Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the number of local authorities which were subject to cyber attack, (b) the (i) largest and (ii) lowest single financial loss incurred by a local authority as a consequence of such an attack and (c) the average financial loss incurred by local authorities subject to such attacks in each of the last three calendar years.

The wider public sector, of which local authorities form a part, is reporting more incidents so it is imperative that councils remain vigilant of the cyber risks they face. In terms of financial impacts or financial support, the Government does not place information in the public domain that may be of value to cyber attackers. The Department is providing support to councils to strengthen their resilience against cyber-attacks. The Department is also working with the National Cyber Security Centre, who provide advice and guidance to local authorities in support of their work to secure their networks, as well as the development of their cyber security strategies. This includes encouraging registration for their Active Cyber Defence tools and services.