During the King’s Speech today, Labour set out their legislative programme which spanned energy, travel, infrastructure, immigration, health, national security, consumer, and technology. In this article, we take a deep dive into two of the Bills proposed by Labour: the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and the Product Safety and Metrology Bill.

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill

With cyber attacks increasing in both number and severity, Labour has proposed the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to “strengthen our defences and ensure that more essential digital services than ever before are protected, for example by expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing, and increasing reporting requirements to build a better picture in government of cyber threats”.

More specifically, the Bill intends to:

• Protect “more digital services and supply chains”, helping to prevent attacks against the UK’s critical infrastructure.
• Provide more power to regulators to ensure cyber safety measures are being followed, including powers to “proactively investigate potential vulnerabilities”.
• Require “increased incident reporting” about cyber attacks to improve the government’s understanding of threats.

Currently, the UK derives much of its regulation in this area from the pre-Brexit EU framework. However, as the EU has continued to legislate with the introduction of the EU Cyber Resilience Act, the UK has fallen behind, making Britain a target for hostile cyber attacks. Indeed, Labour draws attention to the recent ransomware attack on London hospitals in which thousands of appointments were postponed as an example of how cyber attacks in the UK are directly impacting our critical services and the people who rely on them. 

It remains to be seen whether the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will fortify the UK’s cyber defences, but it certainly looks like a step in the right direction.

The Product Safety and Metrology Bill

Historically, much of the UK’s product safety regulation is derived from EU law. As increasing numbers of smart products - powered by ever more complex and innovative technology - have entered the market, the EU has continued to develop legislation in this area (such as the General Product Safety Regulation). However, post-Brexit, the UK has fallen behind; that is, until now.

The Product Safety and Metrology Bill is introduced as “support[ing] growth, provid[ing] regulatory stability and deliver[ing] more protection for consumers”. It will apply to a range of products – from toys to cosmetics and machinery – and affect at least 220,000 UK businesses who are part of the supply chain for these products.

Whilst, of course, we don’t currently have any text for the Bill, Labour’s intention is that it will:

1. Allow Britain to respond to technological advances (such as AI) and the challenges and opportunities they present.
2. Ensure everyone in the supply chain (including online marketplaces) takes responsibility for the goods they sell.
3. Recognise EU product regulations (including CE marking) to promote regulatory consistency, where appropriate (and allow Britain not to recognise such EU regulations where appropriate).
4. Tackle non-compliance and place greater emphasis on enforcement by allowing data sharing between relevant authorities and “future-proof[ing] the nature and capacity of the regulator”.

The Bill will also address the current metrology framework for weights and measures of goods.

The widespread potential impact of this Bill makes it one to watch as Labour work towards refining their legislative proposal. It will be particularly interesting to see how the government balance the implementation of additional safeguards for consumers, whilst also paving the way for continued technological innovation in the development of smart products.