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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of computing infrastructure supporting critical national infrastructure in the UK against (1) remote disablement, or (2) restriction, by an entity based outside the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of computing infrastructure supporting critical national infrastructure in the UK against (1) remote disablement, or (2) restriction, by an entity based outside the UK.
The Government keeps the resilience of critical national infrastructure under continual review, including risks arising from reliance on technology, services, and suppliers based outside the UK.
The government does not generally comment on national security or commercial matters related to CNI, including the use of individual suppliers.
Through the National Cyber Security Centre, sector regulators, and wider resilience frameworks, the Government works with operators to identify and mitigate risks to critical systems.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will further strengthen the UK's cyber resilience framework. It will bring data centres who meet the threshold in scope, provide a framework to manage supply chain risks to essential and digital services and provide the Government with the flexibility to respond to new threats in the cyber landscape.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women accessing perinatal mental health services are routinely offered information and counselling on contraception and pregnancy spacing where clinically appropriate.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women accessing perinatal mental health services are routinely offered information and counselling on contraception and pregnancy spacing where clinically appropriate.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Australia’s proposed legislation that would permit individuals to disable algorithms on social media.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Australia’s proposed legislation that would permit individuals to disable algorithms on social media.
My Lords, Australia’s draft legislation was published only on Monday. The Government have therefore not made a full assessment, but as I am sure my noble friend would expect, we are following
developments closely. The UK’s Online Safety Act already requires platforms to address algorithmic risks, including the promotion of illegal content and content harmful to children. Building on that, we have announced measures to switch personalised recommendation algorithms off by default for 16 and 17 year-olds. We also committed earlier this year to giving users greater control over their feeds, including through algorithmic reset.
My Lords, there is now a clear international shift towards giving users a genuine choice over their algorithmic feeds on social media. The recent Meta settlement and connected structural remedies in the United States, Australia’s proposed legislation that came out this week and the EU’s Digital Services Act, under which this option has already been live for three years, all reflect a growing consensus. Yet our Online Safety Act currently stops short. It does not give any adult or child the ability to turn off their algorithm. I listened very closely to my noble friend’s response, but I ask what more steps the Government are considering in order for us to catch up.
My Lords, there is now a clear international shift towards giving users a genuine choice over their algorithmic feeds on social media. The recent Meta settlement and connected structural remedies in the United States, Australia’s proposed legislation that came out this week and the EU’s Digital Services Act, under which this option has already been live for three years, all reflect a growing consensus. Yet our Online Safety Act currently stops short. It does not give any adult or child the ability to turn off their algorithm. I listened very closely to my noble friend’s response, but I ask what more steps the Government are considering in order for us to catch up.
The Government completely agree with my noble friend that users should have greater control over their online experiences. We have committed to taking steps for 16 and 17 year-olds that go further than Australia’s proposal and Meta’s commitments by switching off teenagers’ personalised feeds by default. Services will also have to use highly effective age assurance to enforce this. The Online Safety Act’s user-empowerment duties will come into force next year and will allow users of the largest platforms to control what content they see in their feeds. Ofcom is currently consulting on this measure. In addition, we committed earlier this year to building on these duties to give users greater control over their algorithms.
My Lords, according to an Answer to a Written Question that I received last week, the Government do not centrally record how much of Government’s critical digital infrastructure relies on cloud or computing services that are headquartered overseas or under the jurisdiction of a foreign Government. Will the Government take steps now to assess that exposure? Will Ministers commit to developing a digital sovereignty strategy to ensure that our national security and resilience, and the protection of citizens’ data, are not undermined by reliance on foreign-hosted systems?
My Lords, according to an Answer to a Written Question that I received last week, the Government do not centrally record how much of Government’s critical digital infrastructure relies on cloud or computing services that are headquartered overseas or under the jurisdiction of a foreign Government. Will the Government take steps now to assess that exposure? Will Ministers commit to developing a digital sovereignty strategy to ensure that our national security and resilience, and the protection of citizens’ data, are not undermined by reliance on foreign-hosted systems?
The Government’s approach is to ensure that the UK has the right balance between access to the benefits of international data flows and carefully protecting both personal and non-personal data. This is underpinned by data protection law, UK security standards and established commercial rules.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of evidence linking chemical flame retardants to developmental and neurological impacts in children.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of evidence linking chemical flame retardants to developmental and neurological impacts in children.
The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has considered the available evidence for phosphate-based flame retardants (PFRs) and the potential for neurodevelopmental effects in children and the developing foetus. PFRs were introduced in the United Kingdom as an alternative to brominated flame retardants as some of these were banned from use or restricted.
The COT reviewed the potential for PFRs to act via similar mechanisms to organophosphate (OP) compounds, such as OP pesticides, as they have some structural similarities.
Overall, the COT concluded that the available evidence indicates that PFRs do not pose a risk of developmental toxicity at anticipated exposure levels and that PFRs were very unlikely to share the neurodevelopmental effects of other OP compounds. However, the COT could not exclude the possibility that PFRs could produce neurodevelopmental toxicity by some other mechanism. Further information is available in the COT’s Statement on phosphate-based flame retardants and the potential for neurodevelopmental toxicity, a copy of which is attached.
My Lords, I will speak quickly. I was just checking my records, particularly on Amendment 167. It was just under a year ago that I completed the FT board director programme, which was specifically around cyber risk for boards. In a room of around 50 people, we had a tabletop...
My Lords, I will speak quickly. I was just checking my records, particularly on Amendment 167. It was just under a year ago that I completed the FT board director programme, which was specifically around cyber risk for boards. In a room of around 50 people, we had a tabletop...
My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendment 81A in my name. I was glad to add my name to Amendments 3, 8 and 13 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron. I am sorry that I was unable to speak to them on Tuesday due to some...
My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendment 81A in my name. I was glad to add my name to Amendments 3, 8 and 13 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron. I am sorry that I was unable to speak to them on Tuesday due to some...
The Minister pointed to three examples of where education is considering issues around cyber security, specifically in schools and only 80% of colleges. One of the concerns I outlined in my contribution was around the examining bodies for both our secondary schools and universities. There was no mention of universities....
The Minister pointed to three examples of where education is considering issues around cyber security, specifically in schools and only 80% of colleges. One of the concerns I outlined in my contribution was around the examining bodies for both our secondary schools and universities. There was no mention of universities....
My Lords, I support the principles behind these amendments. A point was raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, and I wish to make the point in a different way. Many reasons have been shared during this debate, which I share. The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, referred to the questions...
My Lords, I support the principles behind these amendments. A point was raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, and I wish to make the point in a different way. Many reasons have been shared during this debate, which I share. The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, referred to the questions...
For clarification, that is on the spend, but my question is specifically about where the cloud services are hosted and/or whether they are under the jurisdictions of Governments beyond the UK. It was not just about what money is being spent; it was about who is responsible for it and...
For clarification, that is on the spend, but my question is specifically about where the cloud services are hosted and/or whether they are under the jurisdictions of Governments beyond the UK. It was not just about what money is being spent; it was about who is responsible for it and...
I listened closely to my noble friend the Minister’s response. It is fantastic to hear all the work that the Government are doing to reflect on this. Parents at this time are reporting that schools retaining the “not seen, not heard” policies are having lots of challenges. They are hearing from their children how the children are still accessing those phones at break or lunchtimes because, understandably, teachers are not able to police all areas of the school. Is it possible that parents will also be spoken to in order to gather the evidence?
I listened closely to my noble friend the Minister’s response. It is fantastic to hear all the work that the Government are doing to reflect on this. Parents at this time are reporting that schools retaining the “not seen, not heard” policies are having lots of challenges. They are hearing from their children how the children are still accessing those phones at break or lunchtimes because, understandably, teachers are not able to police all areas of the school. Is it possible that parents will also be spoken to in order to gather the evidence?
Yes, of course parents need to be involved in this. They need to be involved in the development of schools’ behaviour policies in which, or alongside which, the mobile phone policy should sit. They need to understand the benefits for children of not using phones during the course of the school day. As I say, notwithstanding the fact that the majority of secondary schools use a policy that could come under the broad category of “not seen, not heard”, there are lots of examples of schools, even within that category, that have strong and effective mobile phone policies that are making a real difference to the calmness of the classroom and the learning of their pupils.
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the computing and cloud services used by government departments are provided by suppliers that are (1) headquartered outside the UK, or (2) subject to the jurisdiction of a government outside the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the computing and cloud services used by government departments are provided by suppliers that are (1) headquartered outside the UK, or (2) subject to the jurisdiction of a government outside the UK.
This information is not held centrally. Individual government departments are responsible for managing their own commercial arrangements for computing and cloud services and would need to confirm the proportion of services provided by suppliers headquartered outside the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Health Organisation’s designation of tris(chloropropyl) phosphate as a probable carcinogen; and what steps they are taking to reduce public exposure of this compound in domestic furniture.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Health Organisation’s designation of tris(chloropropyl) phosphate as a probable carcinogen; and what steps they are taking to reduce public exposure of this compound in domestic furniture.
There is a growing concern about the health and environmental impacts of some chemical flame retardants, including tris(chloropropyl) phosphate. In June 2025, the Environment Agency published a scoping review of flame retardants relevant to the GB market. This year the Health and Safety Executive added several flame retardants to the UK REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, signalling their potential for further regulatory control.
There is a growing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants used to enable upholstered furniture to pass flammability tests set out in the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade recently ran a consultation on a set of policy proposals that aim to maintain a high level of fire safety, while meaningfully reducing the reliance on chemical flame retardants.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Fidra's estimate that disposing of sofas containing chemical flame retardants costs local authorities £135 million per year.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Fidra's estimate that disposing of sofas containing chemical flame retardants costs local authorities £135 million per year.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are long-lasting chemicals that can harm human health and the environment. Waste containing POPs above legal limits must be managed so that the POPs are destroyed or irreversibly transformed. Some chemical flame retardants previously used on sofas and similar upholstered seating are classified as POPs and therefore must be disposed of in this way.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the average number of kilograms of tris(chloropropyl) phosphate and melamine present in sitting rooms across the UK.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the average number of kilograms of tris(chloropropyl) phosphate and melamine present in sitting rooms across the UK.
There is a growing concern about the health and environmental impacts of some chemical flame retardants, including tris(chloropropyl) phosphate. In June 2025, the Environment Agency published a scoping review of flame retardants relevant to the GB market. This year the Health and Safety Executive added several flame retardants to the UK REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, signalling their potential for further regulatory control.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of requiring sofas and other furniture containing persistent organic pollutants to be incinerated at 800°C alongside clinical waste as per Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of requiring sofas and other furniture containing persistent organic pollutants to be incinerated at 800°C alongside clinical waste as per Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
There is a growing concern about the health and environmental impacts of some chemical flame retardants, including tris(chloropropyl) phosphate. In June 2025, the Environment Agency published a scoping review of flame retardants relevant to the GB market. This year the Health and Safety Executive added several flame retardants to the UK REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, signalling their potential for further regulatory control.
There is a growing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants used to enable upholstered furniture to pass flammability tests set out in the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade recently ran a consultation on a set of policy proposals that aim to maintain a high level of fire safety, while meaningfully reducing the reliance on chemical flame retardants.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of off-gassing flame retardants to indoor air contamination, particularly in mechanically ventilated homes.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of off-gassing flame retardants to indoor air contamination, particularly in mechanically ventilated homes.
This government has made no assessment of a contribution to indoor air contamination by off-gassing flame retardants. Part D of the Building Regulations 2010 relates to toxic substances and associated guidance in Approved Document D (attached) makes clear that formaldehyde fumes, given off by urea formaldehyde foams, should not penetrate to occupied parts of the building. Building Regulations Part F and Approved Document F (attached) relate to ventilation and describe how systems should be designed to supply a minimum level of outdoor air for occupants’ health and to rapidly dilute indoor air pollutants. Approved Document F includes performance criteria for indoor air pollutants, based on the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Selected Pollutants (2010) and Public Health England’s Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for Selected Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the UK (2019 ).
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports in The Times on 4 April that domestic chemical flame‑retardant requirements increase the cost of UK sofas compared with EU and global markets by up to 30 per cent.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports in The Times on 4 April that domestic chemical flame‑retardant requirements increase the cost of UK sofas compared with EU and global markets by up to 30 per cent.
Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.
This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the 5,793 upholsterers who called for an end to chemical flame-retardant treatments in response to their 2023 consultation, Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the 5,793 upholsterers who called for an end to chemical flame-retardant treatments in response to their 2023 consultation, Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture.
Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.
This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.