I would like to provide the House with an update on the government's work to strengthen the security and resilience of undersea infrastructure that is critical to the United Kingdom.

Today, the government is publishing a white paper on Critical Undersea Infrastructure Security and Resilience: Proposals for modernising the UK's legislation. At the same time, we are launching a twelve-week public consultation on these proposals.

Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI) underpins services essential to the UK’s security, economy and daily life. Subsea telecommunications cables carry approximately 99% of the UK's international data traffic, while subsea pipelines, interconnectors and other offshore energy infrastructure play a vital role in supporting the UK's energy needs. As reliance on this infrastructure grows, so too does the importance of ensuring it remains secure and resilient.

In April, the then Defence Secretary revealed that the UK’s Armed Forces, working with allies, tracked Russian submarines tasked with surveying subsea cables. Incidents of this kind underline the global risks to CUI and the need for modern legal frameworks to protect it.

The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) has made clear that UK legislation has not kept pace with the growing importance of CUI or the risks it now faces. The government agrees. The principal offence for damaging subsea cables dates back to 1885, refers to ‘telegraphic’ communications, and makes limited provision for energy infrastructure. It no longer provides an adequate deterrent.

To address such deficiencies, the White Paper sets out detailed proposals for:

• a new criminal penalties regime to strengthen deterrence against harmful conduct affecting CUI;
• new security and resilience duties for providers of subsea telecoms cable systems and services;
• a new national security power to enable the government to require industry to take specified action where necessary and proportionate to ensure the security and resilience of subsea telecoms cable infrastructure and services; and
• a new regulatory framework to help ensure the secure deployment and operation of subsea sensing technologies.

Through our consultation, the government welcomes views from anyone with an interest in these proposals, including individuals, industry, academia, and civil society organisations. The responses will inform the development of future legislation. The White Paper contains 72 consultation questions covering the proposed framework.

The proposals are based principally on the reserved competences of telecommunications, national security and defence. The government recognises that some proposals will interact with devolved responsibilities, including environmental and marine management functions.

The White Paper has been presented to Parliament as a Command Paper and will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It is also published on the GOV.UK website.