Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his oral statement of 14 July 2020 on UK Telecommunications, who will have oversight of removal of Huawei from the UK 5G network; which Minister will have responsibility for that oversight; and if he will establish a national taskforce to ensure the effective removal of Huawei.

The Government’s Telecoms Security Bill will ensure we have the powers we need to drive up security standards and control the presence of High Risk Vendors. The Bill will go beyond individual companies, and will enshrine in law one of the strongest regimes for telecoms security in the world.

The Secretary of State will have oversight of the removal of Huawei from the UK 5G network, working alongside Ofcom, who will be asked to provide the Secretary of State with factual reports on operators’ use of Huawei products. The Secretary of State will take forward enforcement action where necessary to ensure controls in relation to Huawei are adhered to.

As it relates to telecommunications infrastructure, responsibility would fall to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.