i.e. where it is shared on an in-scope service and is either illegal content or content which is harmful to children. Ofcom is responsible for taking enforcement action as appropriate and has published recommendations for how providers should fulfil their duties in codes of practice.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve broadband speeds in rural parts of Maidenhead constituency.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 99% of homes and businesses in the Maidenhead constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 87% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 2,000 premises in the Maidenhead constituency are currently expected to benefit from this contract. The vast majority of these premises are in rural parts of the constituency.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle disinformation through AI-generated deepfakes.

We have recently announced that we are delivering on our manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes through the Crime and Policing Bill.Deepfakes more broadly are captured by the Online Safety Act where they are shared on social media platforms and are considered illegal content or content which is harmful to children.For those who think that there are no repercussions for online activity, we saw convictions for illegal online activity following the summer riots, including under the new False Communications Offence.