DSIT plays a central role in delivering the National Security Strategy by helping to ensure the UK’s science and technology base is secure, resilient and aligned with national security objectives.

Since its publication, the department has strengthened its international partnerships in priority technologies to support UK growth and security, including through strategic science and innovation partnerships with Germany and the Netherlands and the UK-Japan Industrial Strategy Partnership.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner, and we are committed to ensuring that bond delivers real benefits for hardworking people on both sides of the Atlantic.

We continue to have ministerial-level discussions with the US administration on science and technology, including on joint initiatives in the Tech Prosperity Deal.

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting retail crime.

Through our Crime and Policing Act, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.

Additionally, we are removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously

We are providing £7 million over a three‑year period covering 2025 to 2028, to tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.

Technological solutions can play a valuable role in preventing and tackling crime. Following the successful roll out of ten new live facial recognition equipped vans last year the Police Reform White Paper announced further investment in facial recognition capabilities and the responsible adoption of these. This included over £11m on live facial recognition capabilities and national coordination of these. 40 new mobile units will be available to support the police in town centres and high crime hot spots across the country.

Retailers are already encouraged to share images of retail thefts captured on CCTV with the police. The police can then search the CCTV image against their database of images of people who have previously been arrested using retrospective facial recognition, as part of their investigations.

Policing is operationally independent of Government and decisions on procurement are taken by individual forces. However, Police are provided briefing and support by Government to understand and manage national security risks.

Separately, there are a range of tools to ensure that sensitive UK supply chains and technologies are suitable and safe.

This includes the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA). The NSIA provides the Government with powers to identify and, where necessary, intervene in acquisitions of entities or assets that may pose a threat to the UK’s national security.

Additionally, the Procurement Act 2023 provides Government powers to exclude and debar suppliers from public sector contracts where they are judged to pose a national security risk.

This Government is committed to removing barriers to growth.

We are unlocking finance via pension and capital‑markets reforms, while the British Business Bank increases annual investment to £2.5 billion and commits £5 billion to growth‑stage funds. We are investing in skills, compute, and AI Growth Zones and have committed £38.6 billion to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) over five years, including £7.4 billion for innovative companies' growth. For example, UKRI have granted £131,000 to Currie Young Limited in Newcastle-under-Lyme to transform insolvency services by integrating AI across their business processes. UKRI are also investing £18 million in the Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry, a consortium of researchers, manufacturers, and end-users led by the Lucideon Group, based in Stoke-on-Trent.

These measures represent a comprehensive plan, with record funding, to support growth across the UK.

The Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Online Safety Act is a landmark and foundational step in tackling online child sexual exploitation and abuse, placing new duties on companies to protect children. However, we recognise that the scale and evolving nature of this threat requires us to go further, and we continue to assess new technologies across the technology stack which could strengthen prevention and detection.

We committed in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy ‘to make it impossible for children in the UK to take, share or view a nude image.’ We recognise the importance of device-level protections in preventing online child sexual abuse and we support the development and deployment of safety technologies that can help prevent abuse before it happens. This includes exploring the role of on-device tools that can detect and disrupt livestreamed abuse and other image-based harms, while respecting users’ privacy and maintaining end-to-end encryption.

The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.

We established the Women in Tech Taskforce to identify and address the barriers preventing women from entering, staying in, and progressing in tech.

This is a matter of principle; it makes economic sense and is essential to ensure the tech and services of tomorrow work for all.

Informed by evidence, its work and recommendations will support more women in all parts of the UK to access high quality jobs in the tech sector.

Alongside this, the £187 million TechFirst programme is supporting thousands of people into tech careers, with a specific focus on increasing opportunities for women across the country. This includes the TechFirst Women's Programme, which will support 300 women into tech jobs across the country, regional funding connecting people to local tech jobs, and targeted competitions and scholarship opportunities to encourage more women and girls into the sector.

The Government recognises the vital role of domestic aviation in supporting economic growth and regional connectivity. The sector operates largely on a commercial basis, with airports and airlines best placed to determine capacity and routes. It is also the responsibility of industry to manage demand, including availability of aircraft, and ensure appropriate contingency plans are in place. We support this through a policy framework that enables sustainable growth, including the targeted use of Public Service Obligations where there is a clear case, and continue to engage closely with industry, including through the Aviation Council, to ensure policy reflects operational realities and supports connectivity across the UK.

We continue to engage with the Home Office and Border Force on planning ahead of the summer holiday period to ensure a smooth passenger experience over the summer, particularly given increased demand.

Finally, the Government is delivering the Future of Flight Programme in partnership with industry and the Civil Aviation Authority. This is putting in place the regulatory frameworks, standards and digital systems needed to safely integrate emerging aviation technologies, including drones and advanced air mobility, into UK airspace.

The Farming Innovation Programme is Defra’s programme for supporting research and innovation in farming. Its investment in innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and widen access. Support was reinforced with the Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, which committed to spend at least £200 million by 2030.

The Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers, therefore, farmers based in Staffordshire are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog.

At the February NFU conference the Government announced £70 million to support agri-tech research and development investment from 2026 with £50 million for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund to help farmers adopt new technology, cut emissions and boost productivity.

The Government recognises the role that innovation and technology can play in improving road safety outcomes and reducing reoffending, alongside effective enforcement, education and penalties.

As part of the Road Safety Strategy, Government consulted on measures to tackle drink and drug driving, including changes to motoring offences and the potential use of alcohol interlocks for offenders. This built on previous Government commissioned research into their use by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. Consultation responses are being analysed.

Government is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition to Net Zero which is why the Warm Homes Plan supports a range of measures and technologies. Energy efficiency and fuel poverty are devolved matters, and Scotland has its own policies and programmes in these areas.

Additionally Government recently consulted on the role of alternative clean heating solutions for properties that may not be suitable for heat pumps or heat networks, including thermal energy storage systems – to ensure that every household has a suitable low-carbon option. The consultation closed on 10 February and a Government Response will be published in due course.

The Government has made significant progress in improving its use of technology to deliver priorities across the public sector.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Government Digital Service is established as the digital centre of government and sets out a clear framework through the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government and the 2026 Roadmap.

This includes accelerating adoption of cloud technologies, tackling legacy IT systems, expanding the use of artificial intelligence, and investing in shared digital infrastructure to deliver more joined-up, resilient and efficient public services.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) highlights the need for an innovative defence industry that adapts to changing warfare by utilising data, software, procurement, exports, innovation, and R&D to promote UK science and emerging technologies, including clean technology.

Following on from the DIS and the Strategic Defence Review. UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) has been established to harness UK ingenuity and boost military technology, as part of the Government’s drive to turbocharge innovation in defence and deliver growth as part of the Plan for Change.

UKDI will be fully operational by July 2026 and will have a ringfenced budget of at least £400 million from financial year 2025-26 with the ambition for this to rise as UKDI becomes established.

The Ministry of Defence will evaluate progress by regularly reviewing defence spending data to measure the proportion allocated to emerging technologies, setting clear targets, and reporting on these metrics to ensure commitments made for this Parliament are met.

The Government has set out its ambition for the Ministry of Defence to spend at least 10% of its equipment procurement budget on novel technologies, including areas such as uncrewed and autonomous systems and AI-enabled capabilities. Work is currently ongoing across the Department, to develop the policy arrangements underpinning this commitment in order to support effective prioritisation, reporting and delivery. The formal framework, including the definition of novel technologies, will be finalised as part of the Defence Investment Plan which will set out Defence’s approach to delivering against this ambition.

What discussions she has had with the science and technology sector on closer regulatory alignment with the EU.

The feedback from UK tech businesses has been clear: Britain’s share of European venture capital investment is at its highest for 16 years. IT and technology are driving productivity upwards, alongside capital from the British Business Bank and Sovereign AI. Of course, we will work on redoing what was done through the botched Brexit deal, but alongside that we will maintain British sovereign strength in technology and AI.

European tech leaders in some member states are concerned that the EU’s approach to digital regulation is strangling their ability to compete. Will the Minister rule out binding the UK tech industry to a legal framework that could stifle growth in this vital area of the economy?

Diolch yn fawr, Mr Llywydd. Ministers from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology regularly meet representatives from science and technology communities. The UK has seized the moment on AI, quantum and semiconductors. We will keep building British sovereign strength, and alongside that, we will work with allies across the European Union.

An Emergency Lane Keeping System (ELKS) is a technology that warns the driver of unintended lane departures and corrects the vehicle’s course to avoid crossing solid lane markings. As with other safety systems, it defaults to being on every time the vehicle is started. This ensures safety benefits are not undermined by drivers having the systems permanently switched off, either deliberately or accidentally. However, there is typically a simple method for the driver to switch it off each time, should they wish to.

The Government recently consulted on mandating ELKS in Great Britain alongside a number of other vehicle safety technologies as part of the Road Safety Strategy. This consultation closed on 11 May 2026 and my Department will be setting out next steps in due course.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) makes clear that strengthening UK defence firms’ international competitiveness depends on working closely with our allies. It promotes deeper collaboration through co‑research, co‑development and co‑production, helping UK companies share costs, access larger markets and deliver interoperable capabilities.

The DIS emphasises closer alignment with NATO standards and allied procurement approaches, so UK firms can design once and export across multiple allied markets. It also embeds exportability from the outset of procurement and commits to clearer long‑term demand signals, giving UK industry the confidence to invest, innovate and compete successfully alongside allied firms.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included.

The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms.

Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included.

The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms.

Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included.

The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms.

Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

During the development of the National Security Strategy, the Cabinet Office engaged a broad spectrum of stakeholders, considered assessments and analytical products from think tanks, academics, industry experts and reports from the Intelligence and Security Committee and the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

It also brought together several strategies, reviews, and audits developed and being developed by the government. These reviews had their own method of engagement, including with civil society organisations and industry. This includes the Resilience Action Plan which a large number of stakeholders, including civil society organisations, were engaged with to support development and delivery.

To support the delivery of national security objectives, the government regularly engages with industry including the technology industry. For example, this week the Security Minister was in Glasgow at the 10th annual Cyber UK conference, attended by 2,500 cyber security leaders and technical professionals.

Our Modern Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan backing our strengths and realising Britain’s potential. This strategy is an ongoing partnership between business, government, and workers, meeting the needs of business head on. This government has also published its Defence Industrial Strategy, which lays out our new approach, not just to defence procurement, but also how we engage with industry throughout the supply chain. The upcoming Defence Readiness Bill will improve how we work collectively with industry to improve the readiness of our defence sector.

The Government recognises the benefits that emerging innovative technologies such as digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) may bring to the NHS Breast Screening Programme. At present, DBT is an optional tool in the assessment of screen detected soft tissue breast abnormalities following mammography. Digital mammography, which offers high quality images, currently remains the primary screening tool for the programme as recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

In 2025, the UK NSC, who advise the Government on all screening matters, set up a working group of breast cancer screening experts to help it consider new and emerging evidence and developments that could further improve the United Kingdom breast screening programmes. This includes exploring modalities such as DBT in addition to other tests and technologies, to detect breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue.

If, following this work, the UK NSC makes a recommendation regarding DBT, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, would be asked to make a decision on whether to accept the recommendation, alongside wider policy and operational advice.

The taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime in England is archaic, fragmented and inconsistent. We are considering, holistically, how the regulation of the sector could be reformed to achieve the best overall outcome for passengers by enabling the sector to deliver the range of safe, available, affordable and accessible services they need. The Department issues guidance to licensing authorities in England to help achieve consistency in the application of licensing requirements. We are seeking a power through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to enable the setting of national standards to ensure robust standards are applied by all licensing authorities.

The Prime Minister has emphasised that national security is the first duty of our government. Supply chain resilience and security remains a core part of this, and multiple government departments are working closely with international partners to embed resilience into critical UK and global supply chains.

We take an actor‑agnostic, risk‑based approach to supply‑chain resilience. Instead of reacting to individual firms or components in isolation, we focus on the structural chokepoints and systemic dependencies that create national‑level vulnerability, regardless of where in the chain they arise.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is supporting regional innovation clusters by working with priority city regions to connect universities, Catapult centres and innovative firms, aligning place-based R&D with the UK’s Industrial Strategy and net zero objectives alongside partners such as UK Research and Innovation, ensuring clean tech research is developed, commercialised and scaled across the country.

DBT provides targeted export support, trade missions, clean tech showcases and investor engagement. We help high value, research-intensive firms reach global markets, boosting productivity, attracting knowledge intensive investment that complements local R&D ecosystems and creating skilled jobs in every region of the UK.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) provides the established statutory framework for reporting work-related fatalities, injuries, occupational diseases, and certain dangerous occurrences, including near misses. RIDDOR ensures that significant work-related incidents are reported to the relevant enforcing authority so risks can be identified, trends monitored and appropriate regulatory action taken where necessary to improve health and safety standards in Great Britain.

RIDDOR applies regardless of how an incident is identified or recorded by duty-holders. Employers and others with duties under RIDDOR are responsible for reporting incidents that meet the legal criteria, and there is already a standardised national reporting process in place.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a public consultation on 7 April 2026 seeking views on possible amendments to RIDDOR. This consultation includes proposals based on recommendations from its second postimplementation review, such as updates to occupational disease definitions and potential opportunities to streamline aspects of the reporting process. Stakeholders are invited to provide views on additional areas they believe should be considered, and we would encourage anyone interested in work-place incident reporting to engage with the consultation over the next 12 weeks.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding.

The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog.

The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding.

The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog.

The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding.

The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog.

The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

The United States is our close ally and tech partner. We continue to have regular discussions with the US administration on science and technology. This includes discussions on future governance and delivery timelines for the joint initiatives under the Tech Prosperity Deal.

Ministers recently hosted senior US counterparts at the Quantum Development Group meeting in London.

Science diplomacy plays an important role in building UK technology sovereignty through international partnerships with partners which strengthen our shared capabilities, resilience and security.

Our Science & Technology Network, covering 65 locations, is a core pillar of the UK’s science diplomacy toolkit, which aims to develop and strengthen our partnership with international partners.

We have science and technology partnerships with a broad range of countries including the US and EU, Japan, India, South Korea, Switzerland, France and Germany. We are also active members of multilateral fora including OECD, G7 and G20. These partnerships are part of helping us ensure sovereign strengths and strengths through stable collaboration.

The UK’s Armed Forces are learning much from the war in Ukraine, particularly the need for a much faster ‘learn and adapt’ cycle to accelerate developments in our capabilities, doctrine, and tactics. More broadly, the Strategic Defence Review considered all aspects of Defence, including the capabilities required by the UK to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

Integrated Air and Missile Defence investments will be prioritised appropriately against the assessed threat picture as part of the future Integrated Force. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on Integrated Air and Missile Defence, drones and electromagnetic warfare will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.

Ministry of Defence officials met representatives of the UK/EU-Ukraine Defence Innovation Corridor in March 2026 and advised on how any proposal could best align with existing UK-Ukraine defence engagement. We will keep early‑stage initiatives under review.

Regarding helping UK companies exporting to Ukraine, building on our seventh and largest Trade Mission programme to Ukraine in March 2026; we are opening a Business Centre in Kyiv later this year, as we move to a permanent presence in Ukraine. This will help UK firms identify collaboration, partnership, and future export opportunities, for the UK and Ukraine's mutual benefit.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has established UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) which represents a fundamental transformation of how the Ministry of Defence (MOD) approaches innovation.

Learning lessons from Ukraine as well as other international partners UKDI will act and operate differently, ruthlessly prioritising to focus on the areas with most potential, with significant freedoms to contract with speed, simplicity, and flexibility, harnessing and bolstering the competitiveness of the UK’s tech sector.

UKDI has established Regional and Devolved Authorities Engagement Teams across the UK to systematically identify and nurture dual-use innovation from SMEs, mid-tier companies, and academic spin-outs.

The core mission of the Regional and Devolved Authorities Engagement Teams is to deliver targeted outreach, support business development, foster supply chain collaboration, and accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technologies aligned with Defence and National Security priorities.

These teams will facilitate regional access to defence-focused loans, investors, and venture builder services, while gathering critical market intelligence for MOD and National Security stakeholders.

Since 2024 the MOD has run seven defence trade missions to Ukraine in conjunction with the Trade Association ADS. These have facilitated engagement for UK business of all sizes, but with a particular focus on SMEs, with Ukrainian industry and government. We will continue our support for business and create an enduring presence for UK industry in Kyiv through the establishment of a UK Business Centre, while working to develop capabilities alongside the Ukrainian defence ecosystem.

EREBUS is a UK‑developed flight test capability enabling realistic testing of Defensive Aid Systems before installation on frontline aircraft. Developed by Dstl with UK Industry, it reduces integration risk and cost, supports rapid upgrades, strengthens international collaboration, and helps maintain world‑leading air‑protection capabilities.

EREBUS has the potential to significantly accelerate the adoption of Defensive Aid Suites by de‑risking system integration and performance at every stage of the development cycle.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 March 2026 to Question 123249 to the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden).