The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 15th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact upon national security of Chinese-made electric vehicles; and whether they plan to further investigate any risks that may arise.
Lord Davies of Gower (Con, DfT): DfT co-chairs the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) group that developed two new international regulations related to connected vehicles – one on cyber security and one on software updates. The cyber security regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber attacks.
The Government takes national security extremely seriously. The Department for Transport (DfT) works closely with the transport sector and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and other Government departments, including the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), to understand and respond to cyber vulnerabilities associated with all connected vehicles, including electric vehicles.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ban Chinese-made electric cars from sensitive national infrastructure sites.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con, Cabinet Office): The UK takes the security and resilience of critical infrastructure seriously. Each Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector has a Lead Government Department responsible for working with owners and operators to identify and mitigate risks to their sites. They are also supported by the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Authority who provide expert advice and guidance to both public and private organisations to identify risks and vulnerabilities to the UK’s national infrastructure.
As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses an epoch-defining challenge and an economic threat to a range of government policy areas, including CNI. The Government actively monitors threats to UK critical national infrastructure, and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary to protect sensitive assets where appropriate to protect national security.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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