Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Cabinet Office will be providing evidence on Microsoft licensing practices and other related matters to the Competition and Markets Authority for its Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for gathering evidence relevant to its Strategic Market Status investigations and engages with a wide range of stakeholders. Government departments will assist the CMA as far as possible where the CMA requests that they do so, including providing evidence to the CMA where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what industry submissions on cost were received during the consultation on the revised Telecommunications Security Code of Practice 2026; and whether they will publish that underlying data.

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

The Telecommunications Security Code of Practice provides technical guidance for public telecoms providers on how they can comply with their security requirements as set out in the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 and the Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022.

The government is committed to continuously evaluating the effectiveness of the UK’s telecoms security framework, and the Draft Revised Code of Practice strengthens security guidance to public telecoms providers to reflect evolving technology and emerging security threats.

The government ran a consultation on proposed updates to the Telecommunications Security Code of Practice 2022 from 28 August 2025 to 22 October 2025, and an additional cost survey which ran from 25 November 2025 until 28 January 2026.

Cost related feedback received from the consultation, and the additional cost survey, informed the resulting assessment on costs to industry included in the explanatory memorandum for the Draft Revised Code of Practice, published on GOV.UK on 3 June.

Indicative estimates suggest potential one-off implementation costs of the proposed updates to the Code being in the order of £1.9 million to £3.2 million per provider. Estimates for the ongoing annual costs are approximately £285,000 to £445,000 per provider. The Government considers these costs to be relatively minor, given the critical importance of good security and the current scale and revenues of the UK telecommunications sector.

Underlying cost data from individual providers has not been published, to protect commercial confidentiality and mitigate the risk of exposing vulnerabilities in UK telecoms networks.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Social Market Foundation, Clearing the Air, published on 3 July 2024, which suggested that restrictive software licensing practices may cost the UK public sector £60 million a year.

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

While HMG has not issued a formal, comprehensive assessment of the Social Market Foundation's July 2024 report, Clearing the Air, its findings remain highly pertinent to ongoing digital market regulatory efforts.

This report was submitted as evidence to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to support its in-depth investigation into competition within the UK's public cloud infrastructure services market. These insights are currently being reviewed to help shape future public sector commercial practices and guidance.

Furthermore, public sector procurement continues to align with the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Playbook. The playbook establishes essential policy reforms aimed at safeguarding against vendor lock-in and maximizing value for money.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Cabinet Office will ensure other departments that are Microsoft IT customers will supply evidence on Microsoft licensing practices and other related matters to the Competition and Markets Authority for its Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) investigations are conducted independently under its own statutory powers. Individual government departments are responsible for responding directly to the CMA’s information requests.

The Cabinet Office continues to facilitate engagement with the investigation by raising awareness and encouraging departments to participate through existing Government Commercial Function (GCF) and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) communication channels.

The CMA expects to publish provisional findings in late 2026, triggering a public consultation. Departments will then be encouraged to review these findings and submit evidence on the potential impact of proposed remedies on government digital projects.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem, what assessment they have made of (1) the extent to which software licensing restrictions and cloud lock-in may influence public sector choice of enterprise AI tools, and (2) any implications for competition and value for money.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The CMA expects to publish its final decision report on the Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software by February 2027. The CMA has already taken action in the cloud market outside of the investigation and secured voluntary commitments from Amazon and Microsoft, which will improve interoperability, reduce data egress fees and make switching easier in cloud services.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will advise the Competition and Markets Authority to publish a public roadmap for the Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem; and what steps they are taking to ensure that the investigation is delivered at pace.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for operating the digital markets regime. The length of Strategic Market Status investigations can vary due to a number of factors but must be completed within the statutory time limits imposed by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2025. The CMA has stated its intention to publish a roadmap.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the Competition and Markets Authority develops potential conduct requirements in parallel with the Strategic Market Status investigation, to ensure remedies for anti-competitive licensing are implemented immediately upon any designation.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for operating the digital markets regime, including when to implement any conduct requirements. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 does not prevent the CMA from designing remedies in parallel with Strategic Market Status investigations.