Chi Onwurah MP: written questions 2024
87 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Government Office for Technology TransferDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18935More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Government Office for Technology Transfer has a role in supporting his Department to provide digital expertise to other Government Departments.
Answer: No. GOTT works with government departments and Arm’s Length Bodies to accelerate government’s innovations towards the market, through guidance, direct practical expert support, grant funding for specific opportunities, and access to networks.
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: ICTDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18934More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the oral evidence to the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee of 3 December 2024, HC 504, whether the moratorium on government IT procurement decisions
Answer: The moratorium on government IT procurement decisions over £1m (now known as the Digital Assurance Gateway) is still in place. The Integrated Corporate Services Digital Assurance Team and Central Digital and Data Office have considered 11 spend requests f...
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordTuring Scheme: DisadvantagedDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17812More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16156 on Turing Scheme: Free School Meals, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answer: Through the Turing Scheme, in the 2024/25 academic year, education providers and other eligible organisations from across the UK and British Overseas Territories have been allocated over £105 million to send their students on more than 43,000 study and wo...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRailways: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17811More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16157 on Railways: Nationalisation, whether her Department plans to maintain regional livery as railway franchises are brought into public ownership.
Answer: The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: DisabilityDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17810More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve the accessibility of information at bus stops for disabled people.
Answer: The government wants everyone to have access to public transport and is committed to improving services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On October 1st, the first phase of the Public S...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: TimetablesDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17809More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve the provision of real time information at bus stops.
Answer: The government knows how important it is that passengers have better access to information about bus services. In 2020, the Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations were passed which utilised the powers from the Bus Services Act to requir...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology: EqualityDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17808More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what training civil servants in his Department receive on the public sector equality duty.
Answer: In June 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published updated guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), available to all staff via the intranet. The guidance provides a clear framework on the principles of the duty, compl...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Office for Technology Transfer: FinanceDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17807More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the budget is for the Government Office for Technology Transfer in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answer: The budget for the Government Office for Technology Transfer in financial year 2025-26 has not yet been set. Having now reached agreement with HM Treasury on an overall funding envelope for 2025-26, a business planning exercise is progressing to set budge...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordResearch: FinanceDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17806More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Government’s response to the Independent Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape, what steps he has taken to explore a sus
Answer: There is a commitment in the response to the landscape review to investigate a sustainable source of funding for PSREs who undertake UKRI research funded at less than full economic cost.Work is in the scoping phase and we are continuing to explore ways to...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordInnovation: BusinessDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17805More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which Minister is responsible for the interface between innovation and business to drive growth.
Answer: The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation is responsible for Innovation across the Missions, including the Growth Mission. However, a wide range of DSIT’s policy areas support businesses and contribute to innovation-led growth, and theref...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: MicrosoftDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17804More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 between Microsoft and the Crown Commercial Service, what guidance is available to civil servants on the use of Microsoft Co-
Answer: The Generative AI Framework provides general guidance for civil servants using AI tools. The government is, in addition, currently evaluating Microsoft 365 Copilot via a formal experiment, the findings of which will feed into future guidance for civil ser...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: MicrosoftDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17803More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 between Microsoft and the Crown Commercial Service, what guidance is available to civil servants on securing official docume
Answer: Everyone who works with government has a duty of confidentiality and a responsibility to safeguard any government information or data that they access or share, and all government departments are required to meet a range of mandatory security standards. T...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDevelopment Aid: ResearchForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17802More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Question 12938 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £500m allocated to his Department for spend on research and developmen
Answer: We are still in the financial year 2024-25 so the FCDO will not have final full year numbers until April 2025. However, at the start of the year, £500 million of ODA was allocated to research & development in FCDO.
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDevelopment Aid: ResearchForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17801More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11881 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £335m allocated to his Department for spend on research and developmen
Answer: Following the spending review phase one settlement letters from HM Treasury (to which PQ 11881 refers), the FCDO is running an internal process to be agreed with Ministers, to decide on internal allocations for 2025-26. This will include allocations of Of...
Answered 10 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordLondon North Eastern Railway: WiFiDepartment for TransportTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17532More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 13473 and the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14457 and 16158 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, what proportion of complaints about facilities on bo
Answer: For the period July to September 2024 London North Eastern Railway received 64 complaints relating to Wi-Fi reliability which equates to 0.75 per cent of all complaints received in that period.
Answered 6 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordLondon North Eastern Railway: WiFiDepartment for TransportTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16158More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 13473 and the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14457 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, whether complaints about WiFi are included in the category ent
Answer: I can confirm that Wifi complaints fall into the "Quality on Train" - "Facilities on Board" category.
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordRailways: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16157More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.
Answer: The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordTuring Scheme: Free School MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16156More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants who are eligible for free school meals attend an independent school.
Answer: The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordTuring Scheme: Private EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16155More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) schools that have students with Turing grants are independent schools and (b) students that receive Turing grants attend independent schools.
Answer: For the 2024/25 academic year, over £10 million in funding was awarded to 298 successful schools projects from across the UK. This will provide funding for over 7,000 pupils to participate in placements overseas. Of these, 56% will be for participants fro...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordTuring Scheme: Free School MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16154More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) schools and (b) students with Turing grants receive free school meals.
Answer: The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordProject Gigabit and Shared Rural NetworkDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16153More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 14940, on Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, how Ofcom tests areas for compliance with their standard for good coverage.
Answer: Ofcom’s approach to testing compliance is available on Ofcom’s website. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/cellular-coverage/It involves a combination of desk-based assessment against the mobile network operators (MNO) cover...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordProject Gigabit and Shared Rural NetworkDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16152More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 14940 on Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the minimum signal strength to s
Answer: Ofcom reports that a 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed connection is needed to support video calls and a consistent connection to the internet, and our expectation is that this would support remote working. Most networks in the UK, including those ...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordElectric BicyclesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 19 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14944More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reports of incidents involving (a) e-bike batteries and (b) conversion kits on consumer trust in e-bike technology.
Answer: While e-bikes and e-scooters are used safely by millions of people every day, unsafe, non-compliant or improperly used lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes can cause serious fires. Public safety is our priority, and this Department’s recent “Buy Safe. Be Safe...
Answered 25 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordElectric Bicycles: ImportsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 19 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14943More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of safety standards of imported e-bikes from outside the EU and (b) implications for his policies of risks associated with non-EU lithium-ion
Answer: UK product safety legislation requires manufacturers or importers placing products on the UK market, including e-bikes to ensure those products are safe. Those importing international products must ensure that they comply with UK product safety rules. Ear...
Answered 21 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordBicycles: ImportsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 19 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14942More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on the potential impact of non-EU bicycle imports on (a) cycle distributors in the North East and (b) the bicycle manufacturing sector.
Answer: The Department does not hold data on the potential impact of non-EU bicycle imports on cycle distributors in the North East or the bicycle manufacturing sector. At the Budget, the Government announced we would be continuing funding for key business suppor...
Answered 27 Nov 2024
Original Parliament record
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