Summary

  • A proposed Lords amendment would create a Digital Sovereignty Strategy and dashboard covering infrastructure concentration, data jurisdiction, UK information assets and dependence on foreign states.
  • The operative clause says the strategy and revisions must be published. It does not expressly require parliamentary laying or a 40-day rejection window.

On Monday 26 October, peers are due to examine the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill at report stage. The 21 October amendment paper carries a proposed new clause called “Digital Sovereignty Strategy”. Its grand title meets a very ordinary verb: publish.

Baroness Kidron, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Holmes of Richmond propose a strategy for relevant network and information systems. Its dashboard would examine infrastructure concentration, exposure to other jurisdictions’ data laws, the value of UK information and cultural assets, and dependence on foreign states. It would assess foreign influence, extra-territorial demands and supply dependence too.

The proposed consultees are the Office for National Statistics, Competition and Markets Authority, National Cyber Security Centre and AI Security Institute. National-security redactions are allowed. Review would happen at least every three years, with earlier updates if significant new risks arise. That is a serious list of subjects. It is not yet a measurement system.

The clause sets no baseline, formula, denominator, source register or dashboard update timetable. “Concentration” might count suppliers, critical workloads or market share. The value of UK information also needs a valuation method before year-on-year comparisons mean anything. A dashboard can make an empty cell look official; it cannot make the missing method disappear.

There is a drafting wrinkle. The operative amendment says the strategy and revisions must be published. The member explanatory statement says it would be laid before Parliament. Those are different instructions. The operative clause does not expressly create an approval or rejection period.

The Bill already knows how to write one. Clauses 25–28 set out a separate Statement of Strategic Priorities: consult regulators for at least 40 days, lay the statement before Parliament, allow either House 40 days to resolve against approval, require regulators to have regard to it and report annually. The sovereignty clause borrows none of that machinery in its operative text. The amendment paper shows the proposal; the report-stage notice schedules debate for 26 October.

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