Speeches by Narayan.

“This group concerns the power for the Secretary of State to issue directions to the NIS regulators, as well as general provisions relating to the power and the power to direct regulated entities. That includes the procedure for reviewing, varying or revoking directions, the procedure whereby Parliament can scrutinise t…”

“I have two points to make to the shadow Minister on defining turnover. As he will be well aware, “turnover” is a technical term that is best defined in secondary legislation, to keep up to date with accounting principles that at times vary from sector to sector. He asked for factors that might contribute to definitions…”

“I am reluctant to engage in the specifics of incidents without knowing the full range, but I would expect there to be an initial period of engagement to get to a position of agreement. Where the Secretary of State’s directions are not complied with in the context of a disagreement of the sort that the hon. Gentleman po…”

“This group of clauses concerns the enforcement of directions issued by the Secretary of State. I shall speak to them in turn. Clause 48 grants the Secretary of State the power to issue a notice of contravention where they believe an entity is failing or has failed to comply with requirements relating to a direction. A …”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his points about proportionality and scrutiny. I want to give him assurances about that, as I did in our earlier conversation. On cross-border compliance, the hon. Gentleman rightly points out that relevant information can be requested, regardless of whether it is held the UK. I …”

“This group of clauses concerns how compliance with national security directions will be monitored. Clause 45 enables the Secretary of State to delegate the task of monitoring compliance with the direction issued under clause 43 to a NIS regulator. Regulators have valuable sectoral expertise and existing relationships w…”

“I could not judge a specific situation but, broadly speaking, that is the sort of situation, especially if it is an NIS-regulated entity, and in particular where the exercise of the power is focused on the entity’s network and information systems, that I would expect to come in scope of the powers specified here. Under…”

“To return to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central about the Bill’s provisions, the Bill looks at particular risks posed by hostile states, related actors and a wide range of other actors. Network and information systems for essential services and the identity of risk sources may be one …”

“Yes.”

“To repeat, exactly as I said: once a direction is issued, it will be laid before Parliament for scrutiny. If there is any misunderstanding, I am happy for the shadow Minister to write to me so that I can confirm it.”

“Yes.”

“The Bill currently provides for clear parliamentary scrutiny. The Secretary of State is responsible for coming to Parliament, although some information may not be able to be presented in public. I am happy to write to the shadow Minister about the mechanisms that other similar regimes have used to ensure that Parliamen…”

“I will start by addressing amendment 27, moved by the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, which would add to the non-exhaustive list of requirements that could be included in a national security direction. It specifies that a direction could include requirements to “remove, disable or modify hardware, software…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that important point. The expectation is that the powers used here are scrutinised appropriately. If it helps, I can set out which uses of the power, particularly under clause 42, will trigger consultation requirements and the affirmative procedure, which will perhaps give her the assurance …”

“Clause 41 gives further detail on the sorts of provisions that can be included in regulations made under clause 24 and chapter 3 as a whole. It confirms that regulations can make different provisions for different purposes, different categories of person or different areas; can make provisions for how those regulations…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe for moving amendment 26, in the name of the hon. Member for Henley and Thame. It seeks to reduce the period for publishing a report on the operation of the legislation from at least every five years to at least every three. I reassure him that the Government recog…”

“I agree with the shadow Minister. The Bill’s focus is on the assessment of compliance with ultimate security duties. The codes of practice will set out approaches to do so, but they will not be the only approaches. I would be happy to write to the shadow Minister and the Committee on the particular legal interpretation…”

“I am very happy to give the broad assurance that we will keep codes under review from time to time, and that any changes to the code will require deep consultation with regulators and businesses to ensure that the codes keep in touch with moving technology.”

“First, to ensure that the shadow Minister and I are representing the intent behind the code clearly, in legal terms it is not the case that an organisation that fails to follow the code of practice is automatically a regulated organisation that has broken the law. Clause 38 makes it clear that not following the code do…”

“First, I will provide some context for agreement. We want more people to be trained in cyber-security so that they can serve in the public and private sectors. Through the Bill, as well as a range of other initiatives, we are making sure that at every stage of the pipeline, there is resourcing, confidence and a demand …”