Written questions by Niblett.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 55785 on Public Sector: Digital Technology, what discussions his Department has had with the Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence on the impact of software licensing for Government software procurement on the digital transformation strategy.

The State of Digital Government review, A blueprint for modern digital government and the Performance Review of Digital Spend, all published this year, have highlighted the need to reform digital purchasing.The Government has launched a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence, containing experts from the Digital and Commercial Functions, within the Government Digital Service (GDS) in my department. It is pursuing multiple strategies to improve value for money and outcomes including central buying of commodity services, development of a digital sourcing strategy, creation of technical enablers and joined-up management of strategic digital suppliers.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 55786 on Public Sector: Digital Technology, whether his Department’s digital transformation strategy will include the (a) financial impact of software assets on departmental budgets and (b) impact of identified dependencies on those assets on cost efficiencies.

The State of Digital Government review, A blueprint for modern digital government and the Performance Review of Digital Spend, all published this year, have highlighted the need to reform digital purchasing.The Government has launched a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence, containing experts from the Digital and Commercial Functions, within the Government Digital Service (GDS) in my department. It is pursuing multiple strategies to improve value for money and outcomes including central buying of commodity services, development of a digital sourcing strategy, creation of technical enablers and joined-up management of strategic digital suppliers.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) the Health Innovation Network and (b) other regional networks to help (i) support health technology SMEs and (ii) increase economic growth.

The Government continues to fund the Health Innovation Network to support health and social care teams to identify, test, and scale new solutions – including new health technologies – to major NHS challenges. Since 2018, HIN programmes have created or secured over 10,000 jobs and provided bespoke support to thousands of SME innovators, contributing >£2.6bn to UK economy with a 3:1 return on investment.Other Government-funded regional networks include the NIHR Research Delivery Network, which enables the health and care system to attract, optimise and deliver research across England. This includes supporting the delivery of research funded by health technology SMEs.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of restrictive software licensing on the ability to achieve the digital transformation of public services.

Government procures software via a number of agreed frameworks which are tendered via the Crown Commercial Service and are awarded under the relevant procurement regulations. The introduction of the new procurement act 2023 will provide government with an ability to consider how such services are contracted in the future.The creation of the Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence is overseeing the development of sourcing/category strategies to co-ordinate how we shape demand, drive down usage and optmise the way such assets are used. This work is currently underway.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the impact of (a) usage, (b) year-over-year spend and (c) potential dependencies of the Government's current software assets on cost efficiencies.

His Majesty's Government monitors the usage of individual and enterprise licenses across a wide variety of products

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support the technology industry in adopting data-led practices to improve diversity in the sector; and whether the Department plans to support an industry diversity accreditation scheme.

The Government is committed to promoting diversity in the tech sector and is doing so in a number of ways. DSIT is supporting the Tech Future Taskforce on Social Mobility, which includes helping companies to collect and act upon data to promote tech workforce diversity. As committed in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, DfE and DSIT will collaborate with industry to publish a plan to improve the diversity of the AI talent pool.More widely, the Employment Rights Bill and Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will strengthen reporting and action on gender, race and disability by large companies, which includes tech companies.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on support for female-led spin-out tech start-ups at UK Universities.

Innovate UK are currently running an all-women cohort of their Innovation to commercialisation of university research (ICURe) programme, which will identify and support women researchers to explore commercialisation pathways that can lead to spinouts.Supp...

Innovation and Technology, whether he has plans to (a) identify and (b) support female-led spin-out tech start-ups in UK Universities.

Innovate UK are currently running an all-women cohort of their Innovation to commercialisation of university research (ICURe) programme, which will identify and support women researchers to explore commercialisation pathways that can lead to spinouts.Supp...

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of supporting Ukraine through the use of joint (a) technology, (b) funding and (c) research initiatives.

The Government recognises the key role that science, technology, and innovation will play in Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction and future economy. The department fosters collaboration between researchers and innovators in both countries to our mutual ben...

Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of (a) artificial intelligence and (b) other digital innovation for tackling violence against women and girls.

Innovative technology solutions are key to improving online safety outcomes and delivering the government’s commitment to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. The Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s codes of practice are designed to keep pace w...

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve phone signal in (a) South Derbyshire constituency and (b) rural areas.

Although I am aware that official reports of mobile coverage often vary substantially from people’s experience on the ground, Ofcom reports that 95% of the pre-boundary change South Derbyshire constituency area has 4G geographic coverage from all four mob...

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential use of Artificial Intelligence in the health sector to improve patient outcomes.

DSIT is working closely with Departments, including DHSC, to support better adoption of AI. For example, through the £21m AI Diagnostics fund, DHSC is supporting the deployment of technologies in high-demand areas such as chest X-Ray and chest CT scans to...

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure benefits of technological development are felt by all demographics.

Digital inclusion is a priority for Government. It means ensuring everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. I know that digital exclusion disproportionately impacts certa...

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for the digitisation of the NHS.

DSIT has pledged to create a National Data Library bringing together existing research programmes to help deliver data-driven public services, including transforming the NHS.The Department for Health supports NHS digitisation by:Empowering patients throug...

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on artificial intelligence and its role in economic growth.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers great economic potential for the whole of the UK.The UK’s AI Sector was valued at £72.3bn in 2024 - larger than any country in Europe. Forecasts suggest it could eventually be worth over £800 billion by 2035.The AI Oppo...

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to widen access to digital skills training.

Digital skills are a priority for the Government’s missions to kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity. We are working across government departments to widen access to digital skills training as part of our wider approach to digit...

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to increase investment in women-led start up technology businesses.

This Government is committed to strengthening diversity in the tech sector, including supporting female-led start-ups, and has made breaking down barriers to opportunity one of our five national missions.Programmes like DSIT’s £12m Digital Growth Grant an...

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for digital connectivity in rural areas.

As outlined in the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to drive progress in improving broadband and mobile coverage across the country, including in rural areas, confirming over £500 million of funding for next year (in 2025‑26).We are committed to Project G...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help support female-led tech start-ups.

This Government is committed to strengthening diversity in the tech sector, including supporting female-led start-ups, and has made breaking down barriers to opportunity one of our five national missions.Programmes like DSIT’s £12m Digital Growth Grant an...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve digital connectivity in rural areas.

The Government is committed to the rollout of fast, reliable broadband to all parts of the UK. Through Project Gigabit, there are 36 contracts in place, set to connect over 1 million homes and businesses that would otherwise miss out, with more contracts ...