Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has in place to ensure continuity of mass public communications during prolonged disruption to IP-based networks.

The government recognises the importance of maintaining public communications during disruptions affecting telecommunications networks. Telecommunications providers are required to take appropriate and proportionate measures to identify, reduce, prepare for and recover from risks to the resilience of their networks and services, under the Communications Act 2003, as amended by the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021. The department works closely with industry, Ofcom and other government departments through established resilience and emergency response arrangements to prepare for, respond to and recover from major telecommunications incidents, while continuing to strengthen the resilience of the UK's telecommunications infrastructure.