The Cabinet Office announced Tuesday that it is making changes to its National Security and Investment Act — legislation aimed at safeguarding critical areas of the economy from malign or foreign influence.
These include removing requirements for key businesses to tell the government about internal restructuring changes or alert officials when appointing a liquidator. Pat McFadden, the department’s lead minister, told MPs that the changes “reduce business burdens without exposing the country to greater risk.”
Ministers will also consult on plans to shake up what are defined as key sectors under the legislation to update the importance of areas such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The consultation also will look at bringing the water sector under national security legislation.
This would mean that the industry in Britain — which itself is under extensive scrutiny due to debt-laden ownership structures — will have any potential buy-outs, such as those based overseas, escalated to national security experts.
The annual review of the legislation, also published Tuesday, revealed that the government had only blocked one deal out of all those called in for further scrutiny. A further 16 saw a “final order” notice submitted to mitigate risks to national security, which could include stringent conditions applied to an investment deal.