Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the uptake in cyber security jobs over the last five years.

The Government has published the ‘Cyber security skills in the UK labour market’ report annually since 2018. These reports show an increasing demand for cyber security jobs, but also a skills shortage that increases the difficulty of filling these jobs.

The 2024 report, published in September, showed a reduction in the annual shortfall of individuals in the cyber security workforce from 11,200 in 2022 to 3,500 in 2023. Despite this reduction 44% of businesses still report a basic skills gap. The Government will continue to work with industry and academic networks to champion efforts to reduce these skills gaps. This work includes supporting the UK Cyber Security Council, the professional body for the cyber workforce, the CyberFirst inspiration programme and the Cyber Local regional funding initiative.The CyberFirst girls competition is in Northern Ireland.