Member

Finally, Amendment 14 in my name would provide a vital refinement to the definition of “managed services” in Clause 9. As currently drafted, Clause 9 defines a managed service so broadly that it in effect acts as a legal dragnet, capturing any service provided under contract for ongoing IT management, support, maintenance or other activities. This threatens to pull thousands of small, non-critical IT consultancies, training providers, software licensing agents and basic help desks into heavy NIS registration and turnover-based penalties. My Amendment 14 would establish a clear statutory boundary: if an IT provider does not possess ongoing privileged administrative access to configure, alter or control a customer’s live network, it is excluded from the managed service provider regime. This would protect small businesses and tech companies and include only those that present genuine systemic threats. I urge the Government to accept this balanced package of risk-based, future-proofed definitions.