Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk to subsea communication and energy cables, and the likely impact on the UK economy, of a disruption to subsea cable infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the security and resilience of cables very seriously and we focus on the full range of threats and risks, including supply chain and repair arrangements. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the lead department for the energy sector, including subsea energy cables. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is the lead department for telecommunications policy, including the security and resilience of telecommunications subsea cables.
Subsea cables are privately owned and operated. Operators have arrangements in place to ensure a prompt response to damage or disruption. These arrangements draw upon national and international cable laying and repair companies. The departments work closely with the operators, regulators and others to assess risks and ensure that the appropriate mitigation measures, including the provision of specialist capabilities (such as installation and repair), are in place to enable an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents. We keep these capabilities and the regulatory framework under review and engage with industry as part of this.
Information on cable repairs is not held but departments regularly engage with industry to keep informed.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which department is responsible for overseeing the maintenance of subsea communication and energy cables.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the security and resilience of cables very seriously and we focus on the full range of threats and risks, including supply chain and repair arrangements. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the lead department for the energy sector, including subsea energy cables. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is the lead department for telecommunications policy, including the security and resilience of telecommunications subsea cables.
Subsea cables are privately owned and operated. Operators have arrangements in place to ensure a prompt response to damage or disruption. These arrangements draw upon national and international cable laying and repair companies. The departments work closely with the operators, regulators and others to assess risks and ensure that the appropriate mitigation measures, including the provision of specialist capabilities (such as installation and repair), are in place to enable an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents. We keep these capabilities and the regulatory framework under review and engage with industry as part of this.
Information on cable repairs is not held but departments regularly engage with industry to keep informed.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are planning any legislation to ensure that laws relating to cyber-insecure products are aligned with product safety laws; and what steps they are taking to (1) warn customers about cyber-insecure products, or (2) remove cyber-insecure products from circulation.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As announced in the Queen’s Speech, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will make sure all consumer connected products sold in the UK, adhere to minimum cyber security standards. This legislation will align with existing product safety laws.
The government has published advice on how to use smart devices safely in the home (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/smart-devices-in-the-home) and has regularly highlighted the issue of insecure devices, for example with the National Cyber Security Centre's guidance on how to secure internet-connected cameras in the home. In addition, the Cyber Aware campaign offers consumers advice on how to keep their devices secure.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the significance of BBC Monitoring to (1) UK, and (2) global, security will be a factor when they make decisions about the future funding level of the licence fee at the next spending review.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The BBC is responsible for the funding, staffing and administration of Monitoring, which is provided under a specific agreement between the BBC and government. The monitoring service is funded through the licence fee and there are no plans to change this arrangement.
It is the Licence Fee Settlement, not the spending review, which will determine the BBC’s public funding for at least 5 years from April 2022. On 10 November the government announced the formal opening of the process and subsequently the Secretary of State has received evidence from the BBC about its financial needs.
Negotiations for the 2022 Licence Fee Settlement are ongoing and the Secretary of State will update the house in due course.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their commitment in The Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2019, published on 24 November 2019, to invest "£500 million in youth services for young people", what plans they have to make this investment; and why this investment did not appear in the Spending Review 2020, published on 25 November.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Youth Investment Fund remains a manifesto commitment for transformative levelling up across the country over the course of the parliament. In the recently announced Spending Review,, £30m of this was committed as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide an important additional investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support from youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture. Further details of the timetable for allocation will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to roll out 5G in the UK in a timely manner without using any Chinese technology; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We are committed to becoming a world leader in 5G, and the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review sets out a national, long-term strategy to help deliver this ambition.
It is vital that the UK has the right conditions in place to foster resilient and secure supply arrangements to deliver our digital connectivity ambitions. That is why Government has put security at the heart of the 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme, allocating £10 million for 5G security projects. Furthermore, DCMS is leading a cross-government review into the supply chain arrangements for the UK’s telecoms infrastructure. The review will consider the full UK market position, including the resilience and security standards of equipment for 5G. The review is actor agnostic and not a binary assessment of the countries of origin of telecoms equipment.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the EU flag is recognised by the UK; and which of the other member states of the EU recognise that flag.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There is no specific government policy regarding the flying of flags and no guidance is issued to Government Departments to routinely fly the EU Flag.
However, for a number of years on 9th May, Government has celebrated Europe Day by flying EU member state flags including an EU Flag on Parliament Square.
DCMS does not hold records on the flying of flags outside of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 14 September (HL10045), whether they will now answer the question originally put, whether there have been any further discussions with the Lord Chancellor's office regarding the addition of flying the Red Ensign on Merchant Navy Day to the list of officially recognised flag days.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Further to my answer on the 14th September, I can confirm that we have not had any discussions with the Lord Chamberlain's Office regarding the addition of flying the Red Ensign on Merchant Navy Day to the list of officially recognised flag days. The only official list is the list of designated days for flying the Union Flag.There is no official list for other flags. As flag flying in England, Wales and Scotland is deregulated, any organisation may fly any flag at any time, so long as they have the necessary planning consent.The Red Ensign does not require consent to be flown.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 April 2016 (HL7727), whether there have been any further discussions with the Lord Chamberlain’s office regarding the addition of flying the Red Ensign on Merchant Navy Day to the list of officially recognised flag days.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are currently 21 designated days for flying the Union Flag on Government Buildings. These days have been set to mark special occasions by command of Her Majesty the Queen and on the advice of Government. As you suggest, any changes or additions are discussed with the Lord Chamberlain's Office.
All other flag flying is deregulated and any organisation may fly any flag at any time, so long as they have the necessary planning permission. Therefore, organisations and individuals may fly the Red Ensign on Merchant Navy day if they wish.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any risks associated with using equipment supplied by the ZTE Corporation in the UK's telecoms network.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has written to a number of telecommunications organisations regarding the potential use of ZTE equipment and services in the UK telecommunications infrastructure environment.
The NCSC’s technical assessment is that the national security risks arising from the use of ZTE equipment or services in UK telecommunications infrastructure where there are national security concerns cannot be mitigated.