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1549403

registered interest
date	07/12/2022
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	Ofcom: Competition
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 she has made of Ofcom’s ability to (a) protect and (b) promote competition among fixed telecoms infrastructure providers.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	105369
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2022 answer text <p>The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for Ofcom (published in 2019) sets out that Ofcom must take account of the Government’s priorities for full-fibre connectivity, including by delivering stable and long-term regulation that incentivises network investment and ensures fair and effective competition between new and existing network operators when taking its regulatory decisions.</p><p>Ofcom is required to report on how it has considered the Statement every twelve months. The updates which form part of Ofcom’s Annual Reports can be found here: <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans" target="_blank">https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans</a>.</p><p>Additionally, in 2021 Ofcom published its Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR) which set out Ofcom’s decisions for regulation of the fixed telecoms markets until 2026. The WFTMR makes explicit mention of the government’s desire for regulatory stability and certainty set out in the Statement of Strategic Priorities.</p><p>Since the publication of our SSP for Ofcom, there are now over 80 companies investing over £35bn to connect premises all over the UK, and gigabit coverage has increased to over 72%, rising from just 6%.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 105370 question first answered 14/12/2022 13:49:43 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1539451

registered interest
date	04/11/2022
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	Charities: Cost of living and Energy
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 recent discussions she has had with representatives of charities on rising (a) energy costs and (b) costs of living.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	79317
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>With government support, charities from across the Civil Society sector have shown significant resilience over the past two years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through the winter.</p><p>My Department has ongoing engagement on the cost of living and energy costs with stakeholders across the Civil Society sector.</p><p>DCMS will continue to engage constructively with these stakeholders and across government to monitor the impact of rising costs, and to ensure DCMS is engaged on policy which impacts charities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 14/11/2022 15:43:08 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1537948

registered interest
date	01/11/2022
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	Telecommunications: Codes of Practice
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 impact on local government finance, including for Wolverhampton, Swindon and Leeds City Councils, of forthcoming changes to the Electronic Communications Code 2017.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	75970
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2022 answer text <p>The reforms made to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017 were intended to make it cheaper and easier for digital infrastructure to be deployed, maintained and upgraded. These reforms recognised the increasing importance of digital communications services to UK consumers and businesses, and to the wider economy. The Government realised that the reforms would mean landowners receiving lower payments for allowing their land or buildings to be used than had previously been the case. However, these changes were only introduced following an extensive period of consultation and research, and were considered necessary to reduce operator costs and encourage the industry investment required for the UK to get the digital communications infrastructure it needs.</p><p>The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (the Bill) contains provisions which will, amongst other things, amend the Code. Prior to the Bill’s introduction an assessment was carried out on potential impacts of reforms in the Bill, but this was general in nature and did not focus on specific categories of landowner.</p><p>Digital communications infrastructure needs to be rolled out in the right places. From this perspective, publicly owned land must be treated no differently from privately owned land. Although the reforms made to the Code in 2017 may have caused revenue from local authority sites to decrease, they will, however, gain through increased connectivity in their districts and from the economic growth which will accompany increased coverage.</p><p>The Government does not intend to carry out any additional assessment on the Bill’s potential impact on local authorities. Many consensual Code agreements include a confidentiality clause, meaning that information about the financial terms agreed cannot be shared with others or made publicly available, except in limited circumstances or with the other party’s consent. In addition, the financial arrangements underpinning these agreements can vary significantly: for example, in some instances the parties may agree to up front or lump sum payments, instead of, or as well as, ongoing rental payments.</p><p>It would therefore be extremely difficult to conduct such an assessment as it is unlikely that comprehensive data would be available. In any event, we do not believe such an assessment is needed or appropriate. Local authorities are responsible for managing their own budgets. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities collects data returns from local authorities in England, however data on the Code or the revenue from telecoms infrastructure sites is not included in these returns. The financial position of councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the relevant devolved administration.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 08/11/2022 08:59:46 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1537994

registered interest
date	01/11/2022
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	Technology: Solihull
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 her Department has made of the contribution of the level of growth of the technology sector in Solihull constituency.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	75976
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2022 answer text <p>The UK’s start up and scale up tech ecosystem was recently valued at over £1 trillion. The UK is only the third country in the world to have a tech sector reach this valuation. We are committed to ensuring the benefits and growth of the tech sector are felt in all corners of the country. Last year we published <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessing-the-uks-regional-digital-ecosystems" target="_blank">DCMS’ Regional Tech Ecosystems report,</a> which aims to better understand the drivers of growth at a local level.</p><p>Our <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-2019-regional-gva" target="_blank">Department’s Regional GVA official statistics</a> show that the tech sector contributed over £7.5 billion to the West Midlands’ economy in 2019 in real terms (approx. 5.3% of the region’s GVA). The tech sector has consistently provided the largest contribution out of all of DCMS’ sectors to the West Midlands economy. The region's tech ecosystem was recently valued at an impressive £15.3 billion - up from £11.5 billion in 2021. Between April 2021 - March 2022, there were 111,000 filled jobs in the West Midlands’ tech sector, representing almost 4% of all filled jobs in the region.</p><p>We are making investments in our Digital Infrastructure to drive growth and innovation at a local level. Last month my Department announced that the world-class, UK Telecommunications Laboratory, will be opening in the metropolitan borough of Solihull. The laboratory will provide a safe environment for security experts to test new and existing software and equipment, using groundbreaking technology. This will keep our public telecommunications networks secure, and support incumbent and new supplier entrants to the market. Importantly, in close collaboration with academia and industry, this national capability will drive the growth of skills in the key technical areas of telecoms and cyber security across Solihull and the country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 07/11/2022 16:28:14 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1537109

registered interest
date	28/10/2022
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	Arts Council England: Investment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason Arts Council England has delayed the announcement of organisations joining the 2023-26 Investment Programme.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	73852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2022 answer text <p>I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 31 October to Question UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-10-26/72284" target="_blank">72284</a>.</p><p>I am pleased that the Arts Council England made this announcement on Friday 4 November 2022 and that organisations joining the 2023-26 Investment Programme have been informed of the outcome of their applications.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 07/11/2022 11:11:43 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1521306

registered interest
date	12/10/2022
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	Telecommunications: Infrastructure
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 her Department has made on the impact of the Electronic Communications Code 2017 on businesses.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	61957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2022 answer text <p>The 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code were intended to make it easier for digital communications operators to deploy and maintain their networks. Those changes include the introduction of a statutory valuation regime, which reflected the government’s view that the cost of acquiring rights to install digital infrastructure on private land prior to 2017 was too high and needed to be addressed. The valuation regime introduced in 2017 is more closely aligned to those for utilities such as water and electricity and reflects the fact that access to good quality digital services is an increasingly critical part of daily life for residents across the UK.</p><p>The Government continues to believe that the framework strikes a fair balance between ensuring individual landowners are not left out of pocket and encouraging the industry investment needed for consumers across the UK to have access to fast, reliable digital services.</p><p>Since the introduction of the reforms in 2017 we have engaged with and listened to stakeholders to understand the impact of the reforms in practice. This has included a formal consultation on further changes to the Code, which led to the provisions in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, as well as ongoing (and continuing) engagement with stakeholders throughout the passage of the Bill.</p><p>In parallel, DCMS officials have convened monthly Access to Land Workshops over the last 12-18 months, which cover a number of workstreams and attract attendance from stakeholders across the telecommunications industry, including site provider representatives. I am pleased to say that these workshops have made excellent progress and one of the outputs of this work is the creation of a new industry body, the National Connectivity Alliance, which in time will continue this work independently of DCMS.</p><p>A de minimis assessment was carried out on the reforms to the Code contained in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill. This review was general in nature and did not focus on specific stakeholder groups. Once the measures in the Bill have commenced, officials will continue to engage with stakeholders to gain their feedback on how the new provisions are working in practice.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 61959 question first answered 19/10/2022 10:10:53 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1521308

registered interest
date	12/10/2022
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	Telecommunications: Infrastructure
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 she has made of the impact of the valuation regime in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill on (a) smallholders and (b) landholders.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	61959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2022 answer text <p>The 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code were intended to make it easier for digital communications operators to deploy and maintain their networks. Those changes include the introduction of a statutory valuation regime, which reflected the government’s view that the cost of acquiring rights to install digital infrastructure on private land prior to 2017 was too high and needed to be addressed. The valuation regime introduced in 2017 is more closely aligned to those for utilities such as water and electricity and reflects the fact that access to good quality digital services is an increasingly critical part of daily life for residents across the UK.</p><p>The Government continues to believe that the framework strikes a fair balance between ensuring individual landowners are not left out of pocket and encouraging the industry investment needed for consumers across the UK to have access to fast, reliable digital services.</p><p>Since the introduction of the reforms in 2017 we have engaged with and listened to stakeholders to understand the impact of the reforms in practice. This has included a formal consultation on further changes to the Code, which led to the provisions in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, as well as ongoing (and continuing) engagement with stakeholders throughout the passage of the Bill.</p><p>In parallel, DCMS officials have convened monthly Access to Land Workshops over the last 12-18 months, which cover a number of workstreams and attract attendance from stakeholders across the telecommunications industry, including site provider representatives. I am pleased to say that these workshops have made excellent progress and one of the outputs of this work is the creation of a new industry body, the National Connectivity Alliance, which in time will continue this work independently of DCMS.</p><p>A de minimis assessment was carried out on the reforms to the Code contained in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill. This review was general in nature and did not focus on specific stakeholder groups. Once the measures in the Bill have commenced, officials will continue to engage with stakeholders to gain their feedback on how the new provisions are working in practice.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 61957 question first answered 19/10/2022 10:10:53 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1520087

registered interest
date	10/10/2022
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	Internet: Safety
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 her Department has taken to ensure that the voices and experiences (a) Molly Russell and (b) other children and families will be included in the creation of a new online regulatory system.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	59838
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>The experience of Molly Russell and her family highlights the importance of holding tech companies to account to keep their users, and in particular children, safe online. The Government has consulted widely, including with parents and children, to develop the new regulatory framework.</p><p>A set of statutory duties will be placed on Ofcom, requiring the regulator to conduct research and consult with users when carrying out their online safety duties. This includes the opinions and experiences of children, parents and families, which Ofcom will use when developing its codes of practice.</p><p>The Bill will also require companies to enable children, and their parents or guardians, to easily report harmful content and, where necessary for those companies to take action.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Folkestone and Hythe answering member printed Damian Collins question first answered 18/10/2022 09:10:12 answering member 3986 label Biography information for Damian Collins
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1503525

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
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	Building Digital UK
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 network operators have submitted build plans to Building Digital UK as part of the Gigabit Open Market Review and Public Review activity as of 2 September 2022.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	45191
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2022 answer text <p>As part of our Open Market Review and Public Review processes for Project Gigabit we ask broadband suppliers to submit build plans containing their current coverage and/or future build intentions. As of 2 September 2022, 61 broadband suppliers have submitted build plans to Building Digital UK.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 20/09/2022 08:30:02 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1503526

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
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	Building Digital UK
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 operator build plans has Building Digital UK accepted in full as part of its market analysis.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	45179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2022 answer text <p>As part of our Open Market Review and Public Review processes for Project Gigabit we ask broadband suppliers to submit build plans containing their current coverage and/or future build intentions. Building Digital UK (BDUK) encourages suppliers to provide as much information as possible in support of their claims and plans, with each submission assessed on its own merits.</p><p>Since the first BDUK-led Open Market Review was launched in March 2021, eight build plans have been assessed as credible in full by BDUK. A further 143 build plans have been partially assessed as credible, and 64 build plans have been assessed as not currently credible in full or in part.</p><p>As of 2 September 2022, 52 operator build plans are in the process of being assessed.</p><p>BDUK reassesses suppliers’ build plans on a regular basis through our National Rolling Open Market Review. This ensures that we have the most up to date information about these suppliers’ existing and planned build which we use to continuously inform where subsidy is likely to be needed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach areas.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 45201 45227 question first answered 20/09/2022 08:37:25 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight