The British government launched a £1m grant scheme for small businesses looking to improve their cybersecurity on Thursday, in its latest bid to tackle corporate data breaches.

Speaking at a conference organised by the think tank Reform, digital economy minister Ed Vaizey laid out the programme, which will give companies up to £5,000 worth of specialist advice for fixing their cybersecurity practices.

"If we are going to be a world leader in technology we should also be a leader in cybersecurity," said the Conservative MP for Wantage, Oxfordshire.

Vaizey was keen to tie the cybersecurity surge to the government’s much-vaunted "Long Term Economic Plan", part of which involves reversing the stagnant productivity that has dogged the UK for several years.

The minister argued that digital technology would be at the heart of attempts to boost productivity, and that it had to be brought out of the IT department.

"I think too many people think about ‘digital’ living in a silo," he said. "Every time you walk into a supermarket you’re walking into a digital world."

Following his remarks Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central and shadow Cabinet Office minister, criticised the centralising of IT policy within the civil service.

"Technology needs to be shared," she said. "It needs to be moved away from the elite and control in Whitehall."

She added that government maintained a proprietary grip on data, which she argued really belonged to the citizens of the UK.

"The state’s data is not the state’s, it’s actually the people’s data," she said.

Responding to the assertion from CBR that the government was content largely to leave the private sector to sort out the country’s cybersecurity issues, Vaizey was bullish, arguing that encouraging business was more nuanced than writing a cheque.

Alongside the voucher scheme the minister announced a deal with Inspired Careers to build an online skills and career hub for the industry, backed by the nonprofit cybersecurity skills group Crest.

However this scheme appeared not to impress Onwurah, who said: "I think [Vaizey] expects the market to address the lack of digital education.

"I don’t think the market alone can address the lack of digital literacy."

Vaizey also disputed the belief that David Cameron sought to ban encryption, a view that stems from the Conservative prime minister’s belief that no form of communication should be unreadable by British police and security establishment.

"We don’t want to ban encryption," Vaizey said. "I don’t know where that came from."

Cameron’s comments have prompted several companies to quit the UK, adding to existing complaints around the tech industry’s skills shortage that have been exacerbated by Conservative pledges to cut down on migration into the country.

Government figures claim that cybersecurity is worth £17.6bn to the UK and employs more than 40,000 people.

Image – Ed Vaizey by Culture, Media and Sport Office