The government is investing up to £300 million to establish a comprehensive network of 21 Institutes of Technology across England.

They bring together our world class higher and further education sectors, with local businesses – to develop a pipeline of local talent to address local skills needs. Our IoTs work hand in glove with our Local Skills Improvement Plans. They specialise in delivering high-quality training and education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based subjects, helping to bridge a vital skills gap in our economy in sectors such as engineering and manufacturing, digital, and construction. Subjects and qualifications offered differ across the network as training is tailored and responsive to the needs of business in the areas they serve. Whilst offering a range of qualifications from Level 3 (T-levels) to Level 7 (master’s degrees), they specialise in higher-level technical skills at Level 4/5, including degree apprenticeships, Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) and professional training.

The latest data the department has on the number of students studying at Institutes of Technology comes from the cohort as of the end of the 2022/23 academic year, which was 14,231. This number of students was across 15 Institutes of Technology that were open to learners at that time.

The following competitive grant funds have been launched:

Open Networks Ecosystem Competition

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-networks-ecosystem-competition

Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-infrastructure-pilots-programme

5G Innovation Regions:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/5g-innovation-regions

Research Venture Catalyst

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-ventures-catalyst

Research & Innovation Organisations Infrastructure Fund:

https://find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/research--innovation-organisations-infrastructure-fund-1

Manchester Prize:

https://find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/manchester-prize-1

The sectoral strategies produced by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology since its establishment are:

• Wireless Infrastructure Strategy
• National Semiconductor Strategy
• National Quantum Strategy
• International Technology Strategy
• UK Geospatial Strategy

DSIT also recently published its National Vision for Engineering Biology.

Strategies produced prior to the department’s establishment that are key to our sectors include:

• National Space Strategy
• Innovation Strategy
• National Data Strategy
• National AI Strategy
• UK Digital Strategy
• Life Sciences Vision
• 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy
• R&D People and Culture Strategy
• S&T Framework (provides a strategic vision to make the UK and Science and Technology superpower by 2030, including identifying five critical technologies)

The UK Digital strategy referenced the 1,000 PhDs that had already been created through 16 Centres for Doctoral Training as part of the AI sector deal. The last cohort of these students has now been recruited and commenced their studies.

The strategy also re-committed to the announcement of a further 1,000 PhDs through an additional investment of £117M. This funding has been awarded to 12 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) AI Centres for Doctoral Training across the UK, leveraging an additional £110M from industry, universities and other sources. The universities hosting these centres will receive the funding to train PhD students through five cohorts. Recruitment has started for the first cohort due to start in autumn 2024 who will complete their studies in 2028.

My Department supports the Government’s aim of reducing net migration, whilst ensuring the UK maintains a competitive advantage in attracting international talent in research and development, as set out in the Science & Technology Framework.

The UK’s generous and points-based immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come to the UK through a number of visa routes. Following the Home Secretary’s announcements on 5 December, my Department is working with the Home Office on the details of the policy of increasing the salary threshold for the skilled worker visa route, and will be undertaking assessments of its impacts.

This of course is why the Government are committed to ensuring that everyone has affordable access to public services, whether online or offline. Departments are required, by the service standard, to provide support via alternative channels for all their online services to all users, including the disabled. That can be by phone, through face-to-face meetings, by letter or via web chat, which is important for the unsighted. The system of assessments is

co-ordinated by the CDDO in the Cabinet Office, and these requirements cannot go on to GOV.UK without assurance secured.

Strategic oversight and integration of government funding for net zero research and innovation takes place through the Net Zero Innovation Board (NZIB). It is chaired by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and brings together senior representatives from government departments, non-departmental public bodies and non-ministerial departments with major climate mitigation, decarbonisation or energy-related research and innovation budgets, or related policy remits. NZIB, through its Innovation Delivery Board sub-group, also monitors progress of the programmes set out in the Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan.

My Lords, the noble Baroness raises an important point, because the shift online and the use of AI are irreversible. They offer substantial opportunities, but problems could arise for some disadvantaged groups. That is why departments are required, by the Government’s service standard, to provide support via alternative channels for all their online services. Our road map for digital and data, updated on 29 November, focuses on enabling the confident and responsible use of AI to improve efficiency and services.

I will not be drawn into answering questions on that, but I can say that it is important that the scrutiny of the Bill is done in an effective way and, of course, this House is very good at doing that. As I have mentioned before, it is very important that there is trust in AI solutions; this must be a prevalent issue among all users of AI.

The Government does not hold any data on or set a specific target for the percentage of R&D talent it expects to have recruited from abroad by 2027.

The Government’s immigration policy applies to R&D talent wanting to locate to the UK. The Government aims to improve the UK’s attractiveness to overseas R&D talent, subject to meeting wider objectives on overall net migration to the UK.

The UK’s points-based immigration system continues to work well. For example, the Global Talent visa has seen a 76% increase in visas issued for the year ending June 2023.

This Government is committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable to online scams.

The Online Safety Act will require social media providers to take steps to safeguard their users from illegal scams and fraudulent advertising. In overseeing the framework, Ofcom must ensure that there are adequate protections for those that are most vulnerable to online harm.

The legislation also expands Ofcom’s duty to promote media literacy under the 2003 Communications Act. The regulator is now required to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online. It will need to publish a strategy for achieving this, which must be updated every three years.

In tandem, the Government is taking action to improve people’s media literacy more widely. In July 2021, we published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. This seeks to support the empowerment of internet users with the skills they need to make safe and informed choices online. Through the Strategy, the Government is funding multiple organisations to support the media literacy and critical thinking skills of vulnerable internet users.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. According to ThinkBroadband, an independent broadband news and information site, over 78% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, which represents significant progress since January 2019, when coverage was just 6%. We are currently on track to achieve our target of 85% coverage by 2025.

We have created a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable. This Government has also reduced barriers to broadband rollout. For example, we passed the Product Security and Telecoms Infrastructure Act in 2022, making it cheaper and easier for companies to deploy, upgrade and share infrastructure. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 100 providers who are estimated to invest nearly £40bn by 2030 in rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.

The Government is also investing £5bn as part of Project Gigabit to ensure the hardest-to-reach areas in the UK receive coverage. Through our 12 Project Gigabit contracts and 27 current live procurements, we have made over £2 billion of funding available to suppliers to bring gigabit-capable broadband to up to 1.1 million premises in hard-to-reach parts of the country.

We will continue to work in close collaboration and partnership with other government departments and bodies to align with government’s AI approach, particularly the AI Safety Institute. DWP is exploring the use of AI and how it can support better digital services in a safe, transparent, ethical and considered way. We will work with HSE as and where it is appropriate to do so.

Research and development (R&D) is critical for reaching net zero by 2050 and the government is investing £4.2 billion in net zero R&D over 2022-2025. This will support the development of the technologies and solutions needed to deliver the UK’s net zero target and to support innovative UK businesses to benefit from the growing global green economy. The Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan published in March 2023 sets out the details of this investment and an update on progress is planned to be published in 2025.

The Levelling Up White Paper (published in February 2022) committed to a R&D Levelling Up Mission, recognising the uneven distribution of gross R&D (GERD) spending across the UK.

DSIT is delivering this mission to increase public R&D investment outside the Greater South-East by at least 40% by 2030, and at least one-third over this spending review period.

We are making progress through investing £100 million for 3 Innovation Accelerators (Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Glasgow) for example, and investing £75 million for 10 Innovate UK Launchpads, £312 million for 12 Strength in Places Fund projects and £60 million for the Regional Innovation Fund.

The Levelling Up White Paper (published in February 2022) committed to a R&D Levelling Up Mission, recognising the uneven distribution of gross R&D (GERD) spending across the UK.

DSIT is delivering this mission to increase public R&D investment outside the Greater South-East by at least 40% by 2030, and at least one-third over this spending review period.

We are making progress through investing £100 million for 3 Innovation Accelerators (Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Glasgow) for example, and investing £75 million for 10 Innovate UK Launchpads, £312 million for 12 Strength in Places Fund projects and £60 million for the Regional Innovation Fund.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all UK premises have access to fast and reliable broadband connectivity. Over 78% of UK premises can access gigabit-capable broadband, which represents significant progress since January 2019, when coverage was just 6%.

Ofcom estimates that around 30,000 premises in the UK (0.1%) lack access to either a fixed broadband network with ‘decent broadband’ (at least 10 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload speed) or good indoor 4G coverage. A full breakdown is available by local authority and/or constituency in Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2022 report. Ofcom’s UK Home Broadband Performance Report also provides information on the reliability and peak performance of fixed broadband connections.

The Government is committed to addressing the issues set out in the Independent Review of Research Bureaucracy. We are working with other government departments, funders and sector representative bodies to finalise a comprehensive response to the Review and will publish it in due course. In the meantime, government departments and funding bodies have begun implementing several of the Review’s recommendations. We have established a Review Implementation Network, bringing together senior representatives from across the research funding system, to deliver the recommendations of the review and maintain momentum on this issue.

The Government’s response to the landscape review is in its final stages of preparation and will be published imminently. The response will outline the ambitious actions that we have taken since the review’s publication, including through the Science and Technology Framework and the creation of DSIT. It will also announce further commitments to create a research, development and innovation landscape that makes the most of our strategic advantages and builds a more diverse, resilient and investable landscape.

Indeed it is a serious challenge. The review identified, I think, 29 separate recommendations. The approach that the Government are taking is to address them not merely singly but, as the noble Baroness suggests, collectively, as a whole, as well. In fact, since its creation, two of our major steps build on the foundations laid by the Nurse review: that

is, the creation of DSIT itself and the laying down of the Science and Technology Framework, which builds on the review, to set up the approach along many of the lines that the review suggested.