Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration he has given to the potential merits of introducing a national framework with clear criteria for intervention in major cyber incidents to strengthen economic resilience.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Cyber attacks are increasing in scale and impact; they are slowing the UK’s economic growth and damaging our national security. The UK Government has an existing national process to manage the response to major cyber incidents: the national cyber incident categorisation system is published on NCSC.GOV.UK.
The Government, alongside the National Cyber Security Centre, engages with regulators and critical national infrastructure operators to ensure resilience and preparedness to cyber threats, working to better understand and manage cyber risk, and minimise the impact of cyber incidents when they occur.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will also support this, by boosting UK cyber defences and improving the cyber security of our essential public and digital services.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what cross-government contingency planning is in place for major cyber incidents affecting critical supply chains.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Cyber attacks are increasing in scale and impact; they are slowing the UK’s economic growth and damaging our national security. The UK Government has an existing national process to manage the response to major cyber incidents: the national cyber incident categorisation system is published on NCSC.GOV.UK.
The Government, alongside the National Cyber Security Centre, engages with regulators and critical national infrastructure operators to ensure resilience and preparedness to cyber threats, working to better understand and manage cyber risk, and minimise the impact of cyber incidents when they occur.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will also support this, by boosting UK cyber defences and improving the cyber security of our essential public and digital services.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of moving gas-fired power stations onto a regulated asset base model.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This government has been clear that the answers to the challenges around energy security, affordability and sustainability point in the same direction, clean energy.
By 2030 unabated gas will account for less than 5% of total generation. As the role of unabated gas diminishes, we continue to work with NESO and Ofgem to explore how market and system arrangements can evolve to minimise its impact on energy bills, whilst retaining sufficient unabated gas capacity for security of supply.
As part of this, officials have considered proposals to move gas-fired power stations onto a regulated asset base model. Whilst this option may have merits in the long-term, it also has some challenges and would take considerable time to develop and implement. No decisions have been taken at this stage.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what consideration he has given to the potential merits of decoupling regulated electricity prices from gas prices.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Accelerating the deployment of renewable generation, as we are through our Clean Power 2030 Mission, will reduce the amount of time when gas is setting the price and will help to rapidly decouple electricity from gas prices without the need for more complex arrangements.
The Government is determined to increase the share of renewables on the system so that the electricity price is set by cheaper clean power sources rather than gas. Every wind turbine we switch on and solar panel we deploy helps push gas off as the price setter.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what consideration he has given to the potential merits of establishing a formal framework for financial intervention to support businesses affected by major cyber incidents, including to protect supply chains, businesses and workers, in the context of the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Cyber security of the UK is a key priority for this government and DSIT and NCSC have been taking significant action to help protect businesses against cyber attacks. This includes providing businesses with the tools, advice and support to protect themselves from cyber threats, including free training for boards and staff. We have also put in place:
In cases of acute and exogenous disruption, including in the context of the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, requests for support are assessed on a case‑by‑case basis. The support for JLR. The government agreed to back JLR with a loan guarantee through UK Export Finance, to unlock up to £1.5 billion in commercial financing. This loan covered by the guarantee will be re-paid over 5 years. JLR supports 154,000 UK jobs and protects a critical part of our automotive supply chain.
The Government will continue to prioritise its support and encouragement for cyber resilience across the economy, to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents such as cyber attacks, while retaining the ability to respond flexibly using existing frameworks where this is justified.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure public transport and private hire vehicles service levels are not impacted by fuel price increases.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport recognises growing concerns around rising fuel and transport costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East. The Department fully recognises the need to maintain the continuity of public transport services and are actively monitoring any potential impacts.
The Department will continue to work with industry to understand the pressures and the options to mitigate any risks.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of road user charging mechanisms for new vehicle technologies, including autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment of road user charging mechanisms for new vehicle technologies has been made.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to help support the safe deployment of artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Safety is central to the implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, with a requirement that the introduction of self-driving vehicles to Great Britain’s roads must seek to contribute to an overall improvement road safety. The regulatory approach is outcome-focussed and technology neutral, ensuring that where AI is used, it contributes to rigorous safety standards.
The UK co-chairs a group at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), looking at AI use-cases in vehicle technology and how any associated risks can be managed or mitigated. This is in addition to mandating international vehicle cyber-security requirements that the UK helped develop.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration she has given to the potential merits of road-user charging receipts supporting local transport infrastructure.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local Traffic Authorities have the power to introduce road charging schemes to address issues such as congestion and poor air quality, where they decide that is the best solution. They do not require Ministerial or Parliamentary approval to do this. Net revenue from such schemes are retained by the relevant local transport authority or authorities and must be used for transport purposes.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to protect downstream users of packaging steel.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government recognises the distinct value of downstream users, including in the manufacturing supply chain, alongside the importance of maintaining a resilient domestic steel sector.
The steel trade measure has been designed to addresses the serious threat posed by global steel overcapacity, which undermines the viability of UK steelmaking and, in turn, our critical national infrastructure and defence.
We have carefully balanced the needs of producers and downstream industry, and the product scope of the measure reflects this. This has involved extensive engagement with downstream industry, and we will review the measure after 12 months.