Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) assessment has been made of lessons learned and (b) directives have been issued by his Department as a result of the cyber-attacks on (i) Hackney and (ii) Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils; what other Councils have been cyber-attacked; whether each of those Councils had effective data back-up systems in place prior to being attacked; and what assessment he has made of whether all local authorities now have adequate back-up capabilities.  [141919]

[Due for Answer on 27 January.] 

ANSWER

The Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government (Luke Hall): MHCLG continues to work with local government, industry and other government agencies to monitor and assess the cyber threats faced by councils. We are working with partners to help councils improve and strengthen their resilience and defences. We would not comment on individual incidents, but recent attacks on Redcar & Cleveland and Hackney have helped to refine our response to ever changing threats.

The recent Spending Review made £16 million available to support the modernisation of local authorities’ cyber security systems. This funding will support the development of a cyber health framework, a clear universal baseline for all councils. In addition, it will see more than 2000 staff trained across England, and offer support to modernise old, insecure legacy systems.