A senior MP has written to ministers to seek answers on the government’s plans for science, innovation and tech policy following the announcement of major machinery of government changes in these areas.
In one of his first moves after becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham announced that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology would be broken up, with its responsibilities to be split across three departments: the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; and Cabinet Office.
The move was met with a mixed response. Among those to quickly raise concerns was Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, who warned the restructure risked “fragmenting these vital policy areas, and overloading departments that may lack capacity to give them the attention they need”.
Onwurah has now written to the secretaries of state at the three departments – Jonathan Reynolds (BIST), Lisa Nandy (DCMS) and Louise Haigh (Cabinet Office) – to seek clarification on the changes.
In the letter, Onwurah notes that the government stated that the functions “will be redistributed to align with the government’s core economic and social agenda”, but said ministers are “yet to confirm what this means in practice, and new ministerial portfolios have yet to be announced”.
She also points out that a list detailing the distribution of DSIT teams among the departments has been reported in the media but “at the time of writing this remains unconfirmed, a matter that concerns both my committee and the thousands of civil servants affected”.
Onwurah has asked ministers to confirm:
- Whether the reported list of how DSIT teams will be distributed amongst the departments is accurate, and if not, when the government will confirm these important details
- When the government expects to have finalised the transition of each affected DSIT team to their new departments
- When finalised ministerial portfolios will be announced, and whether there will continue to be ministers dedicated to digital infrastructure and online safety.
In the letter, Onwurah also confirmed that she has received assurances that the work of the Science, Innovation and Technology committee will continue.
Onwurah has asked the secretaries of state to respond to the letter by Friday 21 August.
In further comment to the media, Onwurah said she is concerned that "a fortnight on from the new government taking office, we are yet to see a detailed statement about what the abolition of DSIT will mean in practice".
“The big picture idea of embedding these policy areas across government, rather than being siloed, has merit," she said. "But there is also a risk that these changes lead to fragmented policy delivery and vital issues slipping down the agenda, particularly in a landscape as fast-moving as this, with the announcement of the closure at Jodrell Bank and the Hugging Face breakout just two examples of where accountability is needed.
“It is vital that the government confirm the details of its plans, and which ministers will be responsible for implementing them, as soon as possible. My committee will be scrutinising these plans in detail when parliament returns in September.”