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1241713

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Commonwealth Games 2022: Bromsgrove
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on business opportunities for businesses in Bromsgrove District.
tabling member constituency	Bromsgrove
tabling member printed	Sajid Javid
uin	100930
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government, along with Birmingham City Council and its partners, is investing £778 million to deliver the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Games will be about far more than 11 days of sport and Government’s significant investment will provide legacy opportunities such as job creation, community and sports facilities and a timely boost to businesses for the whole of the West Midlands, including Bromsgrove District. The additional investment of £24 million from the Government and the West Midlands Combined Authority to create a Trade, Tourism, and Investment Programme for the Games will also ensure the West Midlands can fully maximise the national and international economic opportunities of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 16/10/2020 14:21:27 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	3945 label Biography information for Sir Sajid Javid

1241755

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Fairgrounds: 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 his Department has made of the potential merits of enabling the safe reopening of fun fairs during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
uin	101039
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>My Department has held a number of meetings with representatives of the outdoor events industry to discuss guidance and next steps to reopening the sector. DCMS officials have met regularly with the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, most recently on 8 October, and have also spoken to representatives of the Amusement Device Safety Council.</p><p>Outdoor events organised by businesses, charitable organisations, and public bodies are currently permitted provided event organisers follow all relevant Covid-19 Secure guidance, organisers and attendees adhere to all legal requirements - including only allowing groups of up to 6 people and following any additional local interventions - and that the event does not pose a risk to public health.</p><p>Guidance developed by the Events Industry Forum in collaboration with DCMS outlines the Covid-secure measures that a Local Authority should assess have been put in place by event organisers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 16/10/2020 14:23:26 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa

1241788

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Events Industry: 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, if he will provide a timeframe for the lifting of covid-19 restrictions on the events industry.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>We recognise the events industry’s disappointment at the delayed reopening of large business conferences and exhibitions.</p><p>We have always been clear that our roadmap to recovery is dependent on continued progress against the virus. Due to the sharp rise in cases over recent weeks, we needed to pause the planned 1st October reopening of business conferences and exhibitions.</p><p>Meetings of up to 30 for training, education and work purposes can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place, although again this is subject to COVID secure guidelines.</p><p>We are also aware that many in the sector support the notion of an events reopening roadmap. We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to assess how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening. The business events pilots we carried out in September will ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 100984 102130 question first answered 16/10/2020 14:30:41 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241789

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Events Industry: 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, if the Government will allow the events industry to reopen under similar restrictions to other businesses that have been allowed operate during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100984
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>We recognise the events industry’s disappointment at the delayed reopening of large business conferences and exhibitions.</p><p>We have always been clear that our roadmap to recovery is dependent on continued progress against the virus. Due to the sharp rise in cases over recent weeks, we needed to pause the planned 1st October reopening of business conferences and exhibitions.</p><p>Meetings of up to 30 for training, education and work purposes can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place, although again this is subject to COVID secure guidelines.</p><p>We are also aware that many in the sector support the notion of an events reopening roadmap. We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to assess how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening. The business events pilots we carried out in September will ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 100983 102130 question first answered 16/10/2020 14:30:41 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241802

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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	Digital Technology: 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 his Department is taking to tackle the digital divide during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100987
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2020 answer text <p>In March, the government agreed a set of voluntary commitments with telecommunications providers to support and protect vulnerable consumers and those who might become vulnerable as a result of Covid-19. This included a commitment to work with customers who are finding it difficult to pay their bills to ensure that they are treated fairly and appropriately supported. The Government also brokered a deal with providers which have allowed half a million NHS staff to benefit from better connectivity, and also ensured that a number of websites, including the NHS website, are zero-rated.</p><p>My Department has been promoting the DevicesDotNow campaign, which is working with community organisations to distribute devices to vulnerable adults and help them get online. The aim is to enable elderly and vulnerable people, particularly those to who are shielding, to communicate with the outside world and get access to vital services. Over 11,000 devices have been distributed by community partners. Futuredotnow are working with their founding partners, government and industry to continue to collect devices and distribute them to the local community organisations so they are able to reach the most vulnerable during this time.</p><p>In August 2020, government introduced an entitlement to fully funded digital qualifications which mirror the existing legal entitlements for English and maths. Adults with no or low digital skills will have full funding to undertake improved digital skills qualifications, based on new national standards for essential digital skills, up to Level 1.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 15/10/2020 15:49:29 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241803

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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 his Department has made with Building Digital UK in rolling out full-fibre broadband throughout the UK.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100988
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2020 answer text <p>According to Thinkbroadband, currently 27.1% of premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband - up from 0.9% in 2016. 17.1% of premises have access to full fibre connections.</p><p>The Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme is investing £278 million to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the whole of the UK. There are 36 projects ongoing across the UK, 34 of which are in delivery.</p><p>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> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 23/10/2020 16:28:36 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241806

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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 his Department has made in upgrading broadband infrastructure in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100989
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>According to Thinkbroadband (<a href="https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/" target="_blank">https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/</a>), coverage at UK premises for different broadband speeds is currently:</p><ul><li><p>Superfast (30Mbps) = 96.48%</p></li><li><p>Ultrafast (100Mbps) = 63.02%</p></li><li><p>Gigabit (1,000Mbps) = 27.22%</p></li><li><p>Full Fibre (Gigabit+) = 17.12%</p></li></ul><p>Virgin Media are in the process of activating gigabit services across their entire network by the end of 2021, and this currently covers over 52% of the UK. BT Openreach and CityFibre also have multi-billion pound fibre rollout programmes underway so a leap in gigabit coverage during 2021 is anticipated. This planned build predominantly covers urban areas so DCMS’s focus is on stimulating build in the more rural and disadvantaged areas of the UK where the commercial market will not build unaided.</p><p>The government has invested significant amounts in digital infrastructure over the last decade. The DCMS portfolio of active projects is currently c.£4 billion (detailed below) and in the Spring Budget, a further £5 billion of investment was announced for the hardest to reach areas of the UK. More details regarding the programme will follow in the Autumn Spending Review.</p><p>Current and future programmes are as follows:</p><ul><li><p>The Building Digital UK (BDUK) Superfast Broadband Programme is investing over £1.9 billion of public money (much of this match funded on top of this figure by local bodies, EU funds and suppliers) to ensure over 96.4% of UK premises have access to superfast broadband.</p></li><li><p>The Local Full Fibre Networks Programme (LFFN) is investing £278 million to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the whole of the UK. Currently 17% of UK premises have access to a full fibre connection, up from 0.9% in 2016. 27.2% of UK premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband.</p></li><li><p>The Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme (RGC) is investing up to £200 million on gigabit broadband connections in rural areas. This includes a rural voucher scheme where up to £3,500 is available to rural SMEs and up to £1,500 for rural premises is available to support the installation of gigabit-capable broadband when part of a group scheme. To date, the programme has issued vouchers to the value of £33.5 million. Top-up schemes are also operating across the UK where Local Authorities / Devolved Administrations provide their own funding on top of our values.</p></li><li><p>The Shared Rural Network Programme (SRN) is investing £500 million of public funding with a further £500 million of match funding from industry to improve rural 4G coverage across the UK. The programme has just started but has already seen the first handful of new 4G sites go live.</p></li><li><p>The 700MHz Spectrum Clearance Programme is investing up to £400 million on reconfiguring the use of the airwave in the UK to make more capacity available for 5G broadband. That programme completed its airwave clearance activity in August 2020.</p></li><li><p>The 5G Trials and Testbeds Programme is investing c.£250 million in a number of 5G projects across the UK.</p></li><li><p>We are in the process of mobilising our new £5 billion UK Gigabit Programme which was announced in the Spring Budget. Procurements will commence in early 2021.</p></li></ul><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 16/10/2020 15:00:07 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241819

registered interest
date	08/10/2020
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 much of the UK has one gigabit capability; and what assessment he has made of the geographical distribution of one gigabit capability in (a) towns, (b) cities and (c) rural areas.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	100993
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2020 answer text <p>Building Digital UK (BDUK) uses information collected from Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report. This dataset distinguishes between urban and rural premises, and an easy to read version can be found in the Commons Library (<a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-broadband-coverage-and-speeds/" target="_blank">https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-broadband-coverage-and-speeds/</a>).</p><p>However, Connected Nations does not yet hold information on specific Gigabit connectivity and therefore we use the next best source, Thinkbroadband, which does provide gigabit statistics. According to Thinkbroadband, at this moment in time 27.2% of the UK have access to gigabit capable speeds, up from 0.9% in 2016. A full list of Gigabit availability by area can be found here: <a href="http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/england" target="_blank">http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/england</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 22/10/2020 14:13:28 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1241206

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Data Protection: Taxation
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 he has made of the potential merits of using the taxation system to disincentivise the collection of personal data by companies.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	100434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government has not made an assessment of the use of taxation as a disincentive to the processing of personal data. The better use of data can help organisations of every kind succeed – across the public, private and third sectors. Data can be a driver of scientific and technological innovation, and central to the delivery of a whole range of vital public services and societal goals, from tackling climate change to supporting the National Health Service.</p><p>All organisations in the UK that process personal data, whether large or small, have to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA and the GDPR strengthen the obligations on companies to process people’s data fairly, lawfully and transparently and to keep it safe and secure. It also strengthens people’s rights to seek to access, rectify or delete their data.</p><p>The legislation is regulated and enforced by the independent Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has issued comprehensive guidance for organisations on how to comply with the legislation and works closely with specific sectors to address areas of risk.</p><p>The ICO has a range of corrective powers and sanctions to enforce the GDPR, including:</p><ul><li><p>issuing warnings and reprimands;</p></li><li><p>imposing a temporary or permanent ban on data processing;</p></li><li><p>ordering the rectification, restriction or erasure of data; and</p></li><li><p>suspending data transfers to third countries.</p></li></ul><p><strong><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 14/10/2020 14:55:10 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1241207

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
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	Culture: Finance
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 the £1.57 billion support package for the arts and culture sectors has been allocated.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Paula Barker
uin	100555
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2020 answer text <p>On 22nd August, the £3.36 million Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund was shared among 136 venues across England who applied for support to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>The first independent cinemas to be funded by the BFI grants were also announced on 2nd October. In total, 42 independent cinemas across England received a share of £654,883 in funding to preserve the local cultural offer and rescue organisations at risk of insolvency. As this is a rolling fund, more funding decisions regarding cinemas will be announced over the coming weeks. Awards for cinemas can include £10k to help with safety improvements and up to £200k available for business sustainability.</p><p>On Friday 9th October 445 heritage organisations were awarded £103 million from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. Grants of up to £1m will deliver a lifeline for the heritage sector in England with further support to follow and larger grants for capital projects awarded through the Heritage Stimulus Fund.</p><p>On Monday 12th October Arts Council England awarded £257 million to over 1,300 organisations which applied for less than £1 million. The funding goes to theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure they have a sustainable future.</p><p>Further announcements of how the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will be allocated will be made in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 13/10/2020 11:12:49 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4828 label Biography information for Paula Barker