Whittingdale and Warman ousting completes reshuffle of every digital, data and tech minister

The total UK ministers guilty for technology, digital and data are keen on on story of Boris Johnson’s most recent reshuffle

Brian McKenna

Brian McKenna,
Enterprise Applications Editor

Printed: 17 Sep 2021 10: 00

Every UK authorities minister with accountability for digital, data and technology policies lost their job on story of prime minister Boris Johnson’s most recent Cabinet reshuffle.

At the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), John Whittingdale, formerly minister for media and data, was once eradicated from his post and acknowledged on his Twitter story: “I’m sorry to be stepping down as minister for media and data and asserting goodbye to a noteworthy group of ministers and officials. It has been a privilege to play a allotment in shaping the vogue forward for UK public service broadcasting and in reforming our data licensed strategies utilizing our new Brexit freedom.”

On 10 September, Whittingdale had tweeted about his pleasure within the National Data Technique on its first anniversary. Steering for the National Data Technique was once at the origin revealed in July 2019, when Theresa Might perhaps was once prime minister.

The National Data Technique Forum, of which Whittingdale was once co-chair, was once announced in Might perhaps 2021 as allotment of a authorities response to a consultation on the National Data Technique held in leisurely 2020.

On 22 June, Whittingdale and Sue Daley, director of innovation and technology at TechUK, co-chaired the principle National Data Technique Forum virtual discussion.

This reportedly convoked a “diverse group from across the UK’s data ecosystem, including alternate leaders, civil society leaders and data experts”. It well-liked 5 workstreams for the Forum, covering such topics as “unlocking the energy of data”, utilizing data to gain gain-zero carbon emissions, and “mapping stakeholder exercise across the info ecosystem”.

Whittingdale had additionally been guilty for the nowadays announced consultation to reform the UK’s data protection licensed strategies.

Also at DCMS, digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman, who was once guilty for coverage on broadband, cell networks and digital identification, has been sent to the backbenches. On Twitter, Warman acknowledged: “Ministers private an infinite opportunity to swap our noteworthy nation for the upper. It’s been an honour to back the authorities as a whip and to purple meat up our broadband, address cyber threats and develop the digital economy. I observe forward to doing all I’m able to on that and extra from the backbenches.”

Caroline Dinenage, who was once appointed minister of speak for digital and custom in DCMS on 13 February 2020 in an earlier reshuffle, has additionally been sacked.

At Cabinet stage, Nadine Dorries is taking up from Oliver Dowden as secretary of speak for digital, custom, media and sport. Dowden is now minister with out portfolio and co-chairman of the Conservative Occasion. According to Institute for Executive affiliate Gavin Freeguard, Dorries is the tenth DCMS secretary of speak within the last 11 years.

Within the period in-between, Julia Lopez, who had had ministerial accountability for digital authorities at the Cabinet Place of job, has moved to DCMS as a minister of speak, even supposing her portfolio has but to be confirmed.

Johnson took away accountability for authorities employ of data from DCMS and gave it to the Cabinet Place of job in July 2020, merely as Parliament was once packing its bags for the summer season recess.

At a TechUK Constructing the Smarter Allege match in September 2020, Lopez, as parliamentary secretary to the Cabinet and the minister guilty for the Executive Digital Provider (GDS) and Whitehall’s digital, data and technology (DDaT) feature, spoke about that decision.

She acknowledged civil service reform was once serious to defragmenting online authorities products and companies, and allotment of that reform was once the new division of labour between the Cabinet Place of job and DCMS – a “divide and overcome” formulation, she acknowledged. “Duty for authorities data now sits with GDS and the Cabinet Place of job, while DCMS will boost the digital economy extra broadly,” she added.

Michael Gove, formerly Cabinet Place of job minister, has additionally moved to significantly change secretary of speak at the Department for Housing, Communities and Native Executive. While at the Cabinet Place of job, he led plans to mandate employ of a proposed new digital identification system for customers logging in to the Gov.uk online page.

Gove has been replaced at the Cabinet Place of job by historical chief secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay. Duty for digital authorities in some unspecified time in the future of the division has but to be confirmed.