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Written Question
UK Cyber Security Council
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their Government Cyber Security Strategy: 2022–2030, published on 25 January 2022, what assessment they have made of the UK Cyber Security Council’s progress in developing consistent taxonomies, standards and pathways for the cyber security profession across the UK.

Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The UK Cyber Security Council was established to develop professional standards so that cyber security can be appropriately recognised as a profession, similar fields such as accounting and engineering. In October 2023, the Council announced that over 100 cyber security practitioners had been awarded professional titles (including chartered status) and this number is increasing. The Council has used its standards to outline pathways into and through the cyber security profession by creating a Cyber Careers Framework. The Council continues to work with stakeholders in government, industry, and academia to ensure that the standards it sets are relevant, accessible, and demand consistent high quality from cyber security practitioners throughout the UK.


Written Question
Business: Cybersecurity
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support businesses seeking to adopt process improvement programmes for their organisational cyber-resilience.

Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is inviting views on a proposed Cyber Governance Code of Practice until 19th March. This is part of a package of action in the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy to drive up improvements in organisational cyber resilience. Co-designed with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and industry experts, the Code consolidates critical cyber governance areas for directors' ownership. As part of this package, the NCSC revised their Board Toolkit (BTK) and intends to develop an online Cyber Governance Training Pack for Boards, integrating the Code and BTK. This comprehensive package will help boards ensure that cyber resilience is embedded throughout their organisation, including its people and processes.


Written Question
Infrastructure: Cybersecurity
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of existing cyber-resilience regulations relating to the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The National Cyber Strategy 2022 set outcomes for critical national infrastructure (CNI) (in the private and public sector) to better understand & manage cyber risk and minimise the impact of cyber incidents when they occur. In addition, at CyberUK 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister announced specific and ambitious cyber resilience targets for all CNI sectors (public and private sector) to meet by 2025.

Over the past year, the Cabinet Office has been progressing foundational work to support the creation of common but flexible resilience standards across CNI and do more on the assurance of CNI, including cyber assurance preparedness, by 2030. This includes work to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of all regulation that applies to CNI, including (but not limited to) NIS regulations, and to bring more private sector businesses working in CNI within the scope of cyber resilience regulations.

The Government is also committed to ensuring cyber security in the public sector, which is why GovAssure was launched in April 2023. Under GovAssure, government organisations regularly review the effectiveness of their cyber defences against common cyber vulnerabilities and attack methods. We are currently evaluating the first year’s assessments. GovAssure will enable government organisations to accurately assess their levels of cyber resilience across their critical services, highlight priority areas for improvement and provide the Government with a strategic view of cyber capability, risk and resilience across the sector.


Written Question
Ammunition: Lead
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government on what date they expect to receive the Health and Safety Executive's delayed final restriction opinion in respect of the risks of using lead in ammunition to human health and the environment; and whether they will make and publish their decision on the restriction within three months of receipt of the opinion.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK REACH restriction process relating to lead in ammunition was initiated in 2021 by the then Defra Secretary of State, with the agreement of the Scottish and Welsh Governments. This triggered a process under the UK REACH regulations, with the dossier preparation and recommendations process led by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

HSE expects to issue their final restriction opinions later this year. The decision to apply any restrictions, or not to do so, will subsequently be made by the Defra Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish and Welsh Ministers, and published on GOV.UK.


Written Question
Asylum: Standards
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many legacy asylum applications are awaiting an initial decision.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Statistics relating to Illegal Migration’. Provisional data on the legacy applications awaiting an initial decision is published in table IMB_02 of the Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act: data tables to December 2023. The latest data relates to 28 December 2023.

Finalised data for 31 December 2023 is due to be published on 29 February 2024 in table Asy_10a of the Asylum and resettlement summary tables, as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.


Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what UK expenditure within Rwanda has been authorised in respect of (1)  building the capacity of their asylum system, and (2) amending the UK–Rwanda agreement to mitigate against the risk of refoulement.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

As I said to the House at Committee Stage for the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on 19 February, Noble Lords will be aware that we have provided Rwanda with £220 million as part of the economic transformation fund and £20 million as an advance credit to pay for operational costs in advance of flights commencing. The spend on the MEDP with Rwanda so far is £240 million.

We anticipate providing another £50 million in the next financial year. This is not new but follows the same arrangement from 2022.

Rwanda did not ask for money to sign the treaty, nor did we offer it. However, it is right and proper that there is funding to reflect the additional costs in the future. The Government are already committed to disclosing further payments made as part of the economic transformation fund and the per-person relocation costs as part of the department’s annual accounts in the normal way.

During the debate, I committed to write to the Noble Lord Purvis on this matter, and the letter will be published in the House library in due course.


Written Question
Metropolitan Police: Labour Turnover
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of serving Metropolitan Police Service officers have served for more than five years, and what assessment they have made of the strength of institutional memory within the Metropolitan Police Service.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the length of service of police officers employed within the police service in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.

Information on the length of service of police officers employed in each of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales can be found in Table JL5 in the data tables accompanying each publication.

As at 31 March 2023, 67% of police officers employed within the Metropolitan Police Service had 5 years or more service.

The retention of experienced police officers is a priority for the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Voluntary resignation rates, at around 3%, are low compared to other sectors.


Written Question
Armed Forces
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by The Earl of Minto on 7 December 2023 (HL Deb col 1570), what plans they have to regularise the process of cost forecasting among the three armed services.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Department's current operating model, where responsibility for managing the equipment plan is delegated to Top Level Budget Holders, acknowledges that they have different financial positions and carry a balance between capability and financial risk.

I remain committed to reviewing the format of future equipment plan reports to ensure they remain fit for purpose.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Overpayments
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of decisions relating to benefits overpayments or benefit recovery made by the Department of Work and Pensions are the result of algorithmic decision-making or another automated process.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

As set out in the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 for the year ended 31 March 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk) (P103), DWP does not use automation to replace human judgement when investigating fraud and error to either determine or deny a payment to a claimant. A final decision in these circumstances always involves a human agent.

The Department uses algorithms and automated decision making in some services and processes, which allow us to improve accuracy, speed up delivery and free up colleagues’ time so they can support the people who need it most.

DWP’s Personal Information Charter explains how and why we use personal information and citizen’s rights and responsibilities


Written Question
Colombia: José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the British Embassy in Bogotá intends to conduct an official visit to the offices of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective following reports of attacks, threats and defamation of its members.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 28 November 2023, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London met representatives of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective to discuss their security situation. Officials at our Embassy in Bogotá will schedule a further meeting in Colombia at the next available opportunity.