Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to strengthen sovereign capacity in cloud services and cyber resilience.

DSIT is supporting industry in building more data centres in the UK (including via AI Growth Zones), which helps enable cloud providers in the UK to expand. We are working with other government departments to speed up planning permission and grid connection timings to support this.

The Government believes complex issues such as the security of data and digital governance are best addressed through transparent, inclusive multistakeholder engagement. We remain committed to working with international partners within recognised global mechanisms to promote shared understanding and responsible international behaviours, while ensuring support for UK-based data-driven businesses to innovate and grow.

Cyber security is a key part of the Industrial Strategy. DSIT supports the development of sovereign capability in the £13.2 billion UK cyber security sector through its accelerator programmes, including CyberASAP, which commercialises cyber security research, and Cyber Runway, which supports entrepreneurs and companies. Our £187 million TechFirst programme will improve digital skills across the country, including cyber security skills. We are investing significantly in the National Cyber Security Centre, the Government’s technical authority on cyber security, which continues to work to strengthen UK cyber resilience. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will further strengthen UK cyber defences and boost protections for our essential and digital services, including cloud computing.