Undersea Cables

Debate between Lord Stirrup and Lord Vallance of Balham

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. There are 64 cable systems that leave the UK, with 116 cables. About 200 cables break every year around the world, and 10 to 20 of those are in the UK. There is a system of payment from the companies for a ship which gives 24-hour, seven-days-a-week coverage for repairs, as well as systems, of course, to get other commercial repairs done at a slower pace. We work closely with others around the world, including the Australians, and are aware of that model. There are rather specific circumstances which mean that, at the moment, that does not work here, but the ability to get ships rapidly to broken cables is important and that is facilitated by the planning arrangements in place.

[Lord Stirrup (CB)]

My Lords, protection is important, but there is no such thing as a perfect defence. Apart from repair, resilience is crucial in this area as in so many others. What stress-testing has been carried out to identify the range of impacts that could result from interruptions to our undersea infrastructure? What measures would be necessary to ameliorate the impact of those interruptions?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The cable system is regularly reviewed. As I said, 10 to 20 cable breaks occur per year, largely as a result of fishing, anchor pullage and undersea landslips. DSIT, the MoD and other parts of the system review this under the national risk assessment to keep looking at what is required for a resilient system.