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1284706

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to ensure that the rollout of high speed broadband includes areas of low speed broadband in urban areas as well as non-urban areas.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	150907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible and more than one in three UK premises already have it. We are targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025 but will seek to accelerate rollout further to get as close to 100% as possible.</p><p>Our analysis suggests that the overwhelming majority of urban premises are within the most commercial 80% of the UK. In these areas, we expect that the private sector will deploy gigabit capable connectivity commercially, and address any remaining premises that have slow speeds. To support industry’s efforts, we continue to work quickly to incentivise investment and remove barriers to rollout, for example through the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill, which will make it easier for the industry to connect blocks of flats to high speed fixed and mobile technology.</p><p>In addition, we are proposing to invest £5 billion through our UK Gigabit programme to deliver gigabit connectivity to less commercial premises, including those with lower speeds currently. This programme will use a variety of interventions, including procurements, connecting public sector hubs and gigabit vouchers.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 11/02/2021 16:47:47 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1284819

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Telephone Systems
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the number of vulnerable people who will be affected by the switch off of the Public Switched Telephone Network.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	150861
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2021 answer text <p>The retirement of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and its replacement with Internet Protocol technology, is being led by Openreach and Virgin Media, as the relevant infrastructure owners. Openreach and Virgin Media have publicly set out their plans to withdraw these services by the end of 2025. The migration is likely to affect all fixed exchange lines, of which there are 31.3 million in the UK.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Ofcom estimates that 81% of UK households have a landline service, with 4% of UK adults living in a home with a landline and no mobile phone and 3% of UK households having only a landline without any broadband. The government, Ofcom, and industry are working to ensure that the needs of vulnerable consumers are considered and Ofcom regularly monitors how communication providers are taking steps to ensure they identify and protect vulnerable customers.</p><p> </p><p>In June 2020, the Broadband Stakeholder Group, a government advisory forum on telecoms policy, launched the <a href="https://www.futureofvoice.co.uk/" target="_blank">‘Future of Voice’</a> website. This consumer-facing website is designed to inform the public and businesses of the PSTN switchover process. The website has been developed with the support of telecoms companies, Ofcom and DCMS.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The government will also continue to work closely with various stakeholders, including the telecoms industry, Ofcom, and other government departments to ensure the country is prepared for the withdrawal of the PSTN, and will continue to consider the best course of action to prepare for the migration.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 150863 150864 question first answered 16/02/2021 19:29:07 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1284821

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Telephone Systems: Business
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the switch off of the Public Switched Telephone Network on businesses in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	150863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2021 answer text <p>The retirement of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and its replacement with Internet Protocol technology, is being led by Openreach and Virgin Media, as the relevant infrastructure owners. Openreach and Virgin Media have publicly set out their plans to withdraw these services by the end of 2025. The migration is likely to affect all fixed exchange lines, of which there are 31.3 million in the UK.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Ofcom estimates that 81% of UK households have a landline service, with 4% of UK adults living in a home with a landline and no mobile phone and 3% of UK households having only a landline without any broadband. The government, Ofcom, and industry are working to ensure that the needs of vulnerable consumers are considered and Ofcom regularly monitors how communication providers are taking steps to ensure they identify and protect vulnerable customers.</p><p> </p><p>In June 2020, the Broadband Stakeholder Group, a government advisory forum on telecoms policy, launched the <a href="https://www.futureofvoice.co.uk/" target="_blank">‘Future of Voice’</a> website. This consumer-facing website is designed to inform the public and businesses of the PSTN switchover process. The website has been developed with the support of telecoms companies, Ofcom and DCMS.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The government will also continue to work closely with various stakeholders, including the telecoms industry, Ofcom, and other government departments to ensure the country is prepared for the withdrawal of the PSTN, and will continue to consider the best course of action to prepare for the migration.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 150861 150864 question first answered 16/02/2021 19:29:07 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1284979

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made in rolling out superfast broadband.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	150799
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>According to Thinkbroadband (<a href="http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/uk" target="_blank">http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/uk</a>), currently 96.98% of premises in the UK have access to Superfast broadband, this is up from 58% in 2012.</p><p>A breakdown of each area of the UK can be found below:</p><p>England - 97.49% - up from 61% in 2012</p><p>Wales - 95.63% - up from 36.6% in 2012</p><p>Scotland - 95% - up from 49% in 2012</p><p>Northern Ireland - 90.22% - up from 70.4% in 2012</p><p>Since its inception in 2012, the Superfast Programme has delivered superfast broadband to 5.3 million premises, which constitutes 17% of all households in the UK. In 2019, the majority of delivery on the Superfast Programme moved from Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) to Fibre to the Premise (FTTP). For example, for the financial quarter April-June 2020, ~90% (27k premises out of 30k) of delivery through the programme was FTTP. The Superfast Programme, therefore, is now a significant contributor to the government’s gigabit ambitions, as well as satisfying its commitment to Superfast coverage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 11/02/2021 12:00:35 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1283776

registered interest
date	04/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Dormant Assets Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to allocate to good causes the dormant assets identified by the Dormant Assets Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
tabling member printed	David Simmonds
uin	911829
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>The Dormant Assets Scheme enables money sitting in forgotten accounts to be unlocked for social or environmental purposes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>UK-wide, the Scheme has so far released over £745m, including £150m for coronavirus recovery last year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Following the government’s consultation response, and years of close industry engagement, I’m delighted to say that the Scheme is now set to be expanded, potentially unlocking over £800m for good causes over the coming years.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 04/02/2021 15:41:00 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4872 label Biography information for David Simmonds

1283777

registered interest
date	04/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Civil Society: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What plans he has to provide additional financial support to the civil and voluntary sector during the national covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
tabling member constituency	Blaydon
tabling member printed	Liz Twist
uin	911832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>The £750 million sector funding package offered unprecedented support to allow charities and social enterprises to continue their vital work and support our national response to the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government continues to make a package of support available across the economy to enable organisations to get through the months ahead. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which continues to be a lifeline to a multitude of organisations.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 04/02/2021 15:41:33 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4618 label Biography information for Liz Twist

1283167

registered interest
date	02/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many properties in the UK are connected to broadband via Exchange Only lines.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	147899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2021 answer text <p>According to Ofcom’s 2018 Connected Nations report, 3% of UK broadband lines are exchange only lines. Given the continued deployment of alternative networks, Ofcom estimates that the number of premises that can only receive broadband from such lines is around 1%.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 09/02/2021 11:51:55 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1282426

registered interest
date	01/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Regulation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how each regulatory mechanism governing consumer-compensation schemes with respect to broadband service providers is monitored to ensure it is (a) accessible to and (b) practically functional for individual consumers.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	146980
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>To help protect telecoms consumers, the Government strengthened Ofcom’s powers through the Digital Economy Act 2017. As a result, in April 2019, Ofcom introduced a voluntary <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automatic-compensation-need-know" target="_blank">automatic compensation</a> scheme for customers of broadband and landline services for when things go wrong, such as missed engineer appointments, delayed start of a service or delayed repairs. BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Zen Internet, Utility Warehouse and Hyperoptic have all signed up to the scheme. The scheme is designed to help ensure customers receive appropriate redress when things go wrong and, over time, incentivise companies to improve their service.</p><p>Since its launch, Ofcom has been monitoring the scheme through regular engagement with the signatory companies, Openreach and with telecoms alternative dispute resolution providers. Under the voluntary agreement, signatories are also required to provide information to Ofcom, such as volumes of issues and the amounts of compensation paid. Following a <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/201540/auto-comp-review-aug-2020.pdf" target="_blank">review</a> of the scheme in August 2020, Ofcom concluded that the scheme was launched successfully, that it covered around 80% of the broadband market, and that it had increased compensation payments to consumers where repairs or installations had been delayed.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 04/02/2021 15:22:35 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1282427

registered interest
date	01/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that customers who have been identified as being of vulnerable or priority status under coronavirus guidance, and therefore in need of broadband services as critical infrastructure, are able to ensure prompt repair and resumption of their broadband services where those are suspended.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	146981
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of digital connectivity, particularly during this difficult period. For repairs, broadband providers are able to send new equipment to their consumers via postal delivery or using click and collect services, and telecoms engineers are able to visit residential properties to instal or fix broadband connections under the current Covid-19 guidelines.</p><p>More broadly, Ofcom has rules in place, known as general conditions, which all providers must follow, that mandate communication providers to have procedures and policies in place to identify and support vulnerable consumers. Under these industry rules, providers must provide a priority fault repair service for disabled consumers of landline, broadband and mobile services.</p><p>Ofcom has also recently published a <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/198763/treating-vulnerable-customer-fairly-guide.pdf" target="_blank">vulnerability guide</a> for providers, setting out their expectations and good practice on how vulnerable telecoms consumers should be supported. This includes steps providers can take to identify vulnerable consumers, and an expectation that all providers implement specialist teams in order to provide extra support for vulnerable consumers.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 04/02/2021 15:21:14 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1282641

registered interest
date	01/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on people’s access to broadband; and what steps the Government is taking to (a) ensure the affordability of broadband and (b) reduce the digital divide.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Dame Diana Johnson
uin	146811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>In response to Covid-19, the Government and Ofcom agreed a set of commitments with the UK’s major broadband and mobile providers to support vulnerable consumers during the pandemic. Providers committed to working with customers who are finding it difficult to pay their bill as a result of Covid-19 to ensure that they were treated fairly and appropriately supported. They also committed to removing fixed broadband data caps, in addition to providing new and generous landline and mobile offers, such as free or low cost mobile data boosts.</p><p>There are already social tariffs available which offer low cost landline and broadband services for those on certain means-tested benefits. However, in line with Ofcom’s recommendation in their <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/209613/affordability-of-communications-services-initial-findings.pdf" target="_blank">Affordability Report</a> published in December 2020, the Government is encouraging those providers who do not currently offer social tariff packages to do so.</p><p>In addition, Government and Ofcom have taken action to help support switching to more affordable services.</p><p>The Government has promoted the DevicesDotNow campaign, which worked with community organisations to distribute devices to vulnerable adults and help them get online. The aim was to enable elderly and vulnerable people, particularly those to who are shielding, to communicate with the outside world and get access to vital services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 04/02/2021 15:17:22 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson