Written questions by Holden.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48565 on Proof of Identity: Databases and Digital Technology, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Tony Blair and (b) the Tony Blair Institute on proposals for a national digital identity database.

The department has not had any recent discussions or meetings with (a) Tony Blair or (b) Tony Blair Institute on proposals for a national identity database.

Innovation and Technology, what information his Department holds on the number of Departments that use the Redbox AI chatbot.

Redbox is available in DSIT, the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Office. The Department for Business and Trade also runs its own instance of Redbox.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025, to Question 46855 on Government Digital Service: Gender and Government Digital Service: Sex, whether Stonewall advised on the previous guidance.

Stonewall did not advise GDS in developing the extant Design System guidance.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answers of 25 April 2025 to Question 46855 and 46855 on Government Digital Service: Gender and Government Digital Service: Sex, what his timetable is for the review of the GOV.UK Design System guidance on equality information; and if he will make it his policy to hold a consultation on the draft guidance.

In response to a previous question from the Hon Member, it was noted that GDS would review the Design System’s guidance in line with any changes to the Code of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The Commission has since confirmed that it will be undertaking a review into the Code of Practice. Once concluded, the Commission aims to provide the updated Code of Practice to HM Government by the end of June for ministerial approval.

Innovation and Technology, what plans he has for (a) digital identity cards and (b) a national identity database.

The Government has no plans to create digital identity cards or a national identity database.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Independent Pornography Review to help tackle the availability of violent online pornography.

The Online Safety Act requires services which publish or host user-generated pornographic content to prevent children from accessing it using highly effective age assurance. Extreme pornography is a priority offence under the Act, requiring services to proactively mitigate and remove this illegal content on their platforms.The government published the final report of the Independent Pornography Review on 27 February 2025 and issued an initial statement in response addressing the important issues it raised. It is right that the government takes time to understand this complex yet deeply important topic. A further update will be provided in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what his planned timeline is for responding to the Sullivan Review.

The government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous government.Given the wide breadth of recommendations, the government has ensured that the review has been shared with all the relevant departments and policy teams, who will consider the findings in light of their ongoing policy work.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the section entitled Gender or sex in the Gov.uk Design System, if he will make it his policy to require the Government Digital Service to use sex rather than gender when requesting information on sex.

The GOV.UK Design System provides guidance and components to departments, so that there is a consistent style and experience for users interacting with government information and services online. This guidance is continually iterated with input from external experts and specialists across government, to help ensure that digital services are inclusive, easy to use and comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, we will review the Design System’s guidance in line with any changes to the Codes of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Innovation and Technology, for what reason the Gov.uk Design System section entitled Ask Users for Equality Information refers to gender identity rather than gender reassignment.

The GOV.UK Design System provides guidance and components to departments, so that there is a consistent style and experience for users interacting with government information and services online. This guidance is continually iterated with input from external experts and specialists across government, to help ensure that digital services are inclusive, easy to use and comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, we will review the Design System’s guidance in line with any changes to the Codes of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Succession Select AI tool published by his Department on 17 December 2024, whether the First Civil Service Commissioner was consulted about the use of AI for Civil Service appointments.

Succession Select is designed solely as a search tool to identify current Senior Civil Servant (SCS) whose career profiles match the requirements for senior digital roles. This tool is not a part of the SCS hiring process and is an efficiency tool to aid internal talent management and is not used to fill vacancies. As the tool is not part of the hiring process, consultation with the First Civil Service Commissioner was not required or needed.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the press release entitled Shake up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change, published on 21 January 2025, on what evidential basis the press release said that removing the need to queue to register a death would boost growth.

There was an initial error in publishing on GOV.UK which omitted the reference below to getting driving licences for lorries. This has now been amended.The press notice that was distributed to journalists read as follows:“It will do away with insensitive and antiquated processes that have been holding this country back for too long. That means scrapping the need for people to queue at the local council to register the death of a loved one, and doing away with the need to post an advert in your local paper if you want to get a license to drive a lorry – getting in the way of growth.”

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Succession Select search tool published by Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, on 17 December 2024, if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of the rationale for the Succession Select tool with the policy of external recruitment for Senior Civil Service vacancies.

Succession Select is an enhanced search assistant powered by a large language model (LLM). It is an efficiency tool which provides a list of potential candidates to human talent specialists for consideration and is not used to fill vacancies. When there is a SCS vacancy the usual recruitment practices, policies and procedures apply. This includes the ‘External by Default’ policy to ensure that, where a SCS role is being advertised, it is advertised outside the Civil Service as well as inside. Departments and agencies have authority to determine their practices and procedures for the recruitment of staff to the Civil Service. For Senior Civil Service vacancies, the relevant minister must approve circumstances when the role is not advertised externally.

Innovation and Technology, whether Slack is permitted as an (a) corporate and (b) non-corporate communication channel in Government.

There is no specific policy on use of Slack across Government.Slack is used by Digital, Data and Technology Professionals in Departments for cross Government communication.The Central Digital and Data Office have set out the Technology Code of Practice

Innovation and Technology, how much funding he plans to allocate to Innovate UK in each of the next three years.

Earlier this year, the Chancellor launched a multi-year Spending Review, the first phase of which was completed and announced at this year’s Autumn Budget. This set DSIT’s overall R&D budget for 2025/26 at £13.9bn. Further details of how this funding will be allocated, including for UK Research and Innovation, of which Innovate UK is a part, will be announced in due course, and before the start of the financial year.The Budget did not set departmental R&D budgets beyond 2025/26. The second phase of the Spending Review, which will conclude in late Spring 2025, will set out the government’s spending plans for R&D in years beyond 2025/26.

Innovation and Technology, whether the One Login project is on (a) budget and (b) schedule.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is on budget and on schedule. It operates under the controls outlined in its Full Business Case, including Cabinet Office and HM Treasury spend controls, and independent assurance reviews conducted by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The IPA’s most recent review concluded that the programme is delivering effectively despite operating in an inherently complex environment, and remains on schedule.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the value for money of its contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd for the GDS Digital Service Platforms One Login project prior to agreeing that contract in July 2024.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is subject to regular scrutiny and reporting to assess and ensure project objectives have been met, including through the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has provided positive reviews of GOV.UK One Login for the last three years. The programme is also working with the Evaluation Task Force to publish a comprehensive evaluation plan which will assess the programme’s key objectives.The GOV.UK One Login programme has not had a contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has issued guidance to other departments on using AI to (a) read and (b) analyse responses to government consultations.

The digital centre of government within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has been established to bring together central digital, data, technology and AI teams and act as a catalyst for technology adoption and service transformation across government. To date it has not issued guidance on using AI for reading or analysing the responses to government consultations. The Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) within the digital centre of government does publish wider guidance on the use of AI across the government (Generative AI Framework for HMG).

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of (a) whether project objectives have been met and (b) the value for money of its contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd for the GDS Digital Service Platforms One Login project.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is subject to regular scrutiny and reporting to assess and ensure project objectives have been met, including through the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has provided positive reviews of GOV.UK One Login for the last three years. The programme is also working with the Evaluation Task Force to publish a comprehensive evaluation plan which will assess the programme’s key objectives. The GOV.UK One Login programme has not had a contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd. The development of Emergency Alerts included a contract awarded to Fujitsu.Emergency alerts is a mobile network based system for warning the public if there is a danger to life nearby and action to take to stay safe. The system is owned by COBR, Civil Contingencies Unit, with GDS maintaining authority for the product’s development and managing the risks.Fujitsu was awarded the contract WP2083, which was a compliant procurement run through the Crown Commercial Services framework (RM6100). In accordance with procurement regulations, a fair, open and transparent procurement process was conducted. A fair evaluation was completed and the award made to the supplier offering the best MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender).The contract with Fujitsu is currently in its Initial Term, which spans 36 months and is set to conclude on 09 October 2025. There is provision for an Extension Period of up to 12 months, subject to Cabinet Office Approval. The contract was agreed and signed by the Cabinet Office on 7th October 2022.It is confirmed that Year 3 of the contract will proceed with Fujitsu as planned. The potential utilisation of the Extension Period remains under consideration, pending future decisions on ownership, funding, and operational structure.A review of the contract's future beyond the Initial Term will be undertaken, accounting for evolving organisational needs and HMG best practice guidelines.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with her international counterparts to tackle the sharing of illegal pornographic material online.

We are committed to working closely with our international partners on approaches to ensure tech companies are held to account for addressing illegal and harmful content online. We have a number of bilateral agreements which include online safety. In particular, the online safety and security memorandum of understanding with Australia commits us to increasing cooperation between our respective law enforcement agencies and regulators to enhance detection and enforcement capabilities. We will continue to identify opportunities to advance multilateral cooperation, including through the OECD and G7.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to close down online websites and platforms that host illegal pornographic material.

The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to tackle illegal content on their services, including illegal pornography. Ofcom as the new regulator for this regime will have extensive enforcement powers if platforms fail to fulfil their duties. These include powers to impose heavy fines on services, and also to apply to the Courts for business disruption measures. These include orders that require third parties to restrict access to non-compliant services in the UK, e.g. blocking via internet access services or app stores. Separate to provisions in the Online Safety Act, the Pornography Review, led by Independent Lead Reviewer Baroness Gabby Bertin, is exploring the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. The government expects the Review to present its final report by the end of the year.