Oral Answers to Questions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

The Minister for the Cabinet Office was asked—

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

1. What assessment he has made of the level of investment required to ensure high standards of cyber-security in the public sector.

[The First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Damian Green)]

Our national cyber-security strategy, supported by £1.9 billion of transformational investment, sets out measures to defend our people, businesses and assets, deter our adversaries and develop cyber-skills. These include the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre and direct investment in central and local government, the health sector and the defence sector.

[Bambos Charalambous]

Our public services have been starved of cash for seven years, but cyber-security requires constant investment, so has the Minister advocated long-term funding to enable public services to protect themselves against all forms of cyber-attack?

[Damian Green]

Yes, indeed. That is the whole point not just of the National Cyber Security Centre, but of the very significant investment I have just mentioned—£1.9 billion—which is set to transform defences against cyber-attack across the public sector, for central and local government, particularly the health and defence sectors, as well as advising the private sector, because our defences obviously need to be mutually dependent across the public and private sectors.