Burnham Abolishes DSIT and Redistributes Tech, AI and Science Teams Across Whitehall

Overview

• The prime minister scrapped the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on his first day in office and a leaked internal blueprint divides its work between the Cabinet Office, a renamed Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
• Under the plan the AI Security Institute moves to the Cabinet Office, UK Research and Innovation with the Sovereign AI Fund and science teams go to DBIST, and the Government Digital Service, GOV.UK, digital identity, cyber policy and the government chief technology and data officers transfer to DCMS.
• Kanishka Narayan, formerly DSIT’s AI minister, has been made AI minister with split reporting lines to the Cabinet Office and DBIST and will attend Cabinet without a full cabinet seat, raising questions about his authority to lead cross-government AI strategy.
• Former DSIT permanent secretary Sarah Munby, industry figures and peers in the House of Lords warned the changes break up an integrated model, create short-term uncertainty for staff and international partners, and could take about a year to implement.
• DSIT was set up in 2023 to join data, digital capability and science under one roof, and commentators say the new fragmented structure could weaken the UK’s ability to coordinate AI governance, public-sector adoption and technology delivery across Whitehall.