Question
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. Let me place on record our thanks to the emergency services, volunteers and communities who respond to civil emergencies, be they storms, floods or wildfires. I welcome the announcement of the Be Ready campaign, and agree that every household that can be ready to look after itself should be ready to do so, for at least three days. During the first covid lockdown, I raised an eyebrow when my other half stockpiled enough bottled water to keep us going for weeks, but today he has been proved right, and I fear that I will never hear the end of it. The Security Minister rightly mentioned the importance of volunteers. I wonder if he has spoken to our Finnish allies, for example, to learn from their experience of establishing a formal civil volunteer reserve. Its members would receive non-military training, and could be called on in an emergency, just as community first responders can attend medical emergencies. As the Minister said, not everyone can stock up for three days. People relying on food banks, older people and people with mobility difficulties are often the least able to prepare and the most exposed. The priority services register can work well only if it is accurate, so what more can the Minister do to ensure that it is kept up to date? Can he say specifically what co-ordination is in place with the utility companies, so that information can be shared about their lists of vulnerable customers? It is not just weather or climate change that we need to be prepared for; the number of nationally significant cyber-threats has doubled in the last year. The Liberal Democrats have called for a digital sovereignty strategy to ensure that critical national functions are powered by technology that the UK can control. Can the Minister update us on any progress being made on digital sovereignty?
Answer
The hon. Member has made a series of important points. I join her in thanking the emergency services for the extremely important work that they do in communities throughout the country. She was right to mention volunteers. I am aware of the very good work being done in Finland and Scandinavia, which have taken a more forward-leaning approach to campaigns of this sort than the United Kingdom, but I will look more closely at her specific point about how things are working in Finland. I agree with the hon. Member about the importance of the priority services register. We are working with utility companies to ensure as much awareness as possible, at household level, of the need to sign up for the register. As I said, the criteria are quite broad, and I urge Members to encourage their constituents to check their eligibility. The hon. Member made an important point about sovereignty. I work closely with colleagues across Government—from the Cabinet Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and elsewhere—to ensure that our digital infrastructure and critical national infrastructure are as resilient and as protected as they can be. As she knows, we face a range of threats on that front, and it is important that the Government are properly geared up to stand against them. We work closely with our international allies to that end.14% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (38/100) DEFERRED
The reply gives one clear answer: it describes ongoing work to keep the register known and used, and asks MPs to encourage constituents to check eligibility. It only partly answers the question about sharing information with utility companies, describing awareness work rather than their lists of vulnerable customers. On Finland, it defers the point to later, and on the digital sovereignty strategy it offers general language about protection and threats rather than the progress that was asked about. A member of the public would likely need to follow up for specifics on most of the points raised.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Minister has engaged with Finland to learn from its experience of establishing a formal civil volunteer reserve. | Deferred | Hedged | The reply acknowledges awareness of Finland's work, which is relevant context, but does not say whether the Minister has engaged with Finland; it defers the specific point with "I will look more closely at her specific point about how things are working in Finland." |
| What more the department can do to ensure the priority services register is kept up to date. | Addressed | Direct | The reply describes ongoing action to keep the register well known and used, namely working with utility companies on household-level awareness of the need to sign up, and asks MPs to encourage constituents to check eligibility, which is a concrete answer to what more can be done to keep it current. |
| What co-ordination is in place with utility companies to share information about their lists of vulnerable customers. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply names working with utility companies, the right body, but describes co-ordination on awareness of sign-up rather than on sharing information about their lists of vulnerable customers, which is the specific aspect asked about. |
| What progress is being made on a digital sovereignty strategy. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply describes cross-government work on digital infrastructure resilience and working with international allies, but gives no concrete information on the progress of a digital sovereignty strategy itself, substituting general protection and threat language. |