Department for Science, Innovation and Technology written question – answered at on 22 May 2026.
Siân Berry
Green Spokesperson (Crime and Policing), Green Spokesperson (Justice), Green Spokesperson (Transport), Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Green Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Green Spokesperson (Democratic Standards)
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what governance structures are in place to oversee investment decisions made by the Sovereign AI Fund, and what role Ministers, the Department, and the Fund’s Chair will have in approving individual investments.
Siân Berry
Green Spokesperson (Crime and Policing), Green Spokesperson (Justice), Green Spokesperson (Transport), Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Green Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Green Spokesperson (Democratic Standards)
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps are being taken to ensure value for money for taxpayers in the deployment of the £500 million Sovereign AI Fund, and what criteria will be used to assess the Fund’s success in supporting UK-based AI companies.
Kanishka Narayan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Delivering value for money for taxpayers is central to the Sovereign AI Fund. This will be assessed through robust monitoring and evaluation against the Fund’s strategic objectives, including its effectiveness in growing and anchoring strategically significant AI companies in the UK, mobilising private capital, and strengthening the wider UK AI ecosystem, alongside standard public money controls and financial oversight.
Equity Investments by the Sovereign AI Fund will be delivered through DSIT’s existing Government-owned company, British Technology Investments (BTI) Ltd and its governance structures. The BTI Board will review the Fund’s performance and the Sovereign AI Strategy Board will provide strategic oversight of the overall programme. The vast Majority of individual investment decisions will be taken by an independent Investment Committee with delegated authority from BTI Board. Exceptional cases may be decided on by the BTI Board.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
