Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology is a secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Peter Kyle since 5 July 2024
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Style	Science Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council National Security Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	7 February 2023
First holder	Michelle Donelan
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	Official website

The first holder of the office is Michelle Donelan. It was announced on 21 April 2023 that during her maternity leave, Donelan would be temporarily replaced as Secretary of State by Chloe Smith, in accordance with the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021.

History

The office was created by a government reshuffle on 7 February 2023, combining responsibilities from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with responsibilities from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and from the Government Office for Science. The Department and Secretary of State have responsibilities to "deliver improved public services, create new and better-paid jobs and grow the economy."

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Secretary of State include:

• Online Safety Bill
• Oversight of Science and Technology
• Economic and national security
• Skills and Talent
• Landscape review
• Research bureaucracy
• Regulation
• Overall R&D budget
• Horizon Europe
• Advanced Research and Invention Agency
• UK Research and Innovation
• OneWeb shareholding
• British Technology Investments Ltd

List

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Ministry
		Michelle Donelan MP for Chippenham	7 February 2023	28 April 2023	Conservative		Sunak
		Chloe Smith MP for Norwich North	28 April 2023	20 July 2023
		Michelle Donelan MP for Chippenham	20 July 2023	5 July 2024
		Peter Kyle MP for Hove and Portslade	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour		Starmer

Timeline

See also

• Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom
• Cabinet of the United Kingdom
• Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation
• Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

References

1. "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
2. "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
3. "PM: Making government deliver for the British people". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
4. "Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
5. "Rishi Sunak creates new science and tech department as he overhauls UK government". POLITICO. 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
6. "Ministerial Appointments: February 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
7. "Ministerial Appointments: April 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
8. Crerar, Pippa; Elgot, Jessica; Stacey, Kiran (2023-02-07). "Rishi Sunak appoints Greg Hands as Conservative party chair in cabinet mini-reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-07.