Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to safeguard personal information against Russian cyberattacks and strengthen the cybersecurity of local governmental institutions.

Cyber security, within the wider remit of national security, is a reserved matter. Within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, certain devolved public services are the responsibility of the respective governments.

The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government supports English local government to strengthen their cyber defences and manage their cyber risks more effectively in line with the Government Cyber Action Plan.

Since 2020, my department has provided £29 million of cyber grant funding and technical support to local government and have recently announced further funding available to all English councils and Strategic Authorities. This includes support to deliver the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government, which sets a clear cyber security standard for the sector. The CAF applies to all English councils, helping them strengthen cyber resilience - particularly for essential services, the critical IT systems that support them and the sensitive data that they hold.

My department also provides a Cyber Incident Response service to support English councils and Strategic Authorities to respond to severe cyber incidents, helping to limit the impact these have on data and services.