{"id":923302,"date":"2026-07-29T05:12:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/the-departmental-deckchairs-have-been-shuffled-but-helping-the-governments-tech-challenge-how\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T05:12:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:12:38","slug":"the-departmental-deckchairs-have-been-shuffled-but-helping-the-governments-tech-challenge-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/the-departmental-deckchairs-have-been-shuffled-but-helping-the-governments-tech-challenge-how\/","title":{"rendered":"The departmental deckchairs have been shuffled \u2013 but helping the government&#8217;s tech challenge how?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content-header\">\n<h2>The new prime minister&#8217;s abolition of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology raises many worrying questions about UK government digital policy<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content-center\">\n<ul>\n<li><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i data-icon=\"2\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"contributors-block\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Chris-Holmes-2025-140x180.jpg\" alt=\"Lord Chris Holmes\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/contributor\/Lord-Chris-Holmes\">Lord Chris Holmes,<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>House of Lords<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tPublished: <span>28 Jul 2026<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"content-body\">\n<p>It\u2019s been a week since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366646014\/Burnham-government-to-drop-digital-ID-and-tech-department\">the axe fell on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)<\/a>. What have we learned and, critically, are all things tech policy and delivery in a better place now than they were before the new prime minister\u2019s cull?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s self-evident that when the department was brought into being it created a clear \u201croute in\u201d for tech businesses small and large and to all those looking for a simple point of access into government. This has now gone.<\/p>\n<p>Last week in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366645889\/House-of-Lords-questions-Andy-Burnhams-AI-plans\">the House of Lords, we sought some rationale from the government<\/a> for this move.<\/p>\n<p>My colleague Tim Clement-Jones raised the issue, asking specifically what the implications would be for the future operation of organisations such as the AI Security Institute, the Government Digital Service (GDS) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).<\/p>\n<p>The minister&#8217;s response stressed that \u201cscience and AI are having an increasingly large impact on all areas of government policy and economic growth\u201d and should not be seen as isolated from other areas.<\/p>\n<p>This was given as the reasoning for what the minister described as \u201ca bold restructuring, including the elevation of AI to the [newly established] Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The government also published a Written Ministerial Statement setting out the changes, describing the redistribution of DSIT functions as designed to \u201calign with our core economic and social agenda, embedded as vital engines of growth exactly where they can have the most direct impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<section data-menu-title=\"AI taskforce\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>AI taskforce<\/h2>\n<p>There will be a new AI Taskforce within the OPMC, supported by the prime minister&#8217;s adviser on AI, intended to implement \u201ca strategic, whole-of-government approach [to AI] from the centre.\u201d We now know that it will be Patrick Vallance \u2013 who recently departed from government as minister &#8211; who will chair this group. That is a very good thing and I hope he can gain traction and cut through in this landscape which has been rendered increasingly complex as a consequence of last week\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n<p>The Cabinet Office will take the lead on AI adoption across the Civil Service and will have responsibility for AI strategy, public sector AI adoption and the AI Security Institute.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure>\n    Did they do the exact same thing the last two governments did to the exact same people, the thing that evidently they felt had failed to the point of needing fixing, and then pat themselves on the back?<br \/>\n   <\/figure><figcaption>\n    <strong>Laura Gilbert, former AI Incubator director<\/strong><br \/>\n   <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Digital, with a capital D, returns to the renamed Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which gains responsibility for \u201cdigital foundations, digital transformation, digital inclusion and skills, GDS, information resilience and online harms\u201d. The government said that this will bring \u201ccoherence to the online safety agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366646157\/Will-digital-government-recover-from-DSIT-breakup\">The GDS move is particularly problematic<\/a>. GDS built whatever authority it has over the last decade by sitting close enough to the centre to mandate standards across departments that would otherwise happily ignore it. The move to DCMS reduces GDS authority &#8211; GDS\u2019s view &#8211; to that of a single department with the ability to, well, try and influence other departments of its view. If might is right, as is so often the case within Whitehall, the very best of British with that.<\/p>\n<p>Just when you thought you had a grip on the departmental acronyms, another one emerges. The Department for Business and Trade is gone, becoming the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), taking on responsibility for the science and innovation portfolio, as well as emerging sectors.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping up so far? There\u2019s more:<\/p>\n<p>The Cabinet Office, having gained some new functions, will lose the Office for Equality and Opportunity, which moves to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.<\/p>\n<p>The Office for the Impact Economy<b> <\/b>and responsibility for policy on digital identity will move to DCMS.<\/p>\n<p>The Public Sector Fraud Authority<b> <\/b>will move to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with continued central sponsorship from HM Treasury. And the Investment Security Unit will move to DBIST.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Many questions\">\n<h2><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Many questions<\/h2>\n<p>During our Lords debate, regret was expressed about the resignation of minister Vallance who will be much missed, though, as stated above, he has already re-appeared as the AI taskforce chair.<\/p>\n<p>Many questions were raised about the changes, including responsibility for AI regulation, the &#8220;waste of time&#8221; and difficulties maintaining momentum on AI safety and sovereignty during the transition, the wrong signal being sent to the science community and the potential erosion of funding for basic science.<\/p>\n<p>The severing of digital infrastructure from AI sovereign investment is also more than unfortunate. Prior to the change we had one department with effective oversight of these so clearly linked areas. This has been exchanged for a yet to be constructed coordination between different departments, with different ministers, with different incentives \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/blog\/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog\/Digital-downgrade-Andy-Burnhams-fragmentation-of-tech-policy-is-a-backward-step-for-the-UK\">is that really better?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is positive that we are retaining Kanishka Narayan as AI minister and that he will attend Cabinet. But does he have a full picture of what is under his ministerial responsibility and who he reports to and in what order?<\/p>\n<p>With all this change in Whitehall I do have cause to wonder whether a cross-sector, cross-economy AI regulation bill is more likely today than before the current PM\u2019s arrival? Here\u2019s hoping.<\/p>\n<p>To conclude, I can\u2019t improve upon the comments of Laura Gilbert, former director of the AI Incubator at Number 10, on hearing news of the changes:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So now a new government has again come in, the very week that those affected by the last machinery of government [change] finally transitioned to new laptops, and what did they do? Did they arrive, ask questions, learn about what had not worked before and why, consult with people with government and technical expertise, understand the problems and carefully and thoughtfully design a solution? Or did they do the exact same thing the last two governments did to the exact same people, the thing that evidently they felt had failed to the point of needing fixing, and then pat themselves on the back?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And, if they think it\u2019s all over &#8211; it isn\u2019t yet. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642254\/Science-Innovation-and-Technology-committee-chair-questions-UKs-tech-sovereignty-approach\">Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee<\/a> chair Chi Onwurah said, she expects her committee to \u201clook into the impact of closing DSIT, and how science, innovation and technology can best be coordinated across government in the absence of a dedicated department\u201d in the autumn.<\/p>\n<p>She welcomed the government\u2019s ambition to embed science and tech across the economy but said splitting up DSIT risks \u201cfragmenting\u201d policies and \u201coverloading departments that may lack capacity to give them the attention they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That may well all be true, time et al will tell. One thing we can know for sure at this stage is that, as a consequence of the changes, when we all return in the autumn, the chair will be responsible for the BIST Select Committee in Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"DigDeeperSplash\">\n<h4>\n\t\t\t<i data-icon=\"m\"><\/i>Read more on IT for government and public sector<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366646157\/Will-digital-government-recover-from-DSIT-breakup\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Will digital government recover from DSIT breakup?<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/lis pic.jpeg\" alt=\"LisEvenstad\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Lis\u00a0Evenstad<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/blog\/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog\/Digital-downgrade-Andy-Burnhams-fragmentation-of-tech-policy-is-a-backward-step-for-the-UK\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/digdeeper\/2.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/digdeeper\/2_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/digdeeper\/2.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Digital downgrade: Andy Burnham&#8217;s fragmentation of tech policy is a backward step for the UK<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Bryan-Glick-profile-pic-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"BryanGlick\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Bryan\u00a0Glick<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366645889\/House-of-Lords-questions-Andy-Burnhams-AI-plans\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>House of Lords questions Andy Burnham\u2019s AI plans<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Cliff-Saran-Sep-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"CliffSaran\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Cliff\u00a0Saran<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366634626\/Digital-ID-scheme-cash-will-come-from-existing-funds\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/Westminster-Thames-fotolia_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Westminster-Thames-fotolia_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Westminster-Thames-fotolia.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>UK digital ID scheme cash will come from existing funds<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/lis pic.jpeg\" alt=\"LisEvenstad\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Lis\u00a0Evenstad<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/opinion\/The-departmental-deckchairs-have-been-shuffled-but-helping-the-governments-tech-challenge-how\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Maribel Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new prime minister&#8217;s abolition of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology raises many worrying questions about UK government digital policy By Lord Chris Holmes, House of Lords Published: 28 Jul 2026 It\u2019s been a week since the axe fell on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). What have we learned and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":923303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151347,125384,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-deckchairs","category-departmental","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}