Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the National Risk Register identifying a malicious cyber attack on the electricity system as being capable of causing prolonged disruption to telecommunications and other critical infrastructure, what additional resilience measures they have required communications providers to implement to ensure that citizens can continue to access emergency services throughout such an event.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Great Britain has one of the most reliable energy systems in the world, and operators have well-developed plans to respond to and recover from any disruption. The Cyber Security Resilience Bill will further strengthen the UK’s cyber defences and protect more of the essential services people depend on.

Government works in partnership with communications providers to ensure that networks remain secure, resilient, and accessible, including during emergencies and service disruption. There are statutory obligations on communications providers to take appropriate and proportionate steps to ensure their networks and services remain available. Communication providers are required to take appropriate measures to prepare for and reduce the reduce the risks of incidents occurring, and Ofcom have published Network and Service Resilience Guidance that sets out expectations on how providers can meet statutory obligations.

Whilst networks are designed to be resilient, events such as severe weather, loss of electricity transmission, and technical faults can sometimes cause disruption. In these cases, providers must guarantee access to emergency services for at least one hour during a power outage for customers who rely solely on landlines. Although not resilient over days of disruption to services, Battery Back Up Units for broadband services are available free of charge to vulnerable customers or can be purchased from communication providers. In March 2025, providers such as BT, Vodafone, KCOM and Zen Internet announced battery back-up units capable of powering routers for 4–7 hours during a power cut. These measures are designed to prevent disconnection and ensure continued access to emergency services.

If the current mobile network is unavailable, all emergency 999 calls made from mobile phones should automatically switch to an alternative network. This ensures that even if some mobile networks are down or has poor signal, your emergency call can still go through by using another available network.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of resettlement packages for civil servants who move to work in No. 10 North.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

It is standard practice for employers to support staff when they are required to move between locations. Any resettlement packages would be covered by existing departmental budgets.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of public subsidy provided to the Bee Network in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to supporting local leaders to deliver high-quality local transport services because we know how important this is for access to education, employment and vital local services.

Over this spending review period we're providing a significant amount of funding, and local leaders can decide how best to use this funding to improve services for passengers, including supporting the Bee Network in the case of Greater Manchester.

We have allocated £3.69bn of transport funding for 2022 - 2032 through the devolved City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement/Transport for City Regions funding, Local Authority Bus Grant funding, Active Travel funding and consolidated Active Travel fund, which the Greater Manchester Combined Authority can use for its Bee Network and wider transport activity.

This funding empowers Mayors to invest in transport projects that will make a difference to their local area, and which meet local objectives and needs. The Integrated Settlement also consolidates other transport funding streams, which creates further flexibility for Mayors.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government which public authority would have lead responsibility for ensuring that vulnerable households continued to receive food during a nationwide electricity and telecommunications outage lasting seven days or more; when such arrangements were last tested in a national exercise; and whether they intend to publish an operational national food emergency plan.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under the Lead Government Department model, responding to a prolonged nationwide electricity outage spans several departments. Defra leads on food supply resilience working across Government, industry and local partners to support preparedness for severe disruption.

At local level, Local Resilience Forums and local authorities have a crucial role in identifying and supporting vulnerable people working with emergency responders, health authorities and the voluntary sector. The Government last tested its response to a National Power Outage in a national exercise, including food, through the cross-Government exercise Mighty Oak (2023).

Defra is working with industry and across Government to strengthen preparedness for food supply disruptions, including the development of a shared framework for food preparedness and response, building on the work of the Food Preparedness Group. As part of the Food Preparedness Group, the Government is engaging with industry alongside local and household groups which focuses on impacts of disruption at local community and household level.

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Found: BARONESS NOAKES LORD VAUX OF HARROWDEN BARONESS BOWLES OF BERKHAMSTED LORD BRIDGES OF HEADLEY 68_

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