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Written question asked by Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour) on Monday, 27 November 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 November 2023. It was answered by John Whittingdale (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Huawei

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Huawei legal notices issued, published on 13 October 2022, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of that decision.

Answer

No public funding has been issued to telecoms operators to support the implementation of the legal notices issued in respect of Huawei.

The Impact Assessment published alongside the Telecommunications (Security) Bill estimated that the costs of monitoring compliance with the national security power, under which the legal notices were issued, would be between £7 million and £11.7 million over the period 2020-2029. This includes between £1.7 million and £2.8 million for the Department, and between £5.4 million and £8.9 million for Ofcom.

Last year, Ofcom was awarded £21m in additional funding to be spent over the subsequent three years (22/23, 23/24 and 24/25) to reflect its additional responsibilities under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021. The funding is ring-fenced for telecoms security. The majority of the funding is to support Ofcom’s compliance and enforcement of the Telecommunications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022 and Telecommunications Security Code of Practice 2022, but it also includes resources required to respond to any monitoring directions issued by DSIT in relation to designated vendor directions.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
3829
Session
2023-24
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Costs Broadband Huawei 5G
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk