Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of remote access and deactivation capability in Chinese-manufactured electric buses on (a) cybersecurity and (b) publicly funded zero-emission bus procurement.

The Government takes national security extremely seriously and recognises the systemic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including electric buses. The Department works closely with the transport sector and other government department to understand and respond to cyber vulnerabilities for all transport modes.

The department introduced two new regulations in November 2025: one to strengthen vehicle cybersecurity and one on software updates (UN Reg 155 and UN Reg 156). The cybersecurity regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber-attacks. The software updating regulation sets out requirements for upgrading software in a safe and secure manner, that is documented and the vehicle's user is fully informed throughout the process.

As part of the National Security Strategy the government is also bolstering our cyber and economic security defences. For example, the national security powers in the Procurement Act 2023 allow the Government to exclude suppliers from public sector procurement, terminate their contracts and debar them from future ones. These powers target risk from individual suppliers – not specific countries – and will be used proportionately based on the threat posed.

We are aware of recent reports from Norway concerning an electric bus manufacturer. Officials are investigating these, and the Transport Secretary will update the Transport Committee once the work is complete.