Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which law enforcement agencies in England and Wales rely on Microsoft software and cloud infrastructure; and what steps they are taking to ensure those agencies have access to competitive alternatives where appropriate.

Decisions about the procurement and use of software, cloud services and other technology are matters for individual police forces, which are operationally independent from Government.

The Home Office supports policing to adopt technology that improves effectiveness and value for money and expects forces to comply with relevant procurement, commercial, security and data protection requirements when selecting and deploying technology solutions.