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1224545

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2020
	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	Huawei: Equipment
	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 update the House on the purchase of Huawei equipment between July 2020 and the implementation of the ban on buying new Huawei equipment in January 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Aberavon
	tabling member printed	Stephen Kinnock
	uin	73856
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Secretary of State set out in his statement to the House on ‘UK Telecommunications’ on 14 July that the Government will bring forward the Telecoms Security Bill in the Autumn. During the passage of the Bill, the Government will update Parliament on progress made with respect to telecoms security and high risk vendors.</p><p>The Secretary of State also confirmed that he would report regularly to Parliament to update Members on the progress of the measures outlined in his statement. This includes monthly appearances in the House for DCMS questions.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 20/07/2020 12:06:15 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	4359 label Biography information for Stephen Kinnock

1255398

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2020
	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: Sussex
	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 is making on delivering gigabit-speed broadband to rural homes and business throughout (a) Sussex and (b) Arundel and South Downs constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Arundel and South Downs
	tabling member printed	Andrew Griffith
	uin	121051
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2020 answer text <p>We currently split Sussex into East and West when collecting data. According to Thinkbroadband (<a href="http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E10000011" target="_blank">http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E10000011</a>), 97.3% of premises in East Sussex could access superfast speeds and 13.2% had access to gigabit capable speeds, which is up from 0.5% in 2016. Only 0.8% of premises have access to less than 10Mbps, which makes them eligible for the Universal Service obligation (<a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/uso" target="_blank">https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/uso</a>). Fast, reliable broadband has been instrumental in helping businesses and communities cope with the pressures caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency. It has enabled businesses to continue trading, diversify their offer and assist residents to work from home by allowing everyday activities to become digital.</p><p>In East Sussex, the Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme has issued vouchers worth £562,272 to deliver gigabit-speed broadband to 852 premises. Many more projects are in the pipeline to receive DCMS support.</p><p>DCMS continues to work with Sussex Local Bodies to deliver gigabit-capable broadband solutions through its other programme such as the Superfast programme, which has been delivering gigabit speeds for several years.</p><p>West Sussex is similar with 97.2% of premises with access to Superfast and 14% with access to gigabit capable speeds. 0.9% are eligible for the USO (<a href="http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E10000032" target="_blank">http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E10000032</a>)</p><p>West Sussex is committed to its rural digital agenda and has been working with DCMS and suppliers to accelerate coverage in some of the hardest to reach areas of the county.</p><p>The DCMS Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme, which West Sussex is “topping up” to support rural communities, has attracted great interest. So far 28 community projects have registered with DCMS meaning around 2000 premises are able to benefit from the scheme with £1.1m being profiled to date and a further 26 community projects are seeking quotes.</p><p>Arundel and South Downs constituency (<a href="http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E14000534" target="_blank">http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E14000534</a>) currently has 93% of premises with the ability to access superfast speeds which is up from 7% in 1012. Currently 8% can access gigabit speeds.</p><p>Mid Sussex also has an ongoing Local Full Fibre Network Programme (LFFN) with an investment of £2.2m. The project focuses on developing new fibre and ducting for a scaffold ring in Burgess Hill and a connection to the Brighton Digital Exchange and the creation of a new Digital Exchange in Burgess Hill.</p><p>Mid Sussex District Council has also been successful in securing £3.2M of funding through the Getting Britain Building fund from MHCLG. This is to build a Rural Connectivity Full Fibre Network between Burgess Hill and Brighton, across the South Downs.</p><p>This project will complement and leverage the DCMS Local Full Fibre Network Programme investment across Burgess Hill. The gigabit capable network will connect 7 rural towns and is within 200m of over 20,000 rural households. The network will be completed by March 2022.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 09/12/2020 16:26:31 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith

1278636

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2021
	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	Mobile Phones: West Sussex
	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 on improving mobile coverage in rural West Sussex.
	tabling member constituency	Arundel and South Downs
	tabling member printed	Andrew Griffith
	uin	140989
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2021 answer text <p>The Government wants the UK to have high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel, and we are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage further to 95% of the UK.</p><p>That is why the Government announced on 9 March 2020 that it had agreed the £1 billion Shared Rural Network deal with the mobile network operators. This landmark deal will see operators collectively increase mobile phone coverage throughout the UK to 95% by the end of 2025, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments.</p><p>Since signing the agreement, however, initial radio plans have been submitted to the regulator, Ofcom, and an open, fair and transparent competitive procurement process for the publicly funded elements of the programme has commenced.</p><p>We are currently unable to provide any details on the precise location or number of new or upgraded masts that may be delivered in rural areas of West Sussex as a result of the programme. However, I have personally encouraged operators to be transparent about their plans.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 27/01/2021 15:07:22 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith

1487356

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2022
	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	Mobile Phones: Ashfield
	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 her Department will take steps to improve the quality of mobile phone signal in (a) Ashfield and (b) Eastwood.
	tabling member constituency	Ashfield
	tabling member printed	Lee Anderson
	uin	32627
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to extending good quality 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. The Government’s existing 5G ambition for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027 has been delivered five years early through ‘basic’ (non-standalone) 5G.</p><p>We have already made reforms to the planning system to support the deployment of 5G and help extend mobile coverage. The changes, which came into force on 4 April 2022, enable operators to upgrade existing sites for 5G and share infrastructure to improve mobile coverage. And the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament, amends the Electronic Communications Code to encourage faster and more collaborative negotiations for the installation and maintenance of telecoms equipment.</p><p>The Government is developing a Wireless Infrastructure Strategy to set out a strategic framework for the development, deployment and adoption of 5G and future networks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 14/07/2022 07:36:25 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	4743 label Biography information for Lee Anderson

1249464

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2020
	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: Rural 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 assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policy on the Outside In programme of the findings of the National Audit Office's report of January 2015 on the Superfast (Rural) Broadband Programme: update.
	tabling member constituency	Ashford
	tabling member printed	Damian Green
	uin	112973
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>In 2013 and 2015 the NAO published reports on the progress of the Superfast (Rural) Broadband Programme. Since we last reported, the Superfast Programme has moved increasingly to gigabit-capable full-fibre solutions in place of copper telephone wires from premises to a local cabinet.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Superfast Programme has delivered over 5.2m premises with superfast broadband, which constitutes 17% of all households in the UK and reached the target of 95% coverage in December 2017. After hitting this target Ministers agreed to continue the programme using a combination of underspend, early clawback, Local Body/Devolved funding and EU funding (ERDF and EAFRD). With coverage now beyond 96%.</p><p>The NAO have recognised what has been achieved through the Superfast Programme in their latest report from 16th October 2020 called ‘Improving Broadband’ and has made several recommendations to the Department to be utilised as part of its development of the UK Gigabit Programme.</p><p>We are developing our approach to delivering the £5 billion UK Gigabit programme as fast as possible and my officials will ensure that all recommendations that have been made by the NAO will be taken into account during this work. This is a very complex programme and we want to make sure our interventions cater for current need, geography and cost-effectiveness and incorporates lessons learned from previous programmes.</p><p>We understand the challenges in achieving nationwide coverage, particularly in hard to reach areas. And have been working closely with industry and local authority partners to develop an approach that will scale with the market’s ambitions.</p><p>In the meantime we are already connecting some of the hardest to reach places in the country, not only through our Superfast Broadband but additionally with Local Full Fibre Networks and Rural Gigabit Connectivity programmes.</p><p>Further details about the £5 billion of public funding committed at the Budget will be announced at the Spending Review on the 25th November.</p><p><strong><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 17/11/2020 16:39:34 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	76 label Biography information for Damian Green

1249509

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2020
	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	Housing: 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 steps he has taken to ensure a reasonable cost of wayleaves for installing full fibre in new and existing housing developments.
	tabling member constituency	Ashford
	tabling member printed	Damian Green
	uin	112972
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>My department has introduced a suite of measures to deploy nationwide gigabit broadband as cheaply and as quickly as possible.</p><p>The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill once enacted will make it easier for network operators to install gigabit broadband in multi-dwelling buildings such as blocks of flats). Third Reading in the House of Lords is expected to take place shortly.</p><p>The Bill creates a faster, cheaper application process in the First-tier Tribunal that operators may use in situations where (i) a leaseholder has requested a connection to be installed, (ii) repeated requests for access have failed to illicit a response from the landowner and (iii) the operator requires access to common parts of the building (such as hallways, basements and stairwells) in order to connect the consumer.</p><p>It is expected that the Bill will bring costs of applying to the courts for access for the operator down to below £500 and shorten the process to around 6 weeks.</p><p>The Electronic Communication Code is the legal framework underpinning rights to install and maintain digital communications infrastructure on public and private land by operators.</p><p>Government has always been clear that good working relationships between Code operators and site providers are a key factor in the Electronic Communications Code operating effectively. The Code is premised on the concept that reasonable attempts will be made to negotiate mutually acceptable agreements in the first instance, and that cases will only be referred to the courts where this proves impossible.</p><p>We are also bringing forward legislation to deliver gigabit broadband to the majority of new homes at minimal costs to developers.</p><p>Government is seeking to amend Building Regulations to require housing developers to provide gigabit broadband unless the costs to the developer exceeds £2000.</p><p>To support developers and to ensure as many new homes as possible receive gigabit broadband the Secretary of State has received commitments from the CEOs of Openreach, Virgin and Gigaclear to contribute to the costs of connecting new homes.</p><p>These commitments ensure that, taken with the amended Building Regulations, gigabit broadband will be deployed to 99% of new build premises.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 16/11/2020 15:24:55 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	76 label Biography information for Damian Green

1249665

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2020
	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 plans he has to reform the Electronic Communications Code to support the rapid rollout of full fibre digital infrastructure to (a) private new build developments, (b) publicly owned social housing and (c) unadopted roads.
	tabling member constituency	Ashford
	tabling member printed	Damian Green
	uin	112970
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>We intend to consult on whether further reforms to Electronic Communications Code (the Code) are necessary to support investment in networks. My Department is working closely with stakeholders within the private and public sector to understand whether the current legislative framework supports the delivery of the gigabit-capable infrastructure.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In developing the consultation, officials will take into account changes needed to ensure the Code is fit for purpose. This will include considering publicly owned social housing and unadopted roads. The Government has recently published guidance to local authorities with regard to public assets, such as social housing. This is available on the Government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-connectivity-portal" target="_blank">Digital Connectivity Portal</a> here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-connectivity-portal" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-connectivity-portal</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We will also bring forward legislation to deliver gigabit broadband to the majority of new homes at minimal costs to developers. As part of this, the Government is seeking to amend the Building Regulations 2010 to require housing developers to provide gigabit broadband unless the costs to the developer exceeds £2,000.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 17/11/2020 19:36:28 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	76 label Biography information for Damian Green

1249666

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2020
	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	Telecommunications: Council Housing
	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 guidance is available for local authorities to help them negotiate wayleaves for their housing stock with telecoms infrastructure providers.
	tabling member constituency	Ashford
	tabling member printed	Damian Green
	uin	112971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2020 answer text <p>On 27th August, I wrote, together with the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, to all tier-1 local authorities in the country on the subject of telecoms infrastructure deployment. This letter highlighted newly published Government guidance on how local authorities can 1) enable access to public assets, such as housing stock, and 2) ensure appropriate valuation of assets for access agreements.</p><p>My Department’s Barrier Busting Task Force has offered to meet each authority individually to discuss this guidance and issues particular to each area. Kent County Council took up this offer on the 13th October. Many authorities are taking a proactive approach across the UK, including Croydon, for example, which has signed master wayleaves to connect their social housing stock to gigabit broadband.</p><p>Further guidance on these matters can be found on the Government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-connectivity-portal" target="_blank">Digital Connectivity Portal</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 16/11/2020 15:29:34 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	76 label Biography information for Damian Green

1487985

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2022
	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	Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department holds a minute of the meeting on 18 January 2021 between Lord Brownlow and herself.
	tabling member constituency	Ashton-under-Lyne
	tabling member printed	Angela Rayner
	uin	33794
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>My department follows the Guidance on the Management of Private Office Papers, and as such holds a minute of the meeting held on 18 January 2021 between Lord Brownlow and Oliver Dowden.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 14/07/2022 07:31:39 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	4356 label Biography information for Angela Rayner

1226989

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	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: Religious Buildings
	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 representations he has received from (a) churches and (b) faith groups on the barriers to broadband access for places of worship that do not have a postcode.
	tabling member constituency	Barking
	tabling member printed	Dame Margaret Hodge
	uin	77482
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2020 answer text <p>We understand the importance for broadband access in places of worship to help improve connectivity for local communities, as well as practical benefits for such premises, including streaming services, security, and accepting contactless donations or administration.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has been in discussion with representatives from the Church of England, in particular, regarding the issue of broadband access where places of worship do not have postcodes, or are otherwise missing from telecom provider databases. In some cases this leads to issues in identifying and providing service to such locations.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Over 31,000 premises are listed in relevant databases accessible to the Government as being used as places of worship. Of these, approximately 86% of premises used for religious purposes in Great Britain can access Superfast broadband speeds or better on fixed networks, compared to the UK average of 95%. Approximately 4% of premises used for religious purposes in Great Britain cannot access ‘decent broadband’ speeds of 10 Megabit/s on Fixed networks, compared to the UK average of 2%, largely due to their rurality. However, 4G data services are also widely available, and this reduces the number of such listed places of worship with no potential service to less than 0.2% of the total.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are working with relevant stakeholders, including telecom operators and Ofcom, to ascertain the extent of this problem, and how many religious premises are still facing barriers. Part of this is about ensuring data used by operators is up to date and consistent with the data available to the Government. But it is also about identifying appropriate solutions, including ensuring all broadband technology solutions that are available to places of worship are considered.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 01/09/2020 08:29:35 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
	tabling member	140 label Biography information for Dame Margaret Hodge