Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to date of the removal of Hikvision cameras from Whitehall departments; and what estimate they have made of the cost to local authorities of removing Hikvision cameras from local council buildings.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
It is a long-standing policy that the Government does not comment on security arrangements including the details of security systems. However, the UK takes national security extremely seriously and has taken robust action to secure and protect its national security infrastructure.
Following Royal Assent of the Procurement Act on 26 October 2023 the Government committed to publishing a timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites within six months. This timeline is due to be published by 26 April.
Sensitive sites were defined “as any building or complex that routinely holds secret material or above; any location that hosts a significant proportion of officials holding developed vetting clearance; any location which is routinely used by Ministers; and any government location covered under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.”
While local authorities may choose to follow the lead of central government in removing surveillance equipment they are under no obligation to do so. We encourage all organisations to follow NCSC supply chain security guidance when selecting a technology supplier. This guidance clearly sets the security standards that suppliers should meet and the considerations that organisations should be making during the procurement process.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what restrictions the Government has imposed on (a) Huawei, (b) ZTE, (c) Hikvision, (d) Hytera, (e) Alibaba, (f) Tencent, (g) Dahua, (h) China Telecom, (i) China Mobile, (j) DJI, (k) ByteDance, (l) Kingsoft, (m) senseTime, (n) Megvil, (o) SMIC, (p) China Unicom and (q) Fujian Jinhua.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
This is a matter for the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by George Freeman
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the Government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions.
However, I would refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions.
However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions.
However, I would refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the Government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government's security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds. Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the Government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by John Whittingdale
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Whilst each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which noted that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.