UK Cyber Security Funding Overview

The National Cyber Security Strategy has committed £22b to research, development, and technology for the UK’s national cyber security over the coming years. This blogpost unpacks the key budgets and funding allocations currently at play in the public sector cyber security sphere. The aim is to highlight the monumental financial opportunities emerging for cyber security suppliers working with the government in the coming years.

Key public sector cyber funding:

The government stated in the 2021 Spending Review that it will be investing £2.6b into cyber and legacy IT systems over the next three years. This amount far exceeds the £1.9b over a five year period committed in the previous strategy (2016-2021). Further evidence suggests more significant spending growth as cyber threats continue to grow.

For example, the National Cyber Security Strategy outlined a £114m increase in the National Cyber Security Programme funding, bringing the total funding of the 2021-22 programme to £305m. According to the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, the additional investment enables the UK to stay at the forefront of global action to secure a safe digital future and successfully adopt new technology to drive resilience and economic growth.

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Spotlight on Local Government Funding:

The Strategy allocated an additional £37.8m to local authorities to address technology needed to omit cyber security risks.

When combined with the local authority allocation published in the 2020 Spending review, total funding available to local governments is over £85m.

Additionally, the Local Government Association has been awarded £1m from the National Cyber Security Programme, enabling local government officers in England to undertake a professionally certified course, as part of a sector-wide skills uplift.

These funding initiatives imply opportunities for suppliers to serve local governments with services such as cyber security training and solutions named in the Cyber Assessment Framework.

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Spotlight on Healthcare funding

The Department for Health and Social Care released a document on the 29th of June 2022 titled 'A plan for digital and social care'.

The report focuses on the digital transformation needed for NHS organisations to meet the challenges of “2048, not 1948, when it was first established.”

The report stipulates that by March 2025, constituent organisations of an Integrated Care System must have increased cyber security capabilities, resilience, clinical safety and accessibility.

Additional key points for cyber suppliers seeking to sell to healthcare buyers:

• Over the next 3 years, £150m has been provided to enable digital transformation, including the need for cyber security and resilience solutions and a pledge to ‘buy better tech’.
• This winter, the DHSC will publish a Cyber Security Strategy for Health and Social Care to guide NHS organisations on how to build cyber resilience
• The report will provide details on DHSC’s plan to enhance national protections of the NHS Security Operations Centre, including security monitoring, threat intelligence and national incident response co-ordination
• Cyber consultants will be called upon to work alongside local NHS and social care organisations to help manage cyber risks and ensure they are compliant with nationally mandated cyber standards by 2025

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Spotlight on HM Revenues and Customs Funding

As mentioned in the Autumn and Spending Review 2021, a priority for government organisations is improving the digital privacy and resiliency of internal IT systems.

According to Think Digital Partners, HM Revenue and Customs is one of the most frequently attacked organisations and considered first-in-line for technological advancements to ensure cyber safety.

In response to the threat on HMRC, and as part of the Cyber Strategy, the government has allocated an additional £468m over the next three years, on top of the £98m allocated in 2021-2022 to HMRC. The aim of this funding is to help HMRC modernise its IT systems and transform the way the organisation procures IT services to create for more opportunities for smaller businesses.

Using Stotles data, the below table shows a snapshot of five suppliers with which HMRC has engaged on cyber security initiatives. Understanding the current buyer-supplier ecosystem allows you to understand partner channel opportunities and your competitive landscape.

Summary

Huge Budgets are being allocated to cyber Security initiatives across public sector, most notably in central government, local government and healthcare. To get involved with these opportunities and ahead of your competitors, sign up to Stotles for free. With our platform, you can track relevant competitors, buyers and partners all in the one place and approach them with the right message, at the right time.

In August 2022, we released a free report on the monumental opportunities emerging for cyber security suppliers to get involved with. To download your free copy, visit this page.

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