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Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
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Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

UK House of Commons committee scrutinising Science and technology policy.

The department this Committee scrutinised was abolished on 20 July 2026, days after Andy Burnham entered Downing Street, splitting DSIT's functions across the Cabinet Office and two new departments.

Last refreshed: 4 August 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics

Key Question

Which Commons committee is probing STFC's funding cuts?

Timeline for Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

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Background

This is The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, chaired since September 2024 by Dame Chi Onwurah MP, member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West. Its role has been to scrutinise the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the bodies it funds, principally UKRI.

It is a separate body from The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, which sits in the Upper Chamber and runs its own, parallel inquiries into the same policy areas, including UKRI's funding strategy.

With its departmental counterpart abolished and split three ways, the Committee's oversight relationship with government has moved from a single named department to a more diffuse set of successor bodies, an unresolved structural question for a committee whose remit was built around one department.

Key Issues
Sovereignty scrutiny

Its target department was abolished

The government abolished the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the department this Committee exists to scrutinise, within hours of Andy Burnham's 20 July 2026 arrival in Downing Street, splitting its work across the Cabinet Office and two new departments while Kanishka Narayan kept the AI brief.

Four days later the Committee's chair warned that the closure risks fragmenting policy and pressed for a government response to its earlier report by 7 September. With no single successor department, it is unclear which body now owes the Committee that answer.

Common Questions

Reference

Is the Commons committee the same as the Lords Science and Technology Committee?
No. They are separate bodies in different chambers; the Lords committee separately took evidence from UKRI's Sir Ian Chapman on 14 July 2026.Source: event
What does the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee do?
It is a House of Commons select committee that scrutinised the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the bodies it funds, including UKRI. DSIT was abolished on 20 July 2026; the committee's oversight now extends to its successor bodies, principally the Cabinet Office, DBIST and DCMS.
Who chairs the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee?
Dame Chi Onwurah MP, member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, has chaired the committee since September 2024.
Why did UKRI write to the Commons Science Committee?
To address headcount reductions described as "probably in the hundreds" after UKRI confirmed a 58% cut to STFC national laboratory funding.Source: event

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 4 August 2026. Editorial standards.