Tag: Department for Science Innovation and Technology

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 23 May 2025.

AI experts are experimenting to build new AI within “Humphrey” to help speed up admin in areas like planning and social care, as 25 councils trial new AI tech from Whitehall.

Local councils across the country are trialling a new AI tool called ‘Minute’ – part of the “Humphrey” suite being rolled out across Whitehall – to cut burdensome admin tasks to improve services for citizens as part of the UK government’s Plan for Change.

It comes as the Prime Minister brings together Heads of the devolved governments and elected English Mayors today at the Council of the Nations and Regions for talks on recent trade deals, as well as how AI can improve public services and maximise the technology’s benefits for people across UK. ‘Minute’ has been used to take notes in the meeting, marking the first time AI has been used in a meeting chaired by a UK Prime Minister.

25 local councils are currently taking part in the early-stage trial of ‘Minute’ to speed up note taking across the services they provide, including West Berkshire Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. This includes streamlining burdensome admin tasks in the planning process to help hit the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes by 2030.

This could help speed up actions after planning meetings, allowing officers to focus on the task at hand, rather than paperwork, and make informed decisions to get homes built. This will support approvals, so bricks can be laid and homes built faster.

The tool also helps take detailed notes in meetings between social care workers and their supervisors, allowing workers to focus on offering more support instead of being bogged down by bureaucracy.

The trial comes as alongside a push from government to help local councils use technology to improve the dozens of essential services they are responsible for delivering to local residents – from planning approvals to housing, pest control and parking permits. It includes a new AI Knowledge Hub published today, sharing exciting examples of how local councils are using technology so others can learn from them – such as an AI assistant that speeds up the reporting of fly-tipping and graffiti in central London.

‘Minute’ is part of ‘Humphrey’, the package of AI tools built to help civil servants deliver for ministers and the public more effectively. It uses generative AI to turn meetings into notes and adds unique tools to help tweak and correct summaries more efficiently. Early tests of the technology in central government showed that officials were saved, on average, from one hour of admin per one hour meeting, with nearly half of them saying note-taking is the least enjoyable part of their job.

In the pilot, the tool helps local councils automate requirements for note taking and record keeping so officials can focus on helping residents more quickly.

The trial announced today follows the Prime Minister setting out that he will “push forward with the digitisation of government services” to find £45 billion worth of productivity savings to make the state more productive and agile and deliver the Plan for Change.

AI and Digital Government Minister Feryal Clark said:

From parking permits and planning permission, local councils handle some of the services that impact our daily lives most. For too long, they have been left to fend for themselves when keeping up with rapid innovations in AI and digital technology – when we know it has huge potential to help solve many of the challenges they face.

That’s why “Humphrey”, a suite of exciting AI tools built in my department, is being sent to townhalls to help them fast track planning decisions, build 1.5 million homes and take meeting notes more quickly. This is just the first step as we are also going to work with local councils to help them buy and build the technology they need to deliver our Plan for Change and support their local communities more effectively.

Lords Minister for Housing and Local Government Baroness Taylor said:

Local councils are on the frontline of housing delivery, and we’re backing them with cutting-edge AI technology like ‘Minute’, so officers can spend less time buried in admin and more time helping to get Britain building.

This is alongside our landmark reforms to deliver 1.5 million homes, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will get working people and families in to secure homes and boost economic growth right across the country.

Earlier this year, the government’s State of Digital Government Review unveiled that local councils were spending £5 billion per year on technology, despite employing half the number of digital specialists they should be. The report also found that each of the 320 local authorities negotiate technology contracts with big tech companies independently – when many are buying exactly the same tools – making this spending much less effective.

Work has also begun to look at how technology built by the UK government, like the upcoming GOV.UK App which will give people access to public services on their phones, can help councils save money while delivering a better, more consistent service for citizens. It will also aim to improve data sharing between councils and other public bodies, as well as helping councils negotiate contracts together and share best practices.

It comes alongside a new AI Knowledge Hub being published, sharing practical examples of how AI is being used in government and across local councils so other organisations across the UK can take their work forward. The publication of the website delivers against a recommendation made in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, aiming to help the public sector adopt AI more quickly and effectively.

Other areas set to be discussed today include how by working with devolved governments and mayors the UK can ensure it has the infrastructure and capability needed to power AI, and ways to facilitate better data sharing.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 22 May 2025.

Funding announced for new round of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund.

New technologies, like drones for delivering vital supplies to smarter medical software using AI to help doctors spot diseases earlier, could reach the public faster through new funding to cut unnecessary red tape and keep pace with innovation (Thursday 22 May).

The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund supports regulators to trial new, more efficient ways of working that allow businesses to bring their innovations to market faster, in turn supporting the economic growth at the centre of our Plan for Change.

The launch of the fourth round – worth £5.5 million in total – builds on its previous phase, which supported 24 pioneering projects across the country unlocking new opportunities in sectors like health, transport, and energy.

Supported projects include exploring safer ways for drones to fly in the same skies as other aircraft – which could contribute £45 billion to the UK economy at its highest potential. These trials have laid the groundwork for future drone deliveries, and helped regulators keep up with new technologies while making sure people are protected and rules are clear and fair. Other projects include using realistic, computer-generated data to speed up results of clinical trials, which could in future help get new medical treatments out sooner.

The fourth round of Regulators’ Pioneer Fund is open to regulators and local authorities across the UK and will include projects in key growth areas such as AI in healthcare, engineering biology, space, and connected and autonomous vehicles. Projects might include smarter ways to test new treatments, manage the use of airspace for drones, or support technologies like lab-grown foods – helping ensure the rules are fit for purpose to bring innovations to market.

This latest round – delivered by the Regulatory Innovation Office – is now open to regulators and local authorities across the UK. It will support bold ideas that back some of the UK’s most promising growth sectors – including AI to support the NHS, engineered biology to improve food security, satellite tech to improve farming and climate tracking, and self-driving vehicles. It’s part of the government’s Plan for Change to make the UK the best place to test and grow new ideas, while making life better for the public.

Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

Smarter, more agile regulation is key to businesses bringing ideas to market faster, while giving the public confidence in new technologies.

These projects show how regulators can work with industry to unlock breakthroughs – from autonomous drones improving emergency services, to AI that cuts the cost and time spent on clinical trials.

By backing this kind of innovation, we’re helping to make the UK the best place in the world to launch, test and scale new ideas, and drive the economic growth we need to improve lives and deliver our Plan for Change.

Some of the innovative work delivered through the previous round (RPF3) includes:

• In Milton Keynes, funding helped local authorities trial drone deliveries for urgent medical supplies and environmental monitoring. This included exploring new ways such as carrying out low-risk test flights and sensors to track the drones’ path to safely test and approve these services – helping emergency responders and healthcare providers get what they need faster, while reducing emissions and traffic congestion. The project is also laying the foundations for a future UK-wide drone economy, predicted to be worth up to £45 billion by 2030.
• At the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), funding was used to explore the use of synthetic data in clinical trials – specifically through synthetic control arms, which use computer-generated data to replace some of the participants who would normally receive a placebo. This approach can make trials quicker, cheaper, and more inclusive, while still ensuring safety and effectiveness. Patients could benefit from faster access to new treatments, supporting efforts to improve health outcomes and reduce pressure on our NHS.
• The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) supported the aviation industry to reduce regulatory challenges on the safe introduction of hydrogen as an aviation fuel at a commercial scale and making progress towards bringing zero-emission flight to UK skies. Their work will position the UK as a global leader in sustainable aviation, supporting job creation and contributing to net zero goals.

All projects receive tailored support from the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), which helps regulators coordinate efforts and safely trial new approaches.

Notes to editors

• The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF4) opens for bids on Thursday 22 May and will provide up to £5.5 million in total to new regulatory innovation projects.
• An independent evaluation by the National Centre for Social Research that has also been published today found that the third round of the Regulators Pioneer Fund (RPF) helped trial new approaches that would not have happened otherwise, embedding innovation more deeply within their organisations. It also strengthened collaboration between regulators and industry, laying the groundwork for more open, responsive regulation in the future.

Dr Puja Myles, Director of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink at the MHRA, said:

The RPF grant has given us a better understanding of the scenarios when synthetic data could be used to boost sample sizes of clinical trials.

This project is part of the MHRA’s work to promote innovation and embrace emerging technologies in clinical trials, to help get new treatments to patients faster.

Tim Johnson, Director of Policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:

The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund has been instrumental in helping the UK Civil Aviation Authority explore how it can enable innovators to develop new products and services, including the safe introduction of hydrogen as an aviation fuel.

This support has helped us engage early with those who are researching and developing this technology, understand key regulatory challenges, and starting to lay the groundwork for zero-emission flight in the UK.

Cabinet Member for Planning and Placemaking and Milton Keynes City Council, Councillor Shanika Mahendran, said:

Thanks to the RPF, we’ve been able to start building the groundwork for using drones to make services more efficient. It’s given us a chance to explore what safety checks and rules we need to follow so we can move from just testing drones to using them in the long-term.

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

Hundreds of highly skilled jobs will be created, and new research centres will be set up aimed at making new advances in medical science, thanks to a planned investment of up to £1 billion into the UK by world-leading biopharmaceutical company BioNTech announced today (Tuesday 20 May).

This is one of the biggest investments in the history of UK life sciences, made possible with government backing – all part of plans to support this growth-driving sector as part of the Plan for Change, and our mission to turbo-charge economic growth in every part of the country.

This historic investment is a testament to the confidence in the UK life sciences – one of the priority sectors of the economy that will form a key part of the forthcoming Industrial Strategy – as a driver of economic growth, job creation, and innovations that could overhaul what’s possible in healthcare. The sector is already thriving, worth £108 billion to the economy and providing more than 300,000 highly skilled jobs across the country. But through measures like our commitment to investing up to £520 million in the sector through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, we want to boost UK life sciences to even greater heights, bolstering our ambitions to grow the economy, create jobs, and building on the UK’s position as the second-most attractive destination for international investment.

BioNTech will invest in the UK over the course of the next 10 years as part of an ambitious plan to significantly expand their presence here. That will see them create two new R&D hubs, the first to be based in Cambridge, as well as an AI hub to be based at BioNTech’s planned UK headquarters in London. These are planned to create more than 400 new highly skilled jobs over the next 10 years, including researchers in clinical and scientific drug development, bioinformatics, and a range of supporting functions. Indirectly, the investment is also likely to create a substantial number of additional jobs in the supply chain.

BioNTech are the pioneering company behind mRNA vaccines and cancer immunotherapies notably used to tackle COVID-19, and more recently trialled to help patients with cancer.

According to the Academy of Medical Sciences, every £1 spent on medical research delivers a return of 25p, every year, forever after that, so the long-term economic impact of an investment in research on this scale, speaks for itself. This is the government’s Plan for Change, in action, and shows how our ambitions for the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor are already pulling international investment into the UK.

BioNTech signed an agreement finalising the investment together with Science Secretary Peter Kyle today. As part of the agreement, the government will contribute up to £129 million in grant funding over a period of 10 years.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

This investment will propel the growth-driving life sciences sector to new heights, delivering cutting-edge facilities, building careers in the future-facing jobs we want our children to have, and ultimately unlocking progress in medical science that could save lives.

This is a clear indication of how we will deliver the government’s Plan for Change: working together with the best and brightest businesses and innovators to unlock their potential, and then reap the benefits for the economy, health and more that their drive and genius can deliver.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:

This is another testament to confidence in Britain being one of the world’s top investment destinations and a global hub for life sciences. It will create hundreds of high-skilled, well-paid jobs, as we deliver on our promise to put more money in working people’s pockets through our Plan for Change.

CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, Uğur Şahin, said:

This agreement marks the next chapter of our successful strategic partnership with the UK government. Together, we have already made a meaningful difference in expanding access to investigational personalized cancer therapies for patients. Now, we are taking the next step to accelerate and broaden our research and development efforts advancing towards our vision to translate science into survival for patients.

In Cambridge, BioNTech plans to set up a new R&D centre focused on genomics, oncology, structural biology, and regenerative medicine. In London, BioNTech intends to establish its UK headquarters, which will be home to a new AI hub led by InstaDeep Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BioNTech SE, and a leading global technology company in the field of AI and machine learning. This hub will enable medical research, using AI, including looking into understanding disease causes, drug target selection and predictive analytics.

Over time, this work could lead to the discovery and development of new therapies, diagnostics and treatments for a range of diseases that currently cause heartbreak for countless patients and their families – all supporting the mission to rebuild the NHS for the long-term, that sits at the heart of the government’s Plan for Change.

It also builds on the government’s existing strategic partnership with BioNTech, to provide up to 10,000 patients with investigational personalised cancer immunotherapies by 2030. This is already transforming the experience of patients by broadening access to cancer vaccine trials in the UK.

The government’s support for BioNTech’s investment is a further example of how we are backing the UK’s thriving life sciences sector to even greater success – following on from the announcement of the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund at the Autumn Budget, and strategic collaborations agreed with other innovative life sciences companies. We will say more about our vision for a thriving future for UK life sciences in the forthcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan.

Steve Bates, CEO of the UK BioIndustry Association, said:

BioNTech’s investment demonstrates the UK’s position as a top destination for life sciences innovation and underlines why the government is absolutely right to back our sector as a priority for growth.

BioNTech is not only a pioneer in mRNA science, but also a visionary partner in building a truly unique public-private collaboration with the UK government and NHS – one that sets a benchmark for the world.

The UK has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage its strong position to attract investment from global investors to create well-paid jobs and scale UK companies, if the upcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan can address long-standing structural challenges in the financing and commercial environment.

Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said:

This investment is a testament to the fantastic skills, research capabilities, and scientific infrastructure we have in the UK. It is also a template for how the UK could unlock further life science sector growth by removing the barriers and roadblocks to investment.

Big investments like this are years in the making and require both sides to have confidence that the other will deliver on their commitments. Trust is slow to build, but this deal shows it is worth the time and the risk.

Life science companies are already the largest investors in UK R&D – but much of this comes from a handful of companies with deep UK roots. The UK has an opportunity to capture more of the global science pie if we can improve our competitive offering to the sector.

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

The critical role that Ukraine’s scientists and researchers are playing in the battle for their country’s freedom, and its hopes for a brighter future, working hand-in-hand with UK colleagues, will be celebrated at an event at the British Academy in London later today (Tuesday 20 May).

The UK is resolute in its support for Ukraine, as the country defends itself in the face of Russia’s illegal and barbaric invasion. Our backing is cemented by the landmark 100 Year Partnership, unveiled by the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy in January, of which strong and deep science and technology ties form a key part.

Joint work by the UK and Ukraine’s researchers is not only supporting Ukraine’s freedom and future, but also unlocking benefits to the UK economy, and more besides, all of which bolsters the Plan for Change. In one joint project, on health, the University of Warwick have worked with Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics to train AI models to quickly and accurately triage shrapnel wounds. And work by Manchester, Aston and Aberystwyth Universities and Ukrainian experts to boost Ukraine’s electricity grid with green energy, is also being applied to help Britain adapt as we get more energy from renewables, and as energy-intensive industries like data centres grow.

Meanwhile efforts like the UK-Ukraine Techbridge are helping bring innovative new technologies to bear on critical tasks like clearing landmines and unexploded bombs. The TechBridge is also focused on AI, health, cyber security, education, and agritech, and is building opportunities in both countries for trade, upskilling, and investment.

Much of this important work will be showcased at London’s historic British Academy later, at an event hosted by the UK’s Science Minister and Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Education and Science, who will be joined by a host of academic, business and research leaders. Lord Vallance will announce an additional £100,000 for the UK-Ukraine Techbridge at the event, as well as £400,000 for trilateral efforts to harness digital technologies to improve government across the UK, Ukraine and Estonia.

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

Freedom is an essential ingredient for scientific progress. Without it we are denied the ability to act on the curiosity that sparks so many breakthroughs, or to get the answers that make us think that maybe we have been wrong about the way we have thought about something in the past.

Science is also international, which means that Ukraine’s inventions and innovations are ones that the UK and the entire world ultimately benefits from, and vice versa. We only stand to gain from working with Ukraine to keep the flame of freedom alive, and it is only natural, that the joint endeavours of our researchers, are critical to those efforts.

Ukraine’s Minister for Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, said

For Ukraine, science is not only about development — it is also about resistance. Today, our researchers are working side by side with international partners not only to support the country in its most difficult times, but also to lay the foundations for recovery. This collaboration is a mutual investment in freedom, humanity, and the future. We are grateful to the United Kingdom for a partnership built on shared values and trust.

The UK-Ukraine partnership on science, innovation and technology has already delivered important work, starting with the:

• Researchers at Risk delivered by the British Academy,
• Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) and
• wider UK National Academies

Since it was launched in 2022, it has helped over 170 Ukrainian experts endangered by the war to relocate to just under 70 UK universities, and continue their work on a temporary basis – as well as funding their research with £22.5 million. The UK Government has also supported the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative, which has enabled Ukrainian researchers to keep making progress, despite wartime disruption, by pairing up UK and Ukrainian universities. This has provided remote access to UK facilities and equipment, and avenues for joint funding, including £5 million of Research England grant funding to support new research partnerships.

We are also harnessing the AI, data science and digital expertise of the UK, Ukraine and Estonia with a view to enhancing digital government and public services through technology and innovation under an initiative on trilateral cooperation.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 19 May 2025.

New criteria to give certainty to world-class research organisations, helping to attract greater private investment and grow the UK economy.

Vital R&D work exploring innovation in areas as diverse as human health and cutting-edge computing will be given much-needed long-term certainty under new criteria unveiled by Science Minister Lord Vallance today (Monday 19 May).

It will enable and support government departments and other public bodies to fund R&D over a ten-year period – giving certainty to world-class research organisations that their work will continue over the long-term, helping to attract greater private investment, grow the UK economy and deliver on our Plan for Change.

While specific funding will be determined in the coming weeks, it could, for example, see research organisations tackling areas like antimicrobial resistance or developing quantum computers – complex issues which can take years to develop and understand – granted longer timescales to boost their chances of unearthing truly valuable solutions and improving lives.

It could also mean longer-term funding for infrastructure, such as large-scale research facilities and equipment, giving them certainty that the tools they need to drive progress are secured.

This will more broadly enable long-term research that tackles the key issues facing the UK, and will crowd investment into the sector from businesses attracted to the certainty of public backing.

Evidence shows that the average £1 invested in public R&D leverages double that in private investment and generates £7 in net benefits to the UK economy in the long run – providing a major boost to the UK economy. This also delivers on a manifesto commitment and on calls from research organisations, innovators and milestone independent reports such as the Landscape Review of R&D.

The criteria which will be used by departments and public bodies to identify and prioritise relevant ten-year funding proposals are centred around 4 areas:

• Infrastructure and core capabilities – where ten-year funding will allow recipients to develop or maintain core national infrastructure or support more impactful use of such infrastructure, which would not be possible under shorter funding cycles.
• Talent attraction and retention – where the skills development in a particular area is demonstrably vital to the UK growth agenda and longer-term funding would enable development of a pipeline of skilled researchers, scientists or engineers that otherwise would be difficult.
• International collaboration – where there are demonstrable, additional opportunities for international collaborations with wider strategic benefits.
• Partnerships and business collaboration – where there is demonstrable need for long term partnerships with industry – including charity and philanthropy – to tackle a significant challenge relevant to economic growth, and where shorter funding cycles would impede effective partnerships.

Science Minister, Lord Vallance, said:

Research and innovation, from computing and AI to health breakthroughs need stability of funding.

We are delivering on our manifesto commitment to support and encourage public bodies to deliver long-term ten-year funding streams where appropriate, while retaining the flexibility of shorter-term cycles to deal with emerging priorities.

This change will provide certainty to certain types of research organisations and unlock vital business investment into our world-class research sector to drive the growth at the heart of our Plan for Change.

The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy and will ensure the UK continues to be a world leader in growth-driving sectors delivering increased investment and secure, skilled jobs for working people across the country.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has worked with the Treasury and other stakeholders to develop the principles of ten-year funding and the process by which public bodies will select specific activities or institutions for long-term funding, to provide transparency for the R&D sector.

The guidance recommends that public bodies should set a maximum limit for the proportion of R&D budget that, at any one time, should be allocated to ten-year funding. This will retain the agility to respond to new and emerging priorities in the short and medium term.

Further details on the initial recipients of ten-year budgets will be set out in the second phase of the Spending Review, and in due course following the allocation of the R&D budget.

Departments will operate their own selection process, in line with the guidance. The guidance will allow departments to implement a targeted approach and allocate ten-year budgets to the specific programmes, activities and smaller research organisations that would best be able to unlock the economic and scientific benefits associated with long-term funding.

Ten-year budgets will also act as a signal of government’s long-term priorities in key sectors, helping to underpin the government’s upcoming Industrial Strategy. This is part of a wider government approach to reforming R&D funding over the longer-term, including providing stability and certainty to the R&D sector by giving clarity on the government’s R&D priorities.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 14 May 2025.

A government-developed AI tool has been used for the first time to review public responses to a consultation – helping save time and improve efficiency.

A new AI tool has summarised what the public have told the government in response to a consultation for the first time – providing nearly identical results to officials.

The tool, called ‘Consult’, was first used on a live consultation by the Scottish Government when it was seeking views on how to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures – like lip fillers and laser hair removal – as use of the treatments has risen.

The tool now set to be used across departments in a bid to cut down the millions of pounds spent on the current process, which often includes outsourcing analysis to expensive contractors – helping to build a productive and agile state to deliver the Plan for Change.

Reviewing comments from over 2,000 consultation responses using generative AI, Consult identified key themes that feedback fell into across each of six qualitative questions. These themes were checked and refined by experts in the Scottish Government, the AI tool then sorted individual responses into themes and gave officials more time to delve into the detail and evaluate the policy implications of feedback received.

As this was the first time Consult was used on a live consultation, experts at the Scottish Government manually reviewed every response too. Identifying what an individual response is saying, and putting it in a ‘theme’ is subjective, humans don’t always agree. When we compare Consult to the human reviewer, we see they agree the majority of the time – with differences in view having a negligible impact on how themes were ranked overall.

‘Consult’ is part of ‘Humphrey’, a bundle of AI tools designed to speed up the work of civil servants and cut back time spent on admin, and money spent on contractors. It forms part of the government’s plan to make better use of technology across public services, in a bid to target the £45 billion in productivity savings that it offers while creating a more agile state that can more effectively deliver the Plan for Change.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

No one should be wasting time on something AI can do quicker and better, let alone wasting millions of taxpayer pounds on outsourcing such work to contractors.

After demonstrating such promising results, Humphrey will help us cut the costs of governing and make it easier to collect and comprehensively review what experts and the public are telling us on a range of crucial issues.

The Scottish Government has taken a bold first step. Very soon, I’ll be using Consult, within Humphrey, in my own department and others in Whitehall will be using it too – speeding up our work to deliver the Plan for Change.

The Scottish Government’s Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said:

Using the tool was very beneficial in helping the Scottish Government understand more quickly what people wanted us to hear and our respondents’ range of views. Officials were reassured through the process that the AI was doing a good job, supporting us to undertake the analysis that will inform our next steps.

Using this tool has allowed the Scottish Government to move more quickly to a focus on the policy questions and dive into the detail of the evidence we’ve been presented with, while remaining confident that we have heard the strong views expressed by respondents.

While these early results are promising, ‘Consult’ is currently in trial. More evaluation covering the accuracy and efficiency of the tool will take place to ensure it’s working properly ahead of final rollout decisions.

Across the 500 consultations the government runs annually, the tool could help save officials from around 75,000 days of analysis every year, which costs the government £20 million in staffing costs.

In doing this, the technology will help create a more agile state that can more easily respond to new challenges and effectively deliver the Plan for Change.

Officials who worked with Consult from the Scottish Government on this first live test commented that they were “pleasantly surprised” that AI analysis provided a “useful starting point” in its initial analysis, with others noting that it ultimately “saved [them] a heck of a lot of time” and allowed them to “get to the analysis and draw out what’s needed next”.

They also added that the use of Consult “takes away the bias and makes it more consistent”, by removing opportunities for individual analysts to “project their own preconceived ideas”.

With some consultations receiving tens or hundreds of thousands of responses, and given the strong levels of accuracy demonstrated in early tests, Consult will soon be used on major consultations without officials manually reviewing every response individually.

That said, Consult has been designed to keep the experts in the loop throughout. Officials will always review the themes and how responses are sorted into them through an interactive dashboard that will allow them to filter and search for insights.

Notes to editors

The response to the Scottish Government consultation will be published before the end of June. The consultation will inform the content of a Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures Bill that was announced on 6 May.

The first live evaluation of Consult shows that it secured an F1 score (a common measure of alignment for AI tools) of 0.76, widely considered ‘good’ when evaluating the performance of AI tools.

The full evaluation, published today, can be found here. We expect further testing and evaluation of the tool to happen in coming months, ahead of any decisions about wider rollout.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 9 May 2025.

Public sector is being primed to bring innovative ideas out of government labs and onto the market with £30 million backing and new guidance.

4 innovative UK hubs across Merseyside, East Anglia, the Midlands, and Northeast England will today (Friday 9 May) get fresh backing to grow more ‘spinouts’,  innovative new businesses created from within research institutions.

In turn creating new jobs, developing the industries of tomorrow and driving economic growth through the Plan for Change.

UK innovators have made great strides in getting bright ideas onto the market and in front of investors, but red tape, talent shortages and a lack of access to funding is holding back innovators from turning their ideas into viable growing businesses.

New £30 million funding will support a taskforce of world-leading universities and industry experts across the 4 locations to take advantage of this huge, and all-too-often untapped, opportunity.

It will support efforts to incubate and spin out new companies and create the most fertile and attractive environment for the brightest thinkers and entrepreneurs.

The government is also priming the public sector with first ever guidance to put groundbreaking ideas on the path to investment, becoming the next generation of businesses, creating a pipeline of innovative businesses emerging from the UK’s excellent public sector research landscape.

With step-by-step advice, a new generation of British R&D entrepreneurs in the public sector will be empowered with the tools and support they need to turn ambitious research into marketable products – and in turn unlock benefits from clean energy, to healthcare, and beyond.

Announcing the news on a visit to Aston University, Science Minister, Lord Vallance said:

The UK is home to some of the world’s best universities, and we have deep strengths from life sciences to cutting-edge fields like quantum and engineering biology. But we can and must do more to unlock scientific research’s vast economic potential, and to help our innovators world-leading public sector labs turn brilliant ideas into businesses that attract investment and sustain jobs.

The funding and guidance we are announcing today will reinforce those efforts – supporting our mission to grow the economy as part of the Plan for Change.

The 4 projects receiving funding from Research England

Strategic Commercialisation Ecosystem North East (SCENE)

Based in the North East is receiving over £8 million over 5 years to strengthen and expand the region’s ecosystem, engaging businesses, sector bodies, Catapults and investors more actively in commercialising university research.

Forging ahead/Forging beyond

Based in the Midlands is receiving almost £10 million over 5 years to address the talent, expertise and skills gaps in the Midlands by creating a Talent Pool, inward investment champions and innovation networks. The project will particularly target Heath, Advanced Manufacturing, Net Zero, and Creative & Digital sectors.

Biologics Regional Innovation and Technology Ecosystem (BRITE)

Based in Merseyside will get over £4 million over 3 years to establish a sustainable life sciences ecosystem, in the Liverpool City Region (LCR), focused on developing treatments like vaccines, by addressing gaps in the development of products and materials from living cells or their components, scale-up, and commercialisation.

It will strengthen collaboration between academia, industry, and civic partners to create a connected innovation ecosystem and accelerate the translation of biologics for antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, and emerging health challenges.

Agri-Tech Commercialisation Ecosystems (ACE)

Based in Lincolnshire and East Anglia will receive almost £5 million over 3 years to establish a world-leading, self-sustaining Agri-Tech research commercialisation cluster in Greater Lincolnshire and East Anglia, with support from Barclays Eagle Labs, Greater Lincolnshire LEP, New Anglia LEP, and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority plus commercial partners.

Ana Avaliani, Director of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub, said:

Industry Academia partnerships create the ideal setting for transforming groundbreaking research into spinouts, addressing real world challenges while fostering economic growth and creating pathways for talented researchers to become entrepreneurs. These spinouts drive innovation and represent a crucial and growing component in our economic future. Our Spotlight on Spinouts 2025: UK academic spinout trends report tracked UK university spinouts securing over £2.6 billion in funding, nearly 40% more than the previous year.

This welcome investment and new guidance from government will enhance support for these fledgling businesses as they face complex issues such as skills gaps and funding challenges. They will help foster strategic alliances that aren’t just beneficial but essential for maintaining competitive advantage in today’s innovation landscape.

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

Applications are open for a new round of government fellowships aimed at bringing 25 leading technologists and scientists into public service.

Leading scientists, technologists, and innovators are being urged to take up fixed-term positions within Government to drive economic growth and deliver on our Plan for Change with emerging technology.

With 25 places available, experts will have the opportunity to complete 12-month, part-time secondments as part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Fellowship. They will help make the UK an AI powerhouse and strengthen our digital and cyber resilience, as well as secure leadership in semiconductors, advancing quantum technologies, and champion digital inclusion.

By shaping national strategies, DSIT Fellows will address pressing policy challenges and ensure innovation delivers tangible benefits for citizens and businesses, driving a more secure, inclusive, and digitally empowered society.

The Fellowship offers a unique bridge between government and the tech ecosystem – bringing expertise into policymaking and giving top talent a front-row seat at the heart of national decision-making.

Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

This is how we open up government – by bringing together the UK’s leading scientific and technological talent to directly shape policy and drive the innovation at the heart of our Plan for Change.

By harnessing expertise across academia and industry, we are embedding expert knowledge to tackle key challenges – from strengthening digital resilience to ensuring the UK leads in AI and quantum technologies.

This Fellowship creates a lasting partnership between government, academia, and business to unlock new solutions, accelerate progress, and drive long-term growth – ensuring science and innovation remain central to shaping our economy and society.

With applications closing on 3rd June, the DSIT Fellowship is offered as a secondment and is open to professionals who are currently employed and who are affiliated with partners including the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Academy of Medical Sciences, techUK, IET and the British Standards Institute.

Fellows will gain rare access to government decision-making, professional development, and powerful cross-sector networks. Organisations benefit too – with secondees returning equipped with new insights, connections, and strategic experience.

Alex Casson, Current DSIT Fellow and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Manchester, said:

The DSIT Fellowship has been a great opportunity to be embedded in the civil service. It has let me see how policy and advice teams work, and how science is put at the heart of decision making. This is in a ‘hands on’ manner; I’m not an observer. I’m part of the team and working with others on a wide range of different emerging technology topics.

I’ve learnt a huge amount about how academic advice is commissioned, and used, within government, and the many ways in which academics can engage with government. I’ll take these learnings with me when I go back to my home institution and think about potential policy impacts of my work in electronic engineering.

Placements span four core themes:

• AI – from deepfake threats to AI for science, regulation and adoption
• Technology – including semiconductors, digital standards, and telecoms resilience
• Futures Thinking – including quantum, climate security, and space policy
• Public Sector Innovation – from digital inclusion to commercial innovation and science capability

This is the third cohort of the Fellowship, building on the success of the Expert Exchange Programme and previous Science and Technology Fellowship pilots. Previous Fellows have gone on to shape major government strategies and returned to their organisations with powerful new insights – showing the lasting impact of this cross-sector exchange.

It comes as part of a major push to almost double the number of civil servants in digital roles – bringing top tech minds into government to drive innovation and deliver smarter public services.

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 1 May 2025.

Around 65,000 Scottish homes and businesses, including many in some of the most isolated areas of the United Kingdom, will receive access to fast, reliable broadband as government helps break down barriers to opportunity and boost economic growth under the Plan for Change.

Digitally isolated communities across Scotland, where using the web can be almost impossible due to outdated infrastructure, will be able to work, bank, shop and study online without buffering, thanks to gigabit-capable broadband funded by the UK government.

Several remote islands off Scotland’s west coast will benefit, including thousands of premises across the Outer Hebrides – a chain of over 100 islands where currently just seven per cent of premises can access gigabit broadband, among the lowest in the UK – as well as the isles of Skye, Islay and Tiree.

Rural parts of the Highlands will also be covered by this boost, such as Applecross, an extremely remote peninsula, and Durness, the most north-westerly village on the UK mainland.

The £157 million contract with Openreach is the largest ever under Project Gigabit. It will power up efforts to tackle digital exclusion across the entire UK – delivering the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, from boosting local economic growth through giving businesses the vital tools they need, to improving access to public services like virtual NHS appointments.

Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant said:

Digital exclusion for people living and working in hard-to-reach areas across Scotland can be a huge obstacle to living a better and healthier life. Elderly and vulnerable people could miss out on the best treatment options in North Ayrshire, while budding entrepreneurs could be held back from their dream of running a successful business in Moray.

With our recent Digital Inclusion Action Plan, we have pledged to take everyone along with us in the digital revolution so that we don’t entrench existing inequalities as technological progress races ahead.

This huge UK Government investment is a commitment to using technology to make lives in Scotland better as well as turbocharging local economies to deliver on our growth mission under the government’s Plan for Change.

Openreach Deputy CEO, Katie Milligan, said:

Full fibre is the UK’s most reliable broadband technology, and more than half of Scotland’s homes can already order it thanks to Openreach. But we believe everyone deserves access to fast, reliable connections, so we’re proud to be helping extend access to communities that would otherwise be left behind. Our new network’s a catalyst for growth and jobs, with experts predicting it’ll bring a £4.4 billion boost to the Scottish economy and a raft of social and environmental benefits. We’re confident we’ll reach as many as 30 million UK premises by 2030, assuming the right economic conditions exist.

Yvonne Boles, Senior Site Manager of Tayside Reserves at RSPB Scotland, said:

We fell between a few gaps in local network improvements, but now we have gigabit capable fibre to the RSPB Loch Leven visitor centre, which has been a game changer for us.

The old internet was constantly going down or being very slow, which impacted our ability to work in the office as well as taking card payments in both the shop and the café.

We wasted so much time on the phone to IT trying to fix things for us. It’s been such a relief and a benefit to have reliable, powerful internet.

The deal was struck under an £800 million agreement with Openreach announced last August as part of wider plans to end the plight of digital exclusion across rural Britain, with work already underway to connect over 227,000 premises in hard-to-reach parts of Wales and England as part of the agreement. The agreement is funded by the UK government who will work alongside the Scottish Government and Openreach to deliver the coverage.

The contract will support significant work already being carried out through the Scottish Government’s R100 programme. It also builds on another Project Gigabit contract in Scotland, awarded in February through a partnership with the Scottish Government, for up to 11,000 premises in the Borders and Midlothian. More contracts are also expected to be signed later this year for Orkney, Shetland and across the east of Scotland.

Scottish Government Business Minister Richard Lochhead said:

This new contract brings even more investment to Scotland and we are committed to working with the UK Government and Openreach to drive efficiencies across both the R100 and Project Gigabit programmes and maximise gigabit coverage.

Through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme and our ongoing efforts with R100, over one million faster broadband connections have been delivered across Scotland through public investment – developing infrastructure, knowledge and experience that will be essential in ensuring the success of Project Gigabit in Scotland.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said:

This £157 million UK Government investment is a game changer for tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the most remote areas of Scotland. Rolling out lightning-fast broadband will equip and inspire local businesses to thrive, enable families to access vital services, and build resilient communities. Our Plan for Change recognises that rural communities are the backbone of our nation and economic growth must reach every corner of Scotland, ensuring that opportunity isn’t determined by postcode but by potential.

Project Gigabit targets places too difficult or expensive for providers to reach in their commercial build and would otherwise be left behind with older digital infrastructure. The world-class networks being built across the UK is laying the foundations needed to kickstart economic growth, creating and supporting thousands of high-skilled jobs, empowering industries of all kinds to innovate and increase productivity by taking up digital technology.

It’s also crucial to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring people can access vital services now and in the future, no matter where they are, from government services like Universal Credit and HMRC to online courses for those looking to improve their job prospects through new skills to helping pensioners combat loneliness by catching up with loved ones over higher quality video calls.

The press release issued by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology on 30 April 2025.

A new facility to build the next generation of semiconductor chips, and the first of its kind in Europe, was opened at the University of Southampton.

A new facility using cutting edge electron beam technology to build the next generation of semiconductor chips, and the first of its kind in Europe, was opened at the University of Southampton by Science Minister Lord Vallance today (Wednesday 30 April).

The new E-beam lithography facility is just the second in the world, and first outside Japan, and provides incredible accuracy that is critical to designing the tiny components that power technologies of the future, from medical diagnostics to defence systems.

Semiconductors – the small chips that power devices from smartphones to satellites – already contribute an estimated £10 billion to our economy each year, with the sector projected to grow to an estimated £17 billion by 2030.

Strengthening the sector offers a major opportunity to drive the growth at the heart of our Plan for Change, through boosting innovation and jobs. It also supports the UK’s wider Industrial Strategy to grow key advanced manufacturing sectors and secure global competitiveness.

E-beam lithography uses a focused beam of tiny particles called electrons to create patterns in materials with unrivalled resolution – allowing researchers to create features thousands of times smaller than a human hair.

Science Minister, Lord Vallance, said:

Britain is home to some of the most exciting semiconductor research anywhere in the world – and Southampton’s new E-beam facility is a major boost to our national capabilities.

By investing in both infrastructure and talent, we’re giving our researchers and innovators the support they need to develop next-generation chips right here in the UK.

Our £4.75 million skills package will support our Plan for Change by helping more young people into high-value semiconductors careers, closing skills gaps and backing growth in this critical sector.

The Science Minister’s visit to Southampton comes alongside new research being published today, which shows that one of the biggest barriers to achieving growth in the UK’s burgeoning semiconductor industry is a lack of emerging talent. With a single semiconductor worker contributing an average of £460,000 to the economy annually, the sector’s economic potential is huge.

In response, the government has launched a new £4.75 million semiconductor skills package to help build the talent base needed to fuel this high-growth industry. The package will also help strengthen R&D capacity at leading universities, such as Southampton, which are central to UK semiconductor innovation and talent development.

By supporting local talent pipelines and university–industry collaboration, the programme will contribute to both regional and national economic growth, fuelling our Plan for Change, and reinforcing the role the semiconductors industry is set to play in the Industrial Strategy.

The package includes:

• £3 million for undergraduate bursaries, offering £5,000 each to 300 students starting Electronics and Electrical Engineering degrees this year, alongside specialist semiconductor content to raise awareness of the field, with a focus on courses that include semiconductor design and manufacturing.
• £1.2 million for chip design training, with new chip design courses to teach practical chip design skills to undergraduates, postgraduates, and lecturers, as well as a feasibility study for new postgraduate conversion courses.
• Almost £550,000 for school outreach, giving 7,000 students aged 15–18 and 450 teachers hands-on semiconductor experience in partnership with local employers, helping raise awareness and diversify the future workforce. This programme will be focused on existing UK semiconductor clusters – such as Newport, Cambridge, and Glasgow – helping to strengthen these ecosystems and create long-term career opportunities.

This targeted skills support will underpin the long-term success of the UK semiconductor sector – helping to attract more students into high-value careers, fill key vacancies and support UK leadership in critical and emerging technologies that will be instrumental to our mission to grow the economy.

University of Southampton’s Professor Graham Reed, who leads its Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), said:

The introduction of the new E-Beam facility will reinforce our position of hosting the most advanced cleanroom in UK academia.

It facilitates a vast array of innovative and industrially relevant research, and much needed semiconductor skills training.