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Written Question
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps he has taken to progress his Department’s review of the Computer Misuse Act following the Call for Information his Department concluded in June 2021.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Government is delivering an ambitious programme of work through the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, including comprehensive support to the cyber industry to foster the growth of a sustainable, innovative and internationally competitive cyber and information security sector in order to raise the level of cyber resilience across the economy. The need for increased cyber resilience is real. In 2021, the UK ranked third behind the US and Ukraine in terms of incoming malicious cyber-activity linked to nation states (between July 2020 to June 2021).

The Government is delivering programmes to improve the UK’s cyber resilience, such as investing in protecting public services, enforcing security standards to protect consumers, promoting best practice through Cyber Essentials certification, and raising awareness through the “Cyber Aware” campaign. The proportion of businesses suffering a cyber attack has decreased overall over the past five years, but 39% of businesses still suffered a breach within the past year.

In 2021, cyber sector revenue exceeded £10 billion for the first time and the sector attracted over £1 billion of investment. To support innovators and entrepreneurs the government funds Cyber Runway, which has already helped over 200 cyber security companies develop and grow. To commercialise academic cyber research, the government funds CyberASAP which has spun out 20 companies and attracted significant investment.

We work with local partners to drive the growth of the cyber sector across the UK and fund the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3), a network of regional cyber clusters across the UK who help drive local skills and cyber sector innovation programmes linking to local growth opportunities.

The UK has a number of geographic areas that host world class cyber capabilities, including Cheltenham where the government is supporting the development of the Golden Valley campus led by Cheltenham Borough Council dedicated to supporting the growth of cyber-related technology businesses and resulting wider growth potential.

We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.


Written Question
Cybersecurity
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to national security and resilience by the UK’s cyber security industry; what steps his Department is taking to grow the volume and value of that contribution.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Government is delivering an ambitious programme of work through the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, including comprehensive support to the cyber industry to foster the growth of a sustainable, innovative and internationally competitive cyber and information security sector in order to raise the level of cyber resilience across the economy. The need for increased cyber resilience is real. In 2021, the UK ranked third behind the US and Ukraine in terms of incoming malicious cyber-activity linked to nation states (between July 2020 to June 2021).

The Government is delivering programmes to improve the UK’s cyber resilience, such as investing in protecting public services, enforcing security standards to protect consumers, promoting best practice through Cyber Essentials certification, and raising awareness through the “Cyber Aware” campaign. The proportion of businesses suffering a cyber attack has decreased overall over the past five years, but 39% of businesses still suffered a breach within the past year.

In 2021, cyber sector revenue exceeded £10 billion for the first time and the sector attracted over £1 billion of investment. To support innovators and entrepreneurs the government funds Cyber Runway, which has already helped over 200 cyber security companies develop and grow. To commercialise academic cyber research, the government funds CyberASAP which has spun out 20 companies and attracted significant investment.

We work with local partners to drive the growth of the cyber sector across the UK and fund the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3), a network of regional cyber clusters across the UK who help drive local skills and cyber sector innovation programmes linking to local growth opportunities.

The UK has a number of geographic areas that host world class cyber capabilities, including Cheltenham where the government is supporting the development of the Golden Valley campus led by Cheltenham Borough Council dedicated to supporting the growth of cyber-related technology businesses and resulting wider growth potential.

We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.


Written Question
Fraud
Tuesday 11th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to increase resources for (a) Action Fraud and (b) the police for the (i) investigation and (ii) prosecution of fraud.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

The Home Office has commissioned Sir Craig Mackey QPM to carry out a review of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC), including fraud. The review is considering powers, capabilities, governance and effectiveness of funding across policing and wider law enforcement. It is due to report by the end of February 2020.


Written Question
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with officials at the National Cyber Security Centre on reforming the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

Home Office officials have been engaging in regular discussions with all relevant stakeholders regarding possible reform of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 which includes the National Cyber Security Centre. 10417

The Home Office keeps the Computer Misuse Act 1990 under regular review. It was last amended through provisions contained in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The Home Office is engaged in ongoing discussions with relevant partners in law enforcement, government and the private sector to ensure that the legislation continues to remain effective. 10418


Written Question
Cybercrime
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in tackling the threat posed by cyber crime.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

Home Office officials have been engaging in regular discussions with all relevant stakeholders regarding possible reform of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 which includes the National Cyber Security Centre. 10417

The Home Office keeps the Computer Misuse Act 1990 under regular review. It was last amended through provisions contained in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The Home Office is engaged in ongoing discussions with relevant partners in law enforcement, government and the private sector to ensure that the legislation continues to remain effective. 10418


Written Question
Sex Establishments: Licensing
Friday 24th January 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has plans to review the current policy on sexual entertainment licences that allows for venues to operate pop-up sexual entertainment venues.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

We currently have no plans to amend the legislation surrounding the licensing of sexual entertainment venues. However, we routinely review local licensing regulations and we continue to work with the police to make sure that public nuisance issues are being tackled.


Written Question
British Nationality: Assessments
Wednesday 30th October 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Life in the UK citizenship test questions are intelligible and accessible to applicants of all backgrounds and age groups.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

The Life in the UK test is based on the Life in the UK handbook, “Life in the UK: a guide for new residents”. The test is administered by PSI on behalf of the Home Office. The questions were set with the assistance of linguistic experts and professional question writers.

The tests have a number of accessibility features which are available to all candidates. These include the ability to adjust settings and use audio. Additional tailored access arrangements can be provided by test centres.


Written Question
Harassment: Fixed Penalties
Monday 28th October 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a fixed penalty offence for harassment.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Government takes all forms of harassment extremely seriously.

Unwelcome advances that intimidate, degrade or humiliate, are an abuse of power and are unlawful. This Government has incorporated sexual harassment into the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy for the first time, in recognition of its disproportionate impact on women.

Several criminal offences already cover sexual harassment in public places, including the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the Public Order Act 1986, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Equality Act 2010.

Together with the Government Equalities Office, we are working to better understand the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace and in public places. This autumn we will be running a nationally representative survey that will go out to 12,000 respondents. We will then consider next steps when we have access to this important evidence.


Written Question
Immigration: EEA Nationals
Tuesday 26th February 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the EU Settlement Scheme will open to applications from EEA nationals.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

The EU Settlement Scheme will be open to all EEA citizens, including citizens of the EEA EFTA states (Norway Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Swiss citizens by 30 March 2019.


Written Question
Licensed Premises
Friday 22nd June 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities comply with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to (a) eliminate discrimination and (b) advance equality of opportunity when considering restaurant, entertainment and alcohol licensing applications and re-applications.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Public Sector Equality Duty, enshrined within the Equality Act 2010, requires all public bodies, including local authorities, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity in respect of all of the protected characteristics established by the 2010 Act. It is for each public body to demonstrate that they have fulfilled this duty and have considered the impact of their policies on each of the protected characteristics. Anyone with concerns that public bodies are not fulfilling this duty should, in the first instance, contact the relevant authority directly.

The Government is sympathetic to issues in relation to accessibility to licensed premises for disabled people and with ensuring businesses and service providers comply with the requirements in the 2010 Act. The Government has previously announced it will consult relevant organisations to better understand the extent of the problem. We will also work with the National Association of Licensing Enforcement Officers and representatives of the licensed trade to explore what practical measures can be taken to ensure significant improvements.