Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to reduce UK reliance on concentrated semiconductor supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The semiconductor industry has complex global supply chains. As part of the Industrial Strategy’s Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, the Government is taking measures to foster growth of the UK semiconductor sector where it is strong, enhance national security and strengthen supply chain resilience. Given the global nature of semiconductor supply chains, the UK is also building resilience through collaborating with a wide range of international partners, both bilaterally and through fora such as the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network and the G7 Semiconductor Point of Contact Group.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what consideration her Department has given to the potential merits of competition policy measures to prevent the monopolisation of semiconductor components by large technology companies.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor technologies for UK growth and security, as outlined in the Industrial Strategy Digital & Technologies Sector Plan. The Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for investigating anti-competitive practices. Any concerns regarding anti-competitive conduct can be raised directly with the CMA.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of memory chip shortages on consumer technology prices.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of memory chip shortages on consumer technology prices, but the Government continues to regularly engage with businesses to understand supply chain challenges. The Government is also working closely with international partners to develop shared approaches and solutions that improve global semiconductor supply chain resilience.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the cost of cyber attacks to the economy in 2025.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In November 2025, the government published a set of independent research reports quantifying the impact of cyber attacks on the UK economy. These reports demonstrate the scale of the potential cost of cyber attacks to UK businesses, with KPMG’s report Economic Modelling of Sector Specific Costings of Cyber Attacks estimating the average cost of a significant cyber attack for an individual business in the UK to be almost £195,000. Scaled to an annual UK cost to businesses, this amounts to an estimated £14.7 billion.
The Government has developed tools for businesses to protect themselves, including:
The Government is also taking further action to protect the economy. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will boost our cyber defences and better protect our essential services. This year, we will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan setting out how Government will respond to the cyber threat and work with industry to raise resilience across the economy.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that broadband infrastructure providers complete full fibre rollout in areas where initial deployment was incomplete; and what steps she is taking to ensure that residents in those areas have access to adequate broadband connectivity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to ensuring 99% of premises receive gigabit coverage by 2032. We will continue to work in partnership with industry to deliver the fibre rollout and will maintain a stable pro-competition regulatory environment to encourage private investment.
However, where network operators choose to deploy their services in commercially viable areas is a commercial matter, and the government will not intervene in private business decisions.
Through Project Gigabit, we are addressing gaps in coverage by delivering gigabit-capable connections to premises not included in suppliers’ plans. As of the end of September 2025, over 1.3 million premises in hard-to-reach communities across the UK had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.
Alongside this, over one million further premises have been included within contracts to provide access to gigabit-capable broadband, with funding of over £2.4 billion through Project Gigabit.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what is the Government's proposed timeline for implementing the Competition and Markets Authority's recommendation to designate Microsoft and AWS with Strategic Market Status under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 following the Cloud Services Market Investigation published on 31 July 2025.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) has completed 3 Strategic Market Status investigations this year. The CMA is independent of the Government and decisions on which markets to investigate is for its Board. The CMA has published guidance on its website on how it will prioritise Strategic Market Status designations.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) increases in costs and (b) recent trends in levels of economic uncertainty on the ability of (i) small and micro-businesses and (ii) other businesses to invest in cybersecurity measures.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and micro organisations is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many smaller organisations lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help SMEs implement cyber security measures, including the recently launched Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice.
NCSC-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms. Additionally, the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks. We recently completed a funding programme supporting over 1,000 SMEs to get certified to the scheme.
Early next year, the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan which will set out further work to help protect our nation’s smallest organisations.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the she is taking to support (a) small and (b) micro-businesses to prioritise cybersecurity spending.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Improving the cyber security of our nation’s small and micro organisations is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many smaller organisations lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help SMEs implement cyber security measures, including the recently launched Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice.
NCSC-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms. Additionally, the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks. We recently completed a funding programme supporting over 1,000 SMEs to get certified to the scheme.
Early next year, the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan which will set out further work to help protect our nation’s smallest organisations.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people can effectively exercise their legal right to object to the use of their personal data for direct marketing.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published information on the right to object to the processing of personal for the purpose of direct marketing here: Right to object | ICO.
Anyone concerned about the handling of their personal data by any organisation has the right to complain to the ICO. The ICO has a range of tools to tackle the unlawful processing of personal data, including powers to issue substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation. Information about the ICO’s enforcement action can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact of the rollout of digital street infrastructure on (a) public digital connectivity, (b) local amenity, and (c) compliance with telecommunications licensing conditions.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As a result of commercial market and publicly funded rollout, over 88% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, up from less than 10% in 2019. In their Connected Nations Spring update, published 8 May 2025, Ofcom reported that as of January 2025, 5G coverage was available outside of 96% of premises across the UK from at least one operator, up from 69% in May 2022.
The impact of digital infrastructure on local amenity is assessed by local planning authorities on a case by case basis. Planning conditions in legislation ensure that operators minimise the visual impact of new network development on the surrounding area as much as possible.
It is the responsibility of Ofcom to ensure operators comply with their telecommunications licensing conditions.