Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of establishing a specific policing unit to support local councillors who are experiencing threats and intimidation.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The safety of our elected representatives is essential to the security of our country. All elected representatives should be able to participate fully in our democracy, without fear for their safety and security. Instances of abuse, intimidation and criminal offences are unacceptable, and that is why the Government will take every possible step to safeguard the people, processes, and institutions upon which our democracy relies.
On 28th February the Prime Minister announced the Government was investing an additional £31 million in funding to protect the democratic process and our elected representatives. Through this funding we are enhancing police capabilities, increasing private sector security provision for those facing a higher risk, and expanding cyber security advice to elected representatives.
The investment also enables the expansion of the Operation BRIDGER network, which already provides support to MPs, so that all elected representatives and candidates are given a dedicated, police contact to liaise with on security matters, where needed. Through this network elected representatives – including local councillors - will have access to security briefings from their local force.
The funding is accompanied by a new Defending Democracy Policing Protocol, agreed with police to enhance the safety of elected representatives, and protect the UK’s democratic process from disruption. Further information about the Protocol is available on GOV.UK.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce will continue to review the effectiveness of arrangements for protective security of elected representatives.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to support local authorities with cyber security and the rise in related threats.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has set out its approach to cyber resilience the Government Cyber Security Strategy (GCSS). Cabinet Office are the lead department for the implementation of the GCSS, local government are responsible for the resilience of their networks and systems, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is assigned stewardship of local government, with responsibility for cyber policy and assurance.
Since 2020, DLUHC has provided £19.9 million of grant funding and technical support to 192 English local authorities to improve their cyber maturity. In collaboration with the Local Government Association and the National Cyber Security Centre, DLUHC have been raising the awareness of cyber risk and fostering cyber-first cultures and practices in local government.
To support councils to assess and improve their cyber security, DLUHC are introducing the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for the English local government sector later this year, providing a clear cyber security standard and method for local authorities to assess their cyber health.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the personal and cyber security of high-profile individuals involved in politics, such as parliamentarians, ahead of the upcoming general election campaign.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The safety of our elected representatives is essential to the security of our country. Protecting our democratic values and processes is one of the most important duties of government. That is why the Government will take every possible step to safeguard the people, processes, and institutions upon which our democracy relies.
On 28th February the Prime Minister announced the Government was investing an additional £31 million in funding to protect the democratic process and our elected representatives. The funding is being used to strengthen protective security measures for MPs and locally elected representatives over the next year.
Through the funding we are enhancing police capabilities, increasing private sector security provision for those facing a higher risk, and expanding cyber security advice to elected representatives. The investment also enables the expansion of the Operation BRIDGER network, so that every elected representative and candidate is given a dedicated, named police contact to liaise with on security matters, where needed. Through this network all candidates will have access to security briefings in the run up to the General Election.
The funding is accompanied by a new Defending Democracy Policing Protocol, agreed with police to enhance the safety of elected representatives, and protect the UK’s democratic process from disruption. Further information about the Protocol is available on GOV.UK.
Furthermore, the Defending Democracy Taskforce has supported the Westminster Parliamentary authorities and the National Cyber Security Centre to develop and roll out an enhanced cyber security offer for Parliamentarians and their teams to better protect them against cyber-attacks and foreign interference. As part of the £31 million uplift, the Taskforce is now seeking to extend this offer to other elected officials including the Devolved Authorities and is working closely with staff from the Devolved Authorities to do so.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department plans to take to investigate the recent MoD security breach.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The recent MoD security breach with the compromise of MoD payroll information is the work of malign cyber actors who compromised a contractor-run network entirely separate from the MoD core system. A specialist security review of the contractor and its operations is under way by the MoD. We cannot rule out a state or criminal actor at this stage. Investigations are ongoing and appropriate steps will be taken.
We consider every case on its merits and will not always name who was responsible for a specific incident. Should the UK Government choose to respond publicly, it will do so at a time of our choosing when we judge it is in the best interests of the UK to do so.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential national security risks associated with IT infrastructure operated by (a) his Department's arm’s-length bodies and (b) private firms under contract to his Department.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the security of its IT infrastructure, that of its arm’s length bodies and of its suppliers, very seriously. However, the MOD does not comment on specific details of individual risk assessments as this could give useful information to potential adversaries.
Defence employs a Cyber Risk Management Framework that regularly reviews and escalates risk. This uses evidence from a variety of sources including as the Cabinet Office’s Gov Assure ‘Cyber Assessment Framework’ (CAF). All Defence Organisations, including ALBs, sit within this framework. MOD contracts are subject to a risk assessment which is used to determine the nature of the control measures should be applied to the contract.
The Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence is driving a programme of work to improve Defence’s cyber security. In the longer term the MOD’s Secure by Design approach will ensure security is built into our capability programmes from the outset and managed effectively on a through life basis. The MOD is also reducing the cyber security risk across its complex legacy estate by improving its ability to respond to and detect cyber incidents, improve cyber awareness across the workforce, and improve resilience in it supply.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he is taking steps to deepen diplomatic cooperation with members of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We regularly discuss NATO partnerships with Allies. The Partnership for Peace Programme allows partners to build up an individual relationship with NATO. We are working with Allies to explore ways to strengthen cooperation to address global security challenges, such as support to Ukraine, cyber defence, countering hybrid activities and emerging and disruptive technologies.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with UK-based companies on trends in the level of cyber security jobs moved abroad.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers engage regularly with UK cyber security companies to understand employment trends. This includes engagement through visits and forums such as the Cyber Growth Partnership and the National Cyber Advisory Board. The government's annual cyber security sectoral analysis reviews the growth and health of the sector, showing employment in the UK has risen each year since the government began publishing the data in 2018. Currently, the UK cyber security sector employs over 58,000 people, having generated an additional 5,300 jobs in the past year alone.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 support businesses secure their digital infrastructure against the provision of technological services from companies deemed a potential threat to national security.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The security of UK businesses and their digital infrastructure is a priority for the government and a key part of the National Cyber Strategy. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) works with Ofcom, UK technical authorities (the National Cyber Security Centre & National Protective Security Authority) and industry to identify risks and secure telecoms network infrastructure.
The UK Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 sets out one of the world’s toughest telecoms cyber security regimes and places stringent obligations on public telecoms networks providers to protect networks against security threats. The Act also created new national security powers to control the use of high-risk vendors in the UK’s telecoms network. The government encourages businesses to improve their digital infrastructure security through the Cyber Essentials scheme and the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether national security clearance was sought by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and approved, before purchasing the Lenovo supercomputer from a Chinese electronics company.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has been clear that when tensions arise between its objectives in relation to China, national security will always come first. This procurement took place through a robust public sector procurement process with all necessary qualifying security criteria
The UK's world leading cyber security experts are providing the necessary support and advice to assure the security of the system, as is normal.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many UK-Ukraine TechBridge tech-focussed events have been held in each year since its launch.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The UK-Ukraine TechBridge initiative was announced by the Prime Minister at the London hosted Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2023 with a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Ukraine signed in November.
Since its formal launch in January 2024,15 tech-focussed events have been held. Innovation workshops on AI, agritech and healthtech were held at the end of March to assess the most significant barriers to innovation in these sectors in Ukraine. New innovation workshops will commence from May targeting new thematic areas, including cyber security, fintech, and demining.