Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's annual report and accounts for 2022/23, published in July 2023, what steps she is taking to mitigate risk 6 on cyber security.

Cyber security is a strategic priority for the Department. Building on the improvements made in 2022/23, the Department has prioritised and funded several strategic security initiatives. Work currently underway includes making improvements to security governance and assurance processes, as well as the implementation of the new GovAssure government cyber security assessment scheme.

The Department is developing further enhancements to its Incident Detection, Incident Response, and Incident Management capabilities, and is also addressing cyber security risks caused by legacy technology across the Department. In addition, there are continued efforts to develop the skills and talent needed to address the cyber security skills gap in conjunction with the Government Security Profession.

The Department continues to work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Government Security Group to ensure that it has a cross government, consistent approach. Such collaboration is increasingly important as we work to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy.