UK technology minister scrapped as Burnham splits DSIT duties
Andy Burnham has abolished the dedicated tech minister post and moved GDS to DCMS, separating AI strategy from public-sector tech delivery.
By Renata Fuchs · Policy Reporter
· 3 min read
The UK technology minister scrapped under Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first reshuffle leaves public-sector technology policy split across Whitehall, with no dedicated Cabinet-level owner for delivery. Burnham dismissed Liz Kendall, broke up the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and divided its work among the Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The move matters for the companies that sell into government because it shifts responsibility for procurement reform, legacy IT replacement and digital public infrastructure just as ministers have claimed automation and AI can help produce £45 billion in internal efficiency savings. That savings figure has drawn skepticism from experts and was described by MPs as a distraction.
What happened to the UK technology minister?
Burnham removed the standalone technology secretary role and created a new AI minister post instead. Kanishka Narayan has been appointed to that AI role, will attend Cabinet and will work with the Cabinet Office and BIST.
Operational government technology has moved elsewhere. The Government Digital Service, created in 2011 under David Cameron and based in the Cabinet Office until 2024, was moved by Keir Starmer to DSIT and will now shift again to DCMS. The Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence will move with it.
That centre was set up under Starmer to improve public-sector buying from large suppliers, including Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and the big four consultancies. It was also intended to give smaller UK technology companies a better shot at government contracts, alongside the cost-saving goal.
Why the GDS move matters for suppliers
Ian Murray is the only digital minister named in DCMS, and he does not sit in Cabinet. His brief also includes politically louder issues such as digital inclusion and online harms, which are separate from the technical work of fixing government platforms, data and procurement.
Any push from DCMS will also run into the authority of Dame Antonia Romeo, appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service on February 19. Narayan’s AI Taskforce, meanwhile, will sit in the new Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, report to Romeo and carry Burnham’s AI agenda.
That structure separates AI strategy from the machinery needed to make public-sector AI useful: modern data, reduced technical debt and stronger commercial control over vendors. For technology companies, the split could mean more points of influence and less clarity over who is empowered to say no.
The procurement backdrop is weak. The Register reported in April 2024 that Cabinet Office documents warned of concentration and vendor lock-in in government cloud buying, limiting negotiating power. Kendall later pushed for more whole-government agreements with large suppliers after a £9 billion Microsoft deal, with other cloud providers in view.
The Register has also reported recurring awards to incumbent IT suppliers. In January 2025, it reported that HMRC awarded £3.8 billion to three existing suppliers, including £591 million without external competition, tied to a £10 billion arrangement from 2004 that had originally been expected to run for ten years.
Burnham has cancelled plans for a national digital ID scheme, removing one costly and contested project from the agenda. The larger question for the UK tech industry is whether a fragmented Whitehall structure can reform procurement and legacy systems while a Cabinet-level AI operation pursues growth, investment and public-sector transformation on a separate track.
This story draws on original reporting from The Register.
