Tag: Department for Science Innovation and Technology

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 13 October 2025.

Building Digital UK will be integrated into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 1 November 2025.

As of 1 November 2025 the executive agency responsible for improving broadband and mobile coverage in hard-to-reach parts of the UK, Building Digital UK (BDUK), will be integrated into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). This update is part of the Government-wide review of arms length bodies launched in April.

BDUK will continue to deliver its important work as it becomes a directorate of the department and there are no changes to BDUK contracts as a result. Contractors currently working with BDUK do not need to take any action.

The government remains fully committed to BDUK’s programmes, Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, with £1.9 billion allocated for their delivery at the last Spending Review. The success of BDUK’s work to date means the UK has already met previous targets of 85% gigabit coverage and 95% 4G coverage a year early. The government recently reconfirmed its commitment to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage and now expects 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 6 October 2025.

• Local areas can now bid for support of up to £20 million each in government funding to grow existing regional science and tech expertise
• Investment will back local leaders who know their regions best, unlocking discoveries and creating hundreds of jobs as part of record £86 billion R&D settlement
• Builds on support already earmarked to local leaders in ten UK areas through Local Innovation Partnerships Fund – driving regional growth through Plan for Change

Local leaders across the country can now bid for support of up to £20 million each in a new competition, as the government backs regional expertise to deliver cutting-edge research that could save lives and create jobs (Monday 6 October).

Research funding body UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is inviting a broad range of local and regional partnerships to bid for government funding to support research and innovation projects in their area through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund. The competition will back partnerships that can turn existing research breakthroughs into practical solutions that create jobs and improve people’s lives, supporting the government’s Plan for Change.

The fund is designed to help regions across the UK build on their existing strengths – whether that is developing technology that helps doctors diagnose diseases faster, creating cleaner transport solutions, or discovering innovations that spawn entirely new industries.

Local leaders, working alongside universities and businesses, are best placed to identify these regional opportunities and turn research breakthroughs into real-world solutions that benefit their communities.

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:

This fund is our Plan for Change in action. It empowers local leaders, researchers, and businesses with skin in the game to deliver transformational research that creates jobs and improves lives in their area.

Ten regions already have our support and will be able to deliver game-changing innovations to benefit their communities.

Now we’re extending this opportunity to the rest of the country, and I encourage partnerships everywhere to come forward, and show how they can unlock their local expertise to create tomorrow’s innovations.

Consortiums of various forms are encouraged to apply, to ensure regions across the length and breadth of the UK are supported to develop new innovations and drive regional growth.

Ten regions across the UK have already received backing through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund. These include established innovation hubs in England such as Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire, alongside Glasgow City Region in Scotland, Cardiff Capital Region in Wales, and an innovation corridor linking Belfast and Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Each of these areas has been earmarked for at least £30 million to invest in their regional innovation strengths, from advanced manufacturing and life sciences to digital technologies and clean energy, ensuring every nation of the UK benefits from this major government investment in R&D.

This approach builds on the successful Innovation Accelerators programme, which has already brought in more than £140 million of private investment and created hundreds of jobs. Greater Manchester teams are helping detect heart and lung diseases more quickly and cheaply, while Glasgow researchers are working to spot signs of colon cancer earlier to save lives. This shows how researchers, businesses and local leaders can work together to tackle the country’s biggest challenges while boosting local economies.

This funding forms part of the record £86 billion R&D settlement until 2030 and represents a key pillar of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, supporting high-growth sectors in every region. For areas ready to unlock their innovation potential, this competition offers a transformative opportunity to secure the partnerships and investment needed to drive growth and improve lives across the country.

Notes to editors

UKRI will run a 2-stage selection process to identify the most promising partnerships.

Interested areas can submit expressions of interest and find out more about the eligibility criteria. UKRI will then work with shortlisted partnerships to co-develop detailed proposals that demonstrate how they can turn research into real-world solutions. An independent assessment panel will evaluate applications based on their potential for economic impact, strength of local partnerships, and alignment with national priorities.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 2 October 2025.

The Science Minister, Lord Vallance gave a speech at British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Pensions and Private Capital Showcase on 2 October 2025.

Thanks of course to the BVCA which has been a constructive partner to government including through its Pensions & Private Capital Expert Panel, led by Kerry Baldwin, and its work to launch the Investment Compact. I want to recognise your role, particularly in keeping this conversation practical and action orientated.

And I want to be clear, now is the time for action. 

It is encouraging to see so many pension investors here. As someone said to me recently, Canadian pensioners have done very well out of investing in UK science and technology companies. We need to do the same for UK pensioners.  

35 years ago in Cambridge, a small team at Acorn Computers created a revolutionary processor design. That innovation became Arm. From a handful of engineers, the business grew into a world leader whose designs power 99 per cent of the world’s smartphones. Arm began in the UK, built on British science and ingenuity – but much of the capital that fuelled its growth came from overseas, and today its primary listing is on NASDAQ in New York.  

There are many other examples of exciting, impactful UK companies doing fantastic work, to which UK investors are underexposed.  

Arm’s story captures both our strengths and our challenge: world-class research and innovation, home to 4 of the world’s top ten universities, great talent, and now more startups than anywhere else in Europe. 

But still too little domestic capital to take enough of our exciting innovation engines to global scale. Today’s Showcase is about changing that. 

We meet at an exciting time. The UK is Europe’s leading destination for tech investment, and we are serious about commercialising and scaling our research. Our Modern Industrial Strategy, with 8 Sector Plans:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Clean Energy Industries
• Creative Industries
• Defence
• Digital and Technologies
• Financial Services
• Life Sciences
• Professional and Business Services

provides the framework. 

And as many people have said to me – unlike previous industrial strategies you don’t need to look in the appendix to find science and technology. It is woven throughout every part and every sector plan. 

All underpinned by smarter investment from our public financial institutions, pro-innovation regulation, stronger procurement signals, an excellent talent and skills pipeline, and by deep partnerships with business and investors.  

The UK ranks third globally for venture capital investment, behind only the US and China, yet has produced only 2 tech firms valued at over £10 billion in the last 50 years — Sage and Arm. But many many more UK inventions and startups have fed growth elsewhere. 

I want to be clear. Unlocking more pension fund investment is central to our mission. This is not just about returns — although it will help deliver greater returns. It is also about fuelling the innovation that underpins UK competitiveness: boosting productivity, strengthening the NHS, advancing defence capability, accelerating the clean energy transition, and scaling UK leadership in life sciences, AI, fintech and sustainability.  

Of course, the UK has deep pools of institutional capital, yet only a fraction reaches our most promising growth companies. UK DC schemes allocate about 0.5% to private equity. By contrast, Australian superannuation funds invest up to 5% in private markets.   

And we know that the proportion of UK capital invested in S&T companies drops dramatically from seed funding through to scale up. 

But – and many thanks to many in this room – we are making progress.  

The Mansion House Accord, the Investment Compact and the BVCA’s Expert Panel’s report have provided structure and ambition, and government has provided capital and support through initiatives such as the British Growth Partnership and LIFTS. Using LIFTS capital and co-investment from Phoenix Group, Schroders’ UK Long-Term Asset Fund has already deployed capital into companies such as Draig Therapeutics working on next generation medicines for neuropsychiatric disorders.  

We’ve seen strong venture inflows – over $16 billion invested into UK start-ups and scale-ups last year, and more than $8 billion raised in the first half of 2025, exceeding France and Germany combined. But IPO activity has fallen sharply: in H1 2025 just £160 million was raised via IPOs in London – a 98 per cent drop compared to H1 2021 and one of the weakest periods in 3 decades – while overseas investors continue to acquire leading UK technology companies, and benefit from the innovation we have developed here.   

So, the challenge is clear: great science, fantastic people, strong early-stage funding – but still too many barriers at scale-up and sustainability.  

That is why we are reforming the UK’s capital markets to ensure high-growth companies can scale and stay here. We are streamlining listing and prospectus rules, removing outdated restrictions on follow-on capital, and have launched PISCES – a new stock-exchange model to help private companies scale and provide a stepping-stone to public markets. 

It is beginning to work but we need to go faster. We get more spin outs and startups every month and every day we don’t fix the scale up deficit we increase the lost opportunity. 

We are pushing better regulation, including through the work of the Regulatory Innovation Office which has cleared away barriers in 4 technology areas and will expand its work over the next year. 

 We are reforming procurement to enable government to be a better customer for innovative SMEs and leveraging public capital through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank.  

• We have committed £670 million for quantum technologies; £500 million for the Sovereign AI Unit; AI Growth Zones; and invested in computing infrastructure for AI.  
• The Life Sciences Sector Plan will be supported over the lifetime of the Spending Review by government funding of over £2 billion. Alongside the Wellcome trust we will invest £600M in creating the Health Data Research Service to utilise our extraordinary data resources to improve treatments, prevention and cures.  
• Defence will commit a £2.5 billion increase in SME spend by 2028.  
• In clean energy and sustainability we will double investment to £30 billion annually by 2035, including ambitious plans for new nuclear technologies 

Today’s Showcase represents the next phase of that work: connecting pension industry representatives with high-growth companies across defence, life sciences, AI and fintech, cleantech and sustainability.  

Yes – there are good things to invest in, and plenty of them. 

And to support that journey I’m pleased to announce that we have published the second edition of the UK Innovation Clusters Map. This gives a clearer, more comprehensive view of our innovation clusters across the UK and is a practical tool to help investors identify the strongest opportunities. We are pushing the rapid development of the extraordinary Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and the opportunities of the Northern Growth Corridor. 

Arm’s story shows what is possible: a British idea, scaled to global impact.  

Rather than rely solely on overseas capital, we want domestic investment to back the next generation of UK success stories. If we unlock more of our own long-term savings to support UK innovation, the next Arm, the next AstraZeneca, the next Rolls Royce, the next Oxford Nanopore can emerge and be sustainable. Investors and pensions will share in the returns, the NHS will get better treatments faster, and Britain will cement its position as the best place in Europe to scale a company.  

That is the prize before us. But we need to move fast. If you didn’t feel the weight of expectation on your shoulders before you entered the room, I hope you do now.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 8 September 2025.

Vulnerable people across the UK will be shielded from the most dangerous content online, as new laws are set to be introduced to prevent devastating self-harm material from reaching people of all ages.

The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.

The change will trigger the strongest possible legal protections, compelling platforms to use cutting-edge technology to actively seek out and eliminate this content before it can reach users and cause irreparable harm, rather than simply reacting after someone has already been exposed to it.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:

This government is determined to keep people safe online. Vile content that promotes self-harm continues to be pushed on social media and can mean potentially heart-wrenching consequences for families across the country.

Our enhanced protections will make clear to social media companies that taking immediate steps to keep users safe from toxic material that could be the difference between life and death is not an option, but the law.

Julie Bentley, Chief Executive of Samaritans, said:

We welcome these efforts to make the Online Safety Act go further to protect both adults and children from dangerous self-harm content. While the internet can be a source of support for people who are struggling, damaging suicide and self-harm content can cost people their lives.

It’s therefore vital that government continues to take opportunities to strengthen the Act and it’s over to Ofcom now to use their powers to hold platforms to account so we can save more lives lost to suicide.

Notes to editors

The regulations will come into force 21 days after they are made, following approval by both Houses of Parliament. We expect this Statutory Instrument (SI) to be laid in the autumn.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 20 August 2025.

UK Space Agency to join the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology by April 2026, helping to streamline support for the UK’s growing space industry.

People and businesses across the UK will benefit from new changes that will see the UK Space Agency become part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – cutting duplication, reducing bureaucracy, and putting public accountability at the heart of decision-making.

In a major step to boost support for the UK’s space sector, the change will bring together the people who shape space policy and those who deliver it. This will cut any duplication that exists and ensure decisions are made with clear ministerial oversight.

Taking place by April 2026, the new unit will keep the UK Space Agency (UKSA) name and brand and will be staffed by experts from both organisations. This will drive up efficiency in line with the government’s Plan for Change, cutting red tape and making Whitehall more agile.

Today also sees the publication of over 60 recommendations from industry leaders on how to improve regulation for space missions, including Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) – where spacecraft work together in orbit. These missions are key to unlocking a future market worth £2.7 billion by 2031 (according to the UKspace IOSM Priorities Paper), and the UK is well placed to lead the way. It is a prime example of the joined-up working that will benefit from the merge of UKSA into DSIT.

With the right support, UK space firms could capture a quarter of the global market for in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing. This will help to clean up space, extend the life of satellites, and build new infrastructure above Earth.

Every Arms Length Body across government is being reviewed with a view to rooting out unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication, and to put public accountability first. Ministers have already announced that NHS England, the largest quango in the world, will be abolished as part of this process.

Space Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see the importance of space to the British economy. This is a sector that pulls investment into the UK, and supports tens of thousands of skilled jobs right across the country, while nearly a fifth of our GDP is dependent on satellites. The aims for growth and security at the heart of our Plan for Change can’t be met without a vibrant space sector.

Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the sector.

UK Space Agency CEO Dr Paul Bate said:

I strongly welcome this improved approach to achieving the government’s space ambitions. Having a single unit with a golden thread through strategy, policy and delivery will make it faster and easier to translate the nation’s space goals into reality.

In coming together, the UK Space Agency and space policy colleagues are building on the firm foundations of economic growth and capability development laid in recent years, including cutting-edge missions, major national programmes, and the regulations that enable UK launch and leadership in space sustainability.

We will continue to deliver, while reducing duplication and ensuring we work even more closely with Ministers to support the UK space sector, and the country.

The UK Space Agency was founded in 2010 and currently operates as an executive agency of DSIT. It catalysed investment and revenue of at least £2.2 billion for the UK space sector in 2024/2025. DSIT and the Agency will continue to work closely together over the coming months to support the UK space sector and ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements. Further practical details on the merger will be announced in due course.

This RPO Sandbox report has been delivered by 3 firms with leading expertise in the field: Astroscale, ClearSpace and D-Orbit, working in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority, the UK Space Agency and DSIT. Publishing the Stage 1 Report on the Regulatory Sandbox for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) delivers a key recommendation from the Space Regulatory Review and further demonstrates the strength of the sandbox model to support wider innovation, taking advantage of these safe spaces for establishing ‘what works’ for regulating cutting-edge new technologies.

By tackling bottlenecks and uncertainties that UK firms in this field and beyond currently face, and ensuring regulation keeps up with the fast pace of innovation in this area, we will help encourage investment in nascent space activities like space junk removal, in-orbit refuelling and repair services that are expected to be highly lucrative in the decades ahead.

By stress-testing the regulatory framework for novel space missions, the report’s recommendations provide important clarity for the UK’s space industry, their clients and investors, which ultimately encourages the growth of and investment in British space businesses working on RPO missions. This work is supported by the Regulatory Innovation Office’s (RIO) mission to reform regulation across emerging technologies.

Delivery on these recommendations is already underway, as is Stage 2 of the Sandbox, which will examine issues unique to RPO missions in greater detail. The Stage 1 report sets a model for future sandboxes to follow. Its findings will support the delivery of the UK’s first ever active debris removal mission, planned to launch by 2028 to prove the tech needed to safely remove defunct satellites from orbit. This is technology that will protect the safe, secure and sustainable access to space upon which the UK’s economy and national security depend.

Nick Shave, Managing Director, Astroscale UK:

Astroscale UK is proud to have jointly led the industry delivery of Stage 1 of the RPO Regulatory Sandbox. Rendezvous and Proximity Operations are the foundation of all in-orbit servicing, from life-extension and refuelling to active debris removal – and with the right regulatory framework, the UK can be a global leader in this transformative sector.

The recommendations in this report tackle the real bottlenecks industry faces today, providing clarity, proportionality and the confidence investors need. We look forward to working with government, regulators, and our fellow innovators to turn these proposals into action, ensuring the UK captures the economic and sustainability opportunities of a truly serviceable space sector.

Rory Holmes, ClearSpace COO and UK Managing Director, said:

Together with partners, ClearSpace has been at the forefront of delivering Stage 1 of the RPO Regulatory Sandbox, an important step towards a safe, sustainable, and commercially dynamic space sector. This stage has been pivotal in fostering collaboration between government, regulators, insurers, and operators, enabling stakeholders to address knowledge gaps and reduce uncertainty around licensing in-orbit servicing missions in the UK.

Through the RPO Operators Consortium, we have contributed to comprehensive recommendations on safety, sustainability, security, and liability measures to strengthen the UK’s regulatory framework and benefit all satellite operators. By establishing a clear, transparent, proportionate, and predictable approach, these proposals position the UK to become a global leader in this strategically vital domain. We remain committed to turning this framework into action, supporting its implementation, and advancing the vision of secure, resilient, and sustainable space operations.

D-Orbit’s UK Legal Counsel, Lauren Payne, said:

Stage 1 successfully highlighted a range of challenges associated with the licensing of RPO missions under the current regulatory framework, allowing key stakeholders in licensing to work through these real-life challenges in a focussed, neutral forum.  For Stage 2 we will build on the work in Stage 1 and zero in on implementation, where we hope to translate these issues into a better regulatory environment for RPO operators, customers, and regulators.

Colin Macleod, Head of the Space Regulator at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:

The regulatory sandbox on RPO allows us to work with industry and government on cutting edge ideas in a fast-paced, collaborative and safe environment.

RPO is vital for sustainable space but operating satellites at thousands of miles per hour in close proximity brings big challenges. Getting this right unlocks new ways of operating in space, helping the UK space sector grow while operating safely and responsibly.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 16 August 2025.

Patients and frontline staff could see huge benefits from new AI helping people out of hospital quicker and slashing bureaucracy.

Patients could get home to family and off busy wards more quickly, thanks to game-changing AI that could help write the documents that are needed to discharge people from hospital.

The cutting-edge technology will help cut waiting lists, by giving frontline staff the precious gift of time and making care more efficient so that loved ones return to the comfort of their homes quickly. Currently being developed at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, it is one of many projects to receive backing from the Prime Minister as part of the AI Exemplars programme.

The AI-assisted tool could deliver the support that NHS staff have been crying out for – helping doctors to draft discharge documents faster by extracting key details from medical records, such as diagnoses and test results, using a large language model.  After a full review from a medical expert responsible for the patient, these documents are then used to discharge a patient from a ward and refer them to other care services that may be needed.

It would radically improve an outdated system that can leave patients on wards unnecessarily for hours, waiting for time-pressed doctors providing urgent care to sit down and fill in forms before they can go home. In some cases, the current system for writing discharge summaries can also inaccurately record basic patient details – like what treatment they’ve had, or changes to medication – and put them in harms way.

Another project announced today, ‘Justice Transcribe’, will be transformational for Probation Officers – by helping to transcribe and take notes in their meetings with offenders after they leave prison. The technology, which was found to halve the time officers spent organising notes between meetings and in their personal time, is set to be scaled to all 12,000 probation officers following the pilot phase outcome.

Projects being announced today as part of the Prime Minister’s AI Exemplars programme are prime examples of how the government wants to use AI across the public sector to make people’s lives easier and help deliver the Plan for Change. Over the coming months, these exemplars will be developed and trialled, with those showing the most promise potentially rolled out more widely. It follows the Prime Minister’s approach that people should not spend their time on tasks that AI can do quicker and better.

Speaking on a visit to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

This is exactly the kind of change we need: AI being used to give doctors, probation officers and other key workers more time to focus on delivering better outcomes and speeding up vital services.

This government inherited a public sector decimated by years of under-investment and is crying out for reform. These AI Exemplars show the best ways in which we’re using tech to build a smarter, more efficient state.

When we get this right across government, we’re talking about unlocking £45 billion in productivity gains – delivering our Plan for Change and investing in growth not bureaucracy.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

This potentially transformational discharge tool is a prime example of how we’re shifting from analogue to digital as part of our 10 Year Health Plan.

We’re using cutting-edge technology to build an NHS fit for the future and tackle the hospital backlogs that have left too many people waiting too long.

Doctors will spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, getting people home to their families faster and freeing up beds for those who need them most.

The NHS Federated Data Platform, a system designed to connect IT across health and care services, is hosting the AI-assisted discharge summaries tool. This means that it can handover information to different care services in an efficient and secure way, while also making it easier to use the technology across the country if tests are successful.

Planning

The AI Exemplars programme will also include the ‘Extract’ tool, which will standardise data faster by converting decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes. It will power new types of planning software to slash the 250,000 estimated hours spent by planning officers each year manually checking these documents.

Schools

Other technology backed by the programme, the ‘AI Content Store’, will also help make more accurate AI tools to support teachers to mark work and plan lessons – ensuring they are able to spend more time helping children in the classroom with face-to-face teaching, supporting the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

Justice

A further tool in the programme is ‘Justice Transcribe’. Early feedback from probation officers has shown that the technology allows them to focus on the personal, and often emotive meetings with offenders, instead of having to interrupt to take notes and clarify details.

Civil service

The suite of AI tools known as ‘Humphrey’, that helps make the civil service more efficient, is also included in the package. It comes as ‘Consult’, a tool in the package, analyses the thousands of responses any government consultation might receive in hours, before presenting policy makers and experts with interactive dashboards to explore what the public are saying directly.

It has been the first AI tool to undergo testing against a new ‘social readiness’ standard, where the tech was shared with members of the public to get their views on the value it adds, the strength of safeguards in place and the risks associated with using the technology.  Members of the public noted that Consult is well targeted to replace an “old school process” that is very “archaic” and ripe for improvement with AI.

The independent report, completed after deliberative focus groups by the Centre for Collective Intelligence at Nesta, a charity focused on innovation for the public good, found that 82% of people felt positive or neutral about the use of the technology across government.

Notes to editors

With more to be announced in the coming months, AI Exemplars include:

• Justice Transcribe, Ministry of Justice.
• ‘Humphrey’, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
• Education Content store, Department for Education.
• AI Tax Compliance, HMRC.
• ‘Extract’ and the Digital Planning Programme, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
• ‘Minute’ for Local Government, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
• GOV.UK Chat, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
• AI for diagnostics, NHS.

The press release issued by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology on 16 August 2025.

AI agents could soon take on boring life admin by dealing with public services on your behalf – from filling in forms to completing applications and booking appointments.

AI agents could soon take on boring life admin by dealing with public services on your behalf – from filling in forms to completing applications and booking appointments, as the UK government plans trials to save people time and modernise the state.

Agentic AI is unique in that it can reliably complete basic admin tasks for people as well as provide tailored support for them, by putting in a prompt and watching it do the work for them. Acting on behalf of people, AI agents from private companies can be used to book flights, shop around for the best deal online, or book restaurants and activities from a holiday itinerary.

On Monday, the government will invite specialist companies who have started working with this type of cutting-edge AI to team up with in-house Whitehall experts to test this technology together. This includes exploring if agentic AI can help get young people into work by supporting them to take the next step in their education, find the best apprenticeship for their circumstances, provide custom career guidance and more.

In the first instance the tool could be trialled to help people with employment and skills but if successful, the government will experiment to see if agentic AI can help with other life milestones. For example, when moving home a government-built AI agent could help you update an address on your digital driving licence, register you with a new GP, register you in the correct constituency to vote and more.

Taking a new experimental approach recommended in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, the development of the technology will follow a “test and learn” approach that could be rolled out across the country from late 2027 – and builds on the early success of GOV.UK Chat, an experimental generative AI chatbot which is being developed in government.

UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

We can entirely rethink and reshape how public services help people through crucial life moments using the power of emerging AI technology. Using agentic AI to its full potential, we could provide a level of service to citizens across the country that was previously unimaginable – helping people to find better career opportunities, avoid wasting their time on government admin and more.

We are asking the world’s brightest AI developers to work in collaboration with our own brilliant AI teams as we test how valuable their latest tech can be in helping people in their day-to-day lives. At each step, we’ll only progress if the technology can be used in a safe and reliable way – but if it works, we could be the first country in the world to use AI agents at scale.

The technology, which would be entirely optional to use, could also save people hours of headaches by dealing with dozens of different agencies and government officials at once on their behalf.

To deliver this, the government is today asking for frontier AI labs to share their expertise and dedicate AI specialists to build a prototype of the technology over six-to-twelve months. Together, with government AI experts, a hybrid team will prove what’s possible in applying this new technology to public services, while the UK government will maintain ownership of the product into the future.

The project will be the first “National AI Tender” issued following the AI Opportunities Action Plan, a new method that seeks to build cutting-edge AI solutions to improve public services across the country.

It will follow a “Scan, Pilot, Scale” approach recommended by the AI Opportunities Action Plan, with the tender marking the start of the “Pilot” phase where the government will work with leading AI labs to see whether the technology available is ready to reliably deliver on this ambition.

The technology will be built in small and iterative stages, meaning it is consistently being evaluated and rigorously tested to make sure it is ultimately reliable and accurate enough to be used by people across the country when it’s ready.

The completed “Scan” phase included some user research to test where agentic AI could be most helpful, and some early prototyping and exploration of what data is already available to make further development possible.

Throughout, the project will be evaluated before it progresses to the next stage. If it is successful at each stage, an agentic AI solution could be rolled out across the country from the end of 2027.

It comes ahead of the Prime Minister announcing a wider series of AI Exemplars tomorrow, where he will set out several ways in which AI is being used across the public sector to speed up services, save money and improve outcomes for citizens.

The list will include the “Extract” tool, which will standardise data faster by converting decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes. It will power new types of planning software to slash the 250,000 estimated hours spent by planning officers each year manually checking these documents.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 15 August 2025.

Government launches AI crime prevention challenge to support safer streets.

Criminals hell bent on making others’ lives a misery face being stopped before they can strike through cutting edge mapping technology, supported by AI, to be rolled out by 2030, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has announced today (Friday 15 August).

Innovators have been tasked with developing a detailed real time and interactive crime map that spans England and Wales and can detect, track and predict where devastating knife crime is likely to occur or spot early warning signs of anti-social behaviour before it spirals out of control – giving police the intel they need to step in and keep the public safe.

It will be rooted in advanced AI that will examine how to bring together data shared between police, councils and social services, including criminal records, previous incident locations and behavioural patterns of known offenders.

The map will identify where crime is concentrating so law enforcement and partners can direct their resources as needed and help prevent further victims.

The Concentrations of Crime Data Challenge – delivered by UKRI – sets teams from business, universities and beyond a clear and measurable target of coming together to develop the solution to be operational across England and Wales by 2030 and is part of the government’s £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme.

As part of an initial £4 million government investment, teams will deliver initial prototypes to enhance the mapping system by April 2026 – a crucial milestone that supports the Safer Streets Mission as part of our Plan for Change, which aims to halve knife crime and Violence Against Women and Girls within a decade.

Whilst visiting the Met Police, Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said:

Cutting-edge technology like AI can improve our lives in so many ways, including in keeping us safe, which is why we’re putting it to work for victims over vandals, the law-abiding majority over the lawbreakers.

Our police officers are at their best when they join up to prevent crime rather than react to it, and R&D can deliver crucial tools for them to stay one step ahead of potential dangers to the public and property – keeping our streets safe and delivering on our Plan for Change.

Minister for Policing and Crime Prevention, Dame Diana Johnson, said:

As criminal networks keep evolving with technology, so too must our response. We are giving police the tools they need to make our streets safer, and this crime map will be a powerful tool, building on the expanded rollout of live facial recognition vans we unveiled this week.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are investing in AI and other innovations that will help us be smarter on crime, staying ahead of the curve and prevent it from happening in the first place.

The challenge builds on existing Home Office work, including sophisticated mapping technologies targeting knife crime hotspots and the summer-long Safer Streets Initiative tackling town centre crime, taking this foundation further through enhanced research, expanded data sources and deeper analysis to better understand crime patterns and measure the impact of interventions.

The Safer Streets Mission also supports the government’s commitment to put 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles. Every neighbourhood will have a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues.

This announcement is the second challenge to be announced as part of the Programme, building on our Clean Energy challenge aiming to deliver cheaper bills for households across the UK by shifting electricity demand during evenings and weekends by two gigawatts by 2030 – the equivalent of 1.5 million homes.

Further challenges will be announced on how science and technology can build an NHS fit for the future, break down barriers to opportunity and drive growth to deliver on the government’s Plan for Change.

John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of Neighbourhood Watch said:

We welcome the announcement of this challenge which will bring together experts and practitioners at the cutting edge of crime, data and technology, to create an operational mapping system which we hope will enable people to feel safer and more secure in their homes and local neighbourhoods.

The map will pool a wealth of valuable crime data and enable law enforcement to target their resources more effectively at a local level and help prevent further victims of crime. As an organisation that strives to build a society where neighbours are more connected, safer, and active in their communities, we welcome this laser focus on harnessing data and tech to prevent crime at the local level.

Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust said:

We wholeheartedly welcome the government’s announcement on using AI to predict and prevent crime. This forward-thinking approach, which focuses on providing police with preventative tools to proactively intervene, aligns perfectly with the core mission of the Ben Kinsella Trust.

For 17 years, our work has been driven by the belief that prevention is the most powerful tool against crime, especially knife crime. By reaching young people early and educating them on the dangers and consequences of knife crime, we empower them to make safer choices.

This new initiative provides a powerful technological extension of that ethos, it demonstrates that the government recognises the immense value of prevention and is investing in innovative solutions to support our police officers in their vital work of keeping the public safe.

Rebecca Bryant, CEO of Resolve said:

This is a landmark moment for innovation in community safety. The Safer Streets mission and the Concentrations of Crime Data Challenge show a real commitment to harnessing technology for public good. At Resolve, we know that data alone isn’t enough as how we apply it really matters with a clear focus on an ethical and collaborative approach, all of which can make such a difference for communities. We’re proud to support this initiative and will continue championing the voices of practitioners who turn insight into impact every day.

Matthew Evans, Director of Markets and Chief Operating Office, techUK said:

This is a forward thinking step toward building safer, stronger communities. By harnessing cutting-edge AI alongside robust data sharing between police, councils, and social services, this initiative showcases the true potential of interoperability. Seamless collaboration across agencies will enable earlier detection of patterns, smarter allocation of resources, and more targeted interventions, helping to prevent harm before it occurs and better protect the public.

Tracey Burley, Chief Executive of St Giles, said:

Technology can play a role in tackling complex issues like knife crime – but only if used with care, recognising that individuals can be both victims and perpetrators, and that certain communities risk being unfairly profiled. Any technological solution must go hand in hand with proven measures such as early intervention for those at risk, and tackling the root causes – poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 13 August 2025.

The Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund will help more people get online, drive economic growth and raise living standards, as part of the Plan for Change.

• More people will be supported to get online through new government fund helping to drive economic growth and raise living standards as part of the Plan for Change.
• Backed by £9.5 million from UK government, the funding will help tackle digital inequality across the UK, including through workshops to familiarise people with tech and donating new devices to those without access to online world.
• Funding will be delivered in partnership with the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – building on local knowledge and expertise.

Local charities and councils could benefit from £9.5 million in new UK government funding being announced today (Wednesday 13 August), to turbo-charge grassroots efforts to help the 1.6 million people in the UK who can’t access to online world. The money will support the best and smartest ways of tackling digital exclusion, which could include putting on workshops to familiarise people with tech, schemes donating devices like phones and laptops to the digitally excluded, all led by local councils, charities and other bodies working in the heart of their communities.

Digital exclusion is holding too many people back and tackling it is critical to driving growth, which is at the heart of the government’s Plan for Change. Research suggests that 7.9 million adults across the UK lack basic digital skills, while 1.6 million people live offline altogether. These are people who are locked out from some of the basic opportunities that modern life offers, whether that’s mastering the essential digital skills for work – like setting up an email account and sharing files – or facing higher costs for things like home insurance, train travel and food – with people paying up to 25% more than consumers who are online.

The government has today launched the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to help tackle these issues and get more people online. In England, local government, charities and research organisations can apply for funding worth £25,000 to £500,000 to help boost digital inclusion and skills in their local areas. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will determine their own arrangements for the distribution of funding to best support local digital inclusion initiatives.

This follows June’s launch of the IT Reuse for Good charter, where organisations can pledge to donate devices to the digitally excluded.

UK Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:

It is unacceptable that in 2025, millions of people across the UK simply can’t access the vast opportunities that technology and the online world offers. Digital inclusion is an essential for modern life and work, not just something that’s nice to have, and it forms a critical part of our Plan for Change.

Making technology widely accessible could be the thing that means a sick patient can speak to a GP remotely, or that helps a young person successfully apply for a job. Through this funding we’re moving further to empower local leaders and groups nationwide, who are already working tirelessly to get their communities connected and change countless lives for the better.

Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, said:

For over a decade, Wales has led the way in digital inclusion, and our Digital Strategy for Wales makes clear our aim to ensure everyone who chooses to can engage safely and with confidence with digital.

Being digitally included means having the basic digital skills and tools needed for everyday life – from accessing vital services and applying for jobs to staying connected with friends and family.

This new funding from the UK government will build on the progress we’ve made, helping to further our lead and support the aim to support people to meet the minimum digital living standard.

The fund is being directed at local organisations because they are best placed to know how to support the needs of their communities. Where new and innovative ways of tackling digital exclusion are shown to be effective, the hope is that by proving them through this fund, they can then be rolled out wider across the country.

Launching the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund delivers on a key commitment set out in the Digital Inclusion Action Plan published earlier this year, which set out this government’s first actions to tackle digital exclusion so that technology can be harnessed by everyone in the UK, and help the government boost growth and raise living standards under the Plan for Change.

Tackling digital exclusion will be crucial to raising living standards across the UK as part of the government’s Plan for Change, for instance by helping more people apply for jobs online, use the NHS app to book doctor’s appointments, or get advice on government services through tools like GOV.UK Chat.

Notes for editors

The full Digital Inclusion Action Plan can be found on GOV.UK: Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps

Research shows that digitally excluded people face higher costs for things like home insurance, train travel and food paying up to 25% more on average than consumers who are online.

Allocations for the devolved governments for this FY (25-26) have been calculated on a per capita basis and amount to:

• £400,368 for Wales
• £764,020 for Scotland
• £267,249 for Northern Ireland

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 12 August 2025.

Tens of thousands of NHS patients living with obesity could get cutting-edge help to improve their health, thanks to a new health innovation programme.

Tens of thousands of NHS patients living with obesity could get cutting-edge help to improve their health, thanks to a new health innovation programme being announced today (Tuesday 12 August).

Backed by up to £85 million from the government and Lilly – one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies – this programme could make it easier for patients living with obesity to access holistic care to improve their health. It will do so by enabling access to weight management care more easily, wherever they live, through new routes like digital platforms, local community-based access, and pharmacies.

Improving the health of patients living with obesity will help to ease pressure on the NHS and GPs, as well as helping more people living with obesity to participate fully in work, supporting the government’s Plan for Change mission to rebuild the health system and support people to live healthier lives.

The UK government will contribute up to £50 million of new UK-wide investment, and Lilly will contribute up to £35 million of grant funding, with NHS organisations able to come up with proposals and apply for a share of the funding. At least £10 million of this funding is earmarked to support proposals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The programme will be open to proposals from across the UK. In participating areas, eligible patients could access innovative services as early as summer 2026.

Besides the potential benefits to individuals’ health and wellbeing, this could help bring down the £11 billion annual cost to the NHS of supporting patients living with obesity. This programme comes as a result of the prospective landmark collaboration which was agreed between the government and Lilly at the International Investment Summit in October last year, which could generate up to £279m of investment.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

New ways of accessing support to tackle obesity, such as through pharmacies or with help from digital tools, could be transformational for people’s quality of life, and for society – allowing individuals to more easily manage their weight and freeing them from ill-health that holds them back in daily life – while reducing the strain on our NHS.

This programme also underlines life sciences’ critical value to our Plan for Change and our modern Industrial Strategy. By working hand-in-hand with one of the world’s largest life sciences companies, we are driving investment into the UK and tackling one of the greatest health challenges of our era.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said :

Obesity is now one of the leading causes of ill health, costing the NHS billions. Yet, we now have the science, technology and knowledge to help tackle the obesity epidemic, if we seize this opportunity.

As we shift our focus from treatment to prevention with our 10 Year Health Plan we are also determined to bring revolutionary modern care to everyone that needs it, not just those who can afford to pay.

This collaboration will help patients living with obesity in a matter of months – through testing better access to weight loss services and treatments.

In the long-term it will inform how we can better tackle one of the biggest modern day health challenges and, through our Plan for Change, create an NHS that is fit for the future.

Professor Rachel Batterham, Senior Vice President for International Medical Affairs at Lilly said:

The launch of this programme marks an important milestone in advancing new models of care for obesity. At Lilly, we are deeply committed to addressing the complex health challenge of obesity, and we are pleased to collaborate with the UK government and NHS partners. Together, we aim to build an evidence base that could transform health outcomes for people living with obesity.

NHS England national medical director Dr Claire Fuller said:

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges we face and costs the NHS billions of pounds every year, so this collaboration between government and industry to drive new ways of supporting people with obesity could make a huge difference.

The NHS is already developing and rolling out a range of ways to help people to manage their weight and live healthier lives, with patients benefiting from wraparound care from local weight management teams and via online support services, but we are excited by the potential of this collaboration to accelerate efforts to tackle obesity as the NHS moves from treatment to prevention as part of the 10-Year Health Plan.

Healthcare stakeholders across the NHS such as care boards, working with technology providers, will be invited to submit bids to pilot innovative models of care for people living with obesity, outside of existing specialist weight management services to increase capacity and avoid those services being overburdened.

The programme, which will be delivered together with Innovate UK, will provide patients living with obesity with new ways to access comprehensive holistic weight management support, including a range of wraparound services, and potentially obesity treatments (for eligible patients as clinically appropriate), or support by digital tools.

A central part of this programme will be finding new ways to deliver obesity care that are accessible to everyone who can benefit from them, regardless of their background.

This builds on our recent investment through Innovate UK into 23 projects from the Weight Management Pathway Design Accelerator. Led by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and health boards across the UK, these focused three-month projects are exploring new ways to design more personalised and joined-up weight management support, delivered in local communities where it’s easier for people to access.

Patient eligibility will be decided by clinicians at local level, with all services adhering to national guidelines, NHS governance and clinical standards, ensuring a patient centric approach aligned to local need.

Notes to editors:

• The work being announced today is a demonstration of the £108 billion life sciences sector’s value to the UK economy, in both improving public health and keeping the UK at the forefront of scientific progress. Life sciences’ critical role in the modern Industrial Strategy, and the government’s ambitious plans for its continued success, are laid out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan.
• The government is determined to back the UK life sciences sector to support the delivery of innovative new ways of tackling obesity, alongside introducing measures to prevent obesity in the first place, such as restrictions on junk food advertising, to help ease pressure on the NHS.
• This collaboration falls under the Obesity Healthcare Goals programme, aiming to set the stage for government to work with industry to trial innovative approaches to treating obesity as part of a rounded package of care.
• Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. Their mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.