Labour one year in: Progress on tech and digital policy
by Sabrina Steele on 01 Aug 2025
We are now a year into a Labour government in the UK, with digitalisation and technology playing a central role and forming a key part of the Plan for Growth. The government has placed tech at the heart of building a digital-based economy across its 5 core missions: safer streets, clean energy, economic growth, breaking down barriers and making the NHS fit for the future.
The UK tech sector currently contributes over £150 billion per year to the economy, with AI technologies projected to boost UK GDP by up to 10.3% by 2030. This makes tech a priority policy area.
How much progress has the government made on its Labour Manifesto commitments regarding the tech sector? We take a look at some of the key areas below.
| Manifesto Commitment | Progress |
| Data Centre Planning Reform: the UK cannot be a tech and AI hub without suitable infrastructure. Labour pledged to classify data centre developments as ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’. | The AI Opportunities Action Plan set out how AI will be integrated across the economy. Key policies include new AI Growth Zones, AI infrastructure and data centres. In a nod to establishing the UK as a world-leader, an AI sovereignty unit is being established, and there is a push to train over 7 million people in AI skills by 2030. |
| Establishing a National Data Library: to build a digital-based economy, government services need to be able to access research and public data in a secure manner. | Part of the work DSIT has done in its role as the ‘Centre for a Digital Government’ is to establish internal AI tools to speed up processes, digitalise HMRC and enable easier data-sharing through the National Data Library for the public sector. DSIT has also partnered with big tech companies to update IT systems and take advantage of new technologies. |
| Creating the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO). To boost innovation, the RIO would be set up to support emerging tech. |
The RIO was established in 2024 and has since worked across a variety of sectors, such as drones, to coordinate regulation and promote innovation. Future priorities are not yet confirmed. |
| AI Safety & Frontier Regulation: Labour committed to work on AI safety, introducing regulation for the most popular AI models and banning explicit non-consensual deepfakes. | The AI Safety Institute has partnered with key AI developers to ensure the most popular models are developed in a considerate way and in line with regulatory expectations. The government introduced legislation to outlaw explicit deepfakes earlier this year although further legislation may be introduced. |
| Digitalising the government, public sector and NHS: Labour pledged to make the public sector more efficient and save money by taking advantage of new technologies. | Digitalisation programmes apply across all key sectors: including healthcare, financial services, clean energy and manufacturing. For the NHS in particular, the use of AI and digitalisation should help to reduce waiting times, utilise new technologies and support quicker decision-making. |
| Digital Inclusion: the Manifesto committed to pushing for full gigabit broadband coverage and standalone 5G by 2030. | The Digital Inclusion Action Plan set out how the government will reduce digital exclusion, including through infrastructure projects and locally-managed innovation work. |
| Skills: the Labour Manifesto aimed to address this by introducing Skills England and other levies for tech-related education. | Skills England was established as part of the Spending Review and is a key part of the Modern Industrial Strategy looking at coordinating skills training across industry, including AI and digital skills. |
| Long-Term R&D Funding: to promote innovation and growth, Labour pledged to extend funding cycles to 10 years and streamline procurement processes. | The Modern Industrial Strategy set out the 10-year model for investment across all key sectors. The government has also established a coherent ‘one-stop-shop’ for procurement. |
The government has also built on new laws that are impacting the tech sector: particularly committing to pushing prompt enforcement of the Online Safety Act, which became legally binding in July 2025. Online platforms will now need to comply with rules on protecting children from harmful content.
What challenges remain and what can we expect?
The government has made a strong start in progressing many of its key commitments across the tech sector. However, the challenge will now be how the government balances regulation, innovation and security whilst pushing for economic growth. Across many of the policy areas highlighted above, the initial headline policy has been published, but the tech sector is yet to see the detail on how implementation will work.
We can also expect geopolitics to play a role. The majority of tech companies operate internationally, with many based in the US. As trade negotiations continue, the UK government will be under pressure to appease the US administration and ensure the UK remains an attractive place for tech firms to operate. This balancing act could limit the speed and scope of any new tech regulations and enforcement. For example, we have seen the UK fall behind other countries on AI regulation; and digital competition enforcement, which is currently targeting US based tech companies, is moving slowly, with any remedies at least 12 months away. The Online Safety Act, which Labour before coming into power said it would prioritise, has been repeatedly criticised by a Trump administration which would like to see it removed.
Going forwards, we expect to see additional details set out for how sectors, especially the public sector, will use new technologies as part of the Government Digital and AI Roadmap later this year.
Other relevant digital developments could include:
- The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. This Bill will enhance the UK’s cyber security across critical national infrastructure. The Bill was announced in the 2024 King’s Speech, but the draft Bill has not been published. In an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment, we can expect further work to have been done on this following the initial announcement and pressure from political stakeholders and industry to get it right.
- Enforcement on the Online Safety Act. Following the OSA’s becoming legally binding in July 2025, we can expect Ofcom to assess and begin enforcement against non-compliant platforms. This could potentially lead the way to more guidance or clarifications for particular sectors.
- Enforcement of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCCA). We can expect to see the first few ‘strategic market status’ designations and the implementation of bespoke remedies. These remedies could have a widespread impact on the tech sector due the nature of the big tech companies they could target and those companies’ role across the entire economy.
- AI Developments. We can expect to see significant policy work taking place on potential AI legislation following the AI frontier programme and recent pressure on copyright and AI as part of the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The government confirmed it will also be consulting on AI-sector-specific legislation or guidance over the coming months.
- Implementation of the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Following Royal Assent this summer, we can expect to see guidance, further pieces of legislation and consultations on key parts over the next few months. Key changes as part of the DUA include the expansion of smart-data schemes and the use of digital-identity schemes.
- Tech and Net Zero. Technological innovations, including AI, are expected to be integral to the Net Zero agenda. We can expect to see further details on the use of AI and the national grid, clean-heating technologies and domestic decarbonisation and the use of technologies to reduce emissions across other sectors, such as transport.
It has been a busy and fast-moving time in the tech policy world, and we look forward to navigating the next 12 months!
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the above in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Topics: UK politics, Technology, digital policy, Innovation
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