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1125278

registered interest
date	08/05/2019
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: Fees and Charges
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 he has plans to enable BT to charge more for Openreach network broadband connections in rural areas than in urban areas in order to subsidise the cost of high-speed fibre broadband.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	251942
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>We have no plans to introduce legislation which would allow BT/Openreach to charge rural consumers more than urban consumers to subsidise their full fibre broadband connections.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is already supporting rural broadband connectivity in a number of ways. Our £1.8 billion superfast broadband programme has achieved its target of 95% superfast coverage across the UK. In our Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), we set a target to go further and ensure that 15 million premises can connect to gigabit capable, full fibre broadband by 2025 with nationwide coverage by 2033. We are already investing to make that happen, stimulating the market through the £278 million Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme and the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The FTIR was clear that the Government would also support full fibre broadband in less commercial areas of the country, likely to be around 10% of UK premises, so that no areas are systematically left behind. To start this, the 2018 Budget announced £200 million for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers meet regularly with Ofcom to discuss a range of issues. Ofcom is currently consulting on its initial proposals for promoting competition and investment in fibre networks across the country including in less commercial, rural areas of the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 251943 251944 question first answered 16/05/2019 09:31:47 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1125279

registered interest
date	08/05/2019
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: Fees and Charges
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 he has plans to enable BT to levy upfront charges on consumers accessing Openreach network broadband connections in order to subsidise the cost of high-speed fibre broadband.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	251943
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>We have no plans to introduce legislation which would allow BT/Openreach to charge rural consumers more than urban consumers to subsidise their full fibre broadband connections.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is already supporting rural broadband connectivity in a number of ways. Our £1.8 billion superfast broadband programme has achieved its target of 95% superfast coverage across the UK. In our Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), we set a target to go further and ensure that 15 million premises can connect to gigabit capable, full fibre broadband by 2025 with nationwide coverage by 2033. We are already investing to make that happen, stimulating the market through the £278 million Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme and the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The FTIR was clear that the Government would also support full fibre broadband in less commercial areas of the country, likely to be around 10% of UK premises, so that no areas are systematically left behind. To start this, the 2018 Budget announced £200 million for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers meet regularly with Ofcom to discuss a range of issues. Ofcom is currently consulting on its initial proposals for promoting competition and investment in fibre networks across the country including in less commercial, rural areas of the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 251942 251944 question first answered 16/05/2019 09:31:47 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1125280

registered interest
date	08/05/2019
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 recent representations he has received from representatives of Ofcom on the funding of high-speed fibre broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	251944
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>We have no plans to introduce legislation which would allow BT/Openreach to charge rural consumers more than urban consumers to subsidise their full fibre broadband connections.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is already supporting rural broadband connectivity in a number of ways. Our £1.8 billion superfast broadband programme has achieved its target of 95% superfast coverage across the UK. In our Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), we set a target to go further and ensure that 15 million premises can connect to gigabit capable, full fibre broadband by 2025 with nationwide coverage by 2033. We are already investing to make that happen, stimulating the market through the £278 million Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme and the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The FTIR was clear that the Government would also support full fibre broadband in less commercial areas of the country, likely to be around 10% of UK premises, so that no areas are systematically left behind. To start this, the 2018 Budget announced £200 million for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers meet regularly with Ofcom to discuss a range of issues. Ofcom is currently consulting on its initial proposals for promoting competition and investment in fibre networks across the country including in less commercial, rural areas of the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 251942 251943 question first answered 16/05/2019 09:31:47 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1125321

registered interest
date	08/05/2019
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	Social Media: Freedom of Expression
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 free speech on social media platforms.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	251956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to upholding free speech, and legislation is already in place to protect these fundamental rights. However, this freedom cannot be an excuse to cause harm or spread hatred.</p><p> </p><p>The Online Harms White Paper sets out the Government's proposals for making the UK the safest place to be online. The proposed independent regulator will have an obligation to protect users' rights online, particularly rights to privacy and freedom of expression. It will ensure that the new regulatory requirements do not lead to a disproportionately risk averse response from companies that unduly limits freedom of expression, including by limiting participation in public debate.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 16/05/2019 09:54:58 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1125347

registered interest
date	08/05/2019
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	Business: ICT
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 has taken to ensure that businesses have the required IT infrastructure in place to enable a paperless society.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	251968
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), published in July 2018, sets out the Government’s strategy for ensuring that 15 million premises are able to connect to full fibre by 2025, with a nationwide network established by 2033. Since the publication of the FITR, full fibre coverage is now available to 7% of UK premises, up from 4% around 12 months ago.</p><p> </p><p>The Better Broadband Voucher Scheme, open for applications until 31st December 2019, is available to those who are unable to obtain a connection speed above 2Mbps. The Scheme can support access to satellite broadband, or fixed 4G or wireless connections in some locations. The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, launched in March 2018 as part of Local Full Fibre Networks programme, enables small to medium sized businesses to claim a voucher worth up to £2,500, and residents to claim a voucher worth up to £500 as part of a group project.</p><p> </p><p>DCMS has convened the Digital Enterprise Delivery Group, part of the Digital Skills Partnership, to bring together a range of industry stakeholders to improve the digital capabilities of SMEs and charities.</p><p> </p><p>BEIS’s £9 million Business Basics programme, announced as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, is testing innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take up technology (such as accountancy or CRM software), as well as business practices that can boost productivity. Be the Business, supported by up to £18.6m Government funding, is a business-led independent charity that is identifying practical steps to enable the adoption of technology and enable best-practice leadership and management techniques.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 13/05/2019 15:25:53 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1124941

registered interest
date	07/05/2019
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: Security
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 ensure the security of age-verification check databases.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	251217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>All providers of age verification (AV) services must comply with data protection laws. In addition, ahead of the introduction of mandatory age verification on online pornography sites, the regulator, the British Board for Film Classifcation, has created a voluntary certification scheme, the Age-verification Certificate (AVC), which will assess the data security standards of AV providers. Age verification solutions which offer these robust data protection conditions will be certified following an independent assessment and will carry the BBFC's new green 'AV' symbol. Details will also be published on the BBFC’s age-verification website, ageverificationregulator.com.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 13/05/2019 11:35:23 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1125158

registered interest
date	07/05/2019
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	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Bullying
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 estimate he has made of the number of cases of bullying and harassment that have been recorded against managers in his Department in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	251309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2019 answer text <p>The department does not hold a record centrally of employees who have had bullying or harassment claims raised against them, and therefore we are unable to determine how many cases of bullying/harassment have been raised specifically against managers.</p><p> </p><p>The total number of formal bullying and harassment complaints made over the past 5 years is listed in the table below. For the reasons stated above, we are unable to isolate complaints made against managers from these totals.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of cases</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>less than 5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>less than 5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 (to date)</p></td><td><p>less than 5</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The department has an ongoing commitment to ensure that staff are treated with dignity and respect and that any concerns raised by staff are listened to and dealt with appropriately. Individuals who feel that they are being harassed or bullied can contact HR for support, or seek informal advice from representatives of the department’s Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Advisers Group which was launched at the end of last year.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 15/05/2019 14:17:14 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1124240

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	5G
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 has carried out an impact assessment on the effect of banning Huawei equipment from non-core components of the 5G network on the speed of 5G rollout.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	249977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review in July 2018 set out the Government’s strategy for delivering 5G ambitions. The ambitions on 5G are for the UK to become a world leader in the technology and for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027.</p><p> </p><p>The terms of reference for the Telecoms Supply Chain Review were published on gov.uk on 8 November 2018. The decisions of the Review will be announced in due course and to Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 249979 question first answered 08/05/2019 10:22:09 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1124242

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	5G
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 the Government plans to change its 5G roll-out targets in light of the reported decision to limit the use of Huawei equipment in the UK's 5G infrastructure.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	249979
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review in July 2018 set out the Government’s strategy for delivering 5G ambitions. The ambitions on 5G are for the UK to become a world leader in the technology and for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027.</p><p> </p><p>The terms of reference for the Telecoms Supply Chain Review were published on gov.uk on 8 November 2018. The decisions of the Review will be announced in due course and to Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James grouped question UIN 249977 question first answered 08/05/2019 10:22:09 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1124371

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Secondment
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 civil servants in his Department have been seconded to (a) the Department for Exiting the European Union and (b) the Department for International Trade in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	249903
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>In the Civil Service, a ‘secondment’ is a transfer to an external organisation, whereas the movement of staff to another Government department is usually referred to as a loan. We do not hold information centrally on the host departments of all secondees/loans from our department. However, we do hold a record of some employees on loan for whom we had to retrieve salary costs over the last 3 years:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Department for Exiting the European Union</p></td><td><p>Department for International Trade</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019 (to present)</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 13/05/2019 11:47:32 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane