Have your say on the Telecommunications (Security) Bill

Aims of the Bill

The Bill would bring in a new regulatory framework for telecommunications security. The Bill follows a cross-government review of UK telecommunications supply chains led by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) from November 2018 and reporting in July 2019. The review focused on the supply chain arrangements for UK telecoms networks (where and from which companies UK telecoms networks source their equipment) and included an assessment of the wider security regulatory framework for telecoms. The Bill is set against a backdrop of security-related concerns with the involvement of Chinese technology company Huawei in telecoms infrastructure in the UK and abroad.

The Bill introduces a ‘new security framework for the UK telecoms sector to ensure that public telecommunications providers operate secure and resilient networks and services and manage their supply chains appropriately’. The Bill would place stronger duties and responsibilities on telecoms providers, and stronger powers for Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, to enforce those duties. The Bill includes new powers for the Secretary of State to set telecoms security requirements in regulations and codes of practice. The Bill would also give new national security powers to the Secretary of State to impose directions on telecoms providers with regard to “high risk vendors”. The Government stated that the Bill would “give the UK one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world”.

The Bill, Explanatory Notes and Delegated Powers Memorandum have been published on the Bill page. The Bill’s Impact Assessment as well as summary factsheets have been published by DCMS.

Follow the progress of the Telecommunications (Security) Bill

The Telecommunications (Security) Bill 2019–21 was introduced to the House of Commons on 24 November 2020. Second reading was held on 30 November 2020.

• Bills before Parliament: Telecommunications (Security) Bill 2019–21
• Read Explanatory Notes: Telecommunications (Security) Bill 2019–21
• House of Commons Library Briefing Paper

Oral evidence sessions are expected to be held on 5 and 7 January 2021.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration and possibly reflect it in an amendment. The order in which amendments are taken in Committee will be available in due course under Selection of Amendments on the Bill documents pages. Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.

The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee will be Thursday 14 January 2021 and the Committee is scheduled to report by Thursday 28 January 2021. However, please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Thursday 28 January 2021. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk.

Further guidance on submitting written evidence can be found here.

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