Written questions by Franklin.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department has taken to help stop UK users accessing a suicide forum responsible for over 135 deaths in this country following her meeting action with a group of the bereaved families on 19 January 2026.

The Secretary of State has been clear Ofcom has full backing to use its enforcement powers and welcomes its investigation into extremely harmful suicide forums. Ofcom’s provisional decision published on 27 February is clear that unless its concerns are fully addressed, it will consider using all of the powers available to it, including, in most serious cases of non-compliance, imposing business disruption measures. One of the first things the Secretary of State did in the job was to make self-harm a priority offence under the Online Safet Act, triggering the strongest possible legal protections. She has been clear she will not hesitate to go further if needed and regularly talks to Ofcom about ensuring enforcement is strong.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of the pace of its ongoing investigation of a suicide forum that grooms users to die by suicide.

The Secretary of State has been clear Ofcom has full backing to use its enforcement powers and welcomes its investigation into extremely harmful suicide forums. Ofcom’s provisional decision published on 27 February is clear that unless its concerns are fully addressed, it will consider using all of the powers available to it, including, in most serious cases of non-compliance, imposing business disruption measures. One of the first things the Secretary of State did in the job was to make self-harm a priority offence under the Online Safet Act, triggering the strongest possible legal protections. She has been clear she will not hesitate to go further if needed and regularly talks to Ofcom about ensuring enforcement is strong.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of its powers under the Online Safety Act 2023 to tackle a suicide forum linked to over 135 UK deaths.

The Secretary of State has been clear Ofcom has full backing to use its enforcement powers and welcomes its investigation into extremely harmful suicide forums. Ofcom’s provisional decision published on 27 February is clear that unless its concerns are fully addressed, it will consider using all of the powers available to it, including, in most serious cases of non-compliance, imposing business disruption measures. One of the first things the Secretary of State did in the job was to make self-harm a priority offence under the Online Safet Act, triggering the strongest possible legal protections. She has been clear she will not hesitate to go further if needed and regularly talks to Ofcom about ensuring enforcement is strong.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the sufficiency of Ofcom's sufficient powers and resources to tackle a specific website linked to over 135 UK deaths and to prevent future sites with the same nature.

The Secretary of State has been clear Ofcom has full backing to use its enforcement powers and welcomes its investigation into extremely harmful suicide forums. Ofcom’s provisional decision published on 27 February is clear that unless its concerns are fully addressed, it will consider using all of the powers available to it, including, in most serious cases of non-compliance, imposing business disruption measures. One of the first things the Secretary of State did in the job was to make self-harm a priority offence under the Online Safet Act, triggering the strongest possible legal protections. She has been clear she will not hesitate to go further if needed and regularly talks to Ofcom about ensuring enforcement is strong.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of Government-funded AI training courses.

The government is committed to building a digitally skilled workforce to support long-term economic growth, drive innovation and expand individual opportunity. As part of this ambition, DSIT has launched the AI Skills Boost campaign to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, and our industry partners deliver these courses at no cost to government. Since June 2025, this initiative has delivered more than 1 million free AI training courses to workers across the UK, and the Government continues to track delivery.The government runs monitoring & evaluation for all government-funded AI training courses to track participation and assess the delivery and impact of funded programmes. This includes the AI and Data Science Conversion Courses, the Flexible AI Upskilling Fund pilot, and several digital apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps that offer AI-related training courses. Given the nascency of the sector, monitoring and evaluation of most of these programmes is currently ongoing. Data on participation and completion rates for these apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps can be found on the Explore Education Statistics GOV.UK Service.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of Ofcom’s ability to implement interim business disruption measures; and whether it is her assessment that that this system is proving effective at preventing illegal content online.

Ofcom’s online safety budget and expert team ensure its duties can be performed effectively. Ofcom has spent approximately £281.3 million on online safety since 2020, including a projected spend of £92 million for 2025/26.The Online Safety Act provides Ofcom with a range of enforcement powers, including business disruption measures, which can include fast tracked interim service restriction orders or access restriction orders, where necessary. These measures are sanctions of last resort, available where serious non‑compliance persists.The Secretary of State has written to Ofcom to underline the Government’s full support for the regulator using all the powers Parliament has provided it.Ofcom is independent, and early enforcement activity is already helping to prevent and address illegal content online.

Innovation and Technology, what processes are in place to assess the performance of external providers commissioned to deliver Government-funded AI training courses.

The government is committed to building a digitally skilled workforce to support long-term economic growth, drive innovation and expand individual opportunity. As part of this ambition, DSIT has launched the AI Skills Boost campaign to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, and our industry partners deliver these courses at no cost to government. Since June 2025, this initiative has delivered more than 1 million free AI training courses to workers across the UK, and the Government continues to track delivery.The government runs monitoring & evaluation for all government-funded AI training courses to track participation and assess the delivery and impact of funded programmes. This includes the AI and Data Science Conversion Courses, the Flexible AI Upskilling Fund pilot, and several digital apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps that offer AI-related training courses. Given the nascency of the sector, monitoring and evaluation of most of these programmes is currently ongoing. Data on participation and completion rates for these apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps can be found on the Explore Education Statistics GOV.UK Service.

Innovation and Technology, what data her Department holds on participation and completion rates for Government-funded AI training courses.

The government is committed to building a digitally skilled workforce to support long-term economic growth, drive innovation and expand individual opportunity. As part of this ambition, DSIT has launched the AI Skills Boost campaign to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, and our industry partners deliver these courses at no cost to government. Since June 2025, this initiative has delivered more than 1 million free AI training courses to workers across the UK, and the Government continues to track delivery.The government runs monitoring & evaluation for all government-funded AI training courses to track participation and assess the delivery and impact of funded programmes. This includes the AI and Data Science Conversion Courses, the Flexible AI Upskilling Fund pilot, and several digital apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps that offer AI-related training courses. Given the nascency of the sector, monitoring and evaluation of most of these programmes is currently ongoing. Data on participation and completion rates for these apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps can be found on the Explore Education Statistics GOV.UK Service.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with the Science and Technology Facilities Council on proposed reductions to funding for astronomy and space science; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such reductions on (a) the UK’s international standing in these fields and (b) early career researchers.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has committed a record £58.5 billion investment in R&D over the next 4 years. This includes £38.6 billion allocated to UKRI. The overall Government spend on R&D over the next 4 years is £86 billion. The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) within UKRI has a flat budget across this period and is currently working with the sector to model different spending scenarios for its overall portfolio including in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics (PPAN). The impacts of different modelled scenarios across the broad and diverse range of STFC-funded facilities and programmes will be considered alongside feedback from the sector when taking final decisions. The current level of post-doctoral researchers and flow of PhD students will be maintained across the SR period. DSIT has asked UKRI to ensure that its specific investment decisions are informed by meaningful engagement with the scientific research community and a robust assessment of potential consequences for the UK’s scientific capability, research institutions and international standing.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effective use of Ofcom’s powers under the Online Safety Act 2023.

The Secretary of State has written to Melanie Dawes and made absolutely clear the Government's full backing for Ofcom using all its powers to enfore the Act. Ofcom has issued fines under the Act to three services, including fining a pornography company £1 million. I welcome Ofcom's decision earlier this month to look into whether major social media platforms are meeting their duties to remove illegal terrorist and hate content. There are no more excuses for failing to protect users.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to introduce legislative proposals to require on-device safety technology capable of detecting and preventing livestreamed child sexual abuse on devices sold in the UK.

We are committed to preventing the livestreaming of child sexual abuse, including through strengthening our online safety regime if appropriate. There is currently limited evidence about the application and effectiveness of on-device controls. However, Ofcom has recently launched a call for evidence on age assurance and app stores. We will continue to focus on implementing the protective measures contained within the Online Safety Act, while considering the potential benefits and impacts of this technology and others like it in parallel. Any future intervention will be proportionate and evidence based.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to regulate artificial intelligence.

AI is already regulated in the UK, including by competition, data, online safety and sectoral rules. Most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use by our existing regulators.The government’s approach is also supported by the work of the AI Security Institute which has deepened our understanding of the critical risks posed by frontier AI. The government is committed to ensuring that the UK is prepared for the changes AI will bring.