Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK. VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam calls. Over 92% of PSTN landlines have already been migrated.

Communications providers are under legal obligations to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency services, including 999 and 112, and to take appropriate and proportionate steps to identify risks to network resilience and mitigate service disruption.

In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers to ensure access to emergency services beyond one hour in a power outage. Many providers have gone further, providing 4-7 hours.

Communications providers are also subject to robust cyber security and resilience requirements under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, including obligations to identify, manage and mitigate cyber risks that could affect network availability and services.

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.

School closures can be influenced by a range of factors, not just the VAT policy. While VAT may have compounded pressure, school closures cannot be attributed to VAT alone. Factors such as school performance, financial viability and demographic shifts also play a role. In the 2025/26 academic year, more private schools opened than closed. The department monitors the private school sector via the ‘Get Information about Schools’ (GIAS) system, which shows that between 1 September 2025 and 31 July 2026, 108 private schools opened and 51 closed.

The Department engages regularly with London local highway authorities on matters related to their local highways networks.

Any recent discussions about the future of any of the named bridges has been under the auspices of the structures fund where authorities have been encouraged to submit applications in line with the principles of the fund.

The technical advisory body (to the fund) is, of course, having conversations on behalf of the Department about the future of bridges that local highway authorities have put forward to the structures fund; including those in London.

The Department engages regularly with London local highway authorities on matters related to their local highways networks.

Any recent discussions about the future of any of the named bridges has been under the auspices of the structures fund where authorities have been encouraged to submit applications in line with the principles of the fund.

The technical advisory body (to the fund) is, of course, having conversations on behalf of the Department about the future of bridges that local highway authorities have put forward to the structures fund; including those in London.

The Department engages regularly with London local highway authorities on matters related to their local highways networks.

Any recent discussions about the future of any of the named bridges has been under the auspices of the structures fund where authorities have been encouraged to submit applications in line with the principles of the fund.

The technical advisory body (to the fund) is, of course, having conversations on behalf of the Department about the future of bridges that local highway authorities have put forward to the structures fund; including those in London.

The Department engages regularly with London local highway authorities on matters related to their local highways networks.

Any recent discussions about the future of any of the named bridges has been under the auspices of the structures fund where authorities have been encouraged to submit applications in line with the principles of the fund.

The technical advisory body (to the fund) is, of course, having conversations on behalf of the Department about the future of bridges that local highway authorities have put forward to the structures fund; including those in London.

The Department engages regularly with London local highway authorities on matters related to their local highways networks.

Any recent discussions about the future of any of the named bridges has been under the auspices of the structures fund where authorities have been encouraged to submit applications in line with the principles of the fund.

The technical advisory body (to the fund) is, of course, having conversations on behalf of the Department about the future of bridges that local highway authorities have put forward to the structures fund; including those in London.