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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

1249635

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 proportion of installation offers made for gigabit fibre broadband connections to new builds involved (a) a cost to the developers and (b) a cost of more than £1,800 per connection in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	113012
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2020 answer text <p>My department does not currently hold this information for the last 12 months as it is part of commercial arrangements between telecoms operators and housing developers.</p><p>The Government is bringing forward a policy that will deliver gigabit broadband to the vast majority of new homes at minimal costs to developers. We will do this by bringing forward amendments to the Building Regulations 2010 to require housing developers to provide gigabit broadband unless the costs to the developer exceeds £2,000.</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 Openreach, Virgin and Gigaclear on the costs of connecting new homes, these include:</p><ul><ul><li><p>Virgin will contribute at least £500 per premise and up to £1,000 for larger developments;</p></li><li><p>Gigaclear will contribute up to £1,000 per premise; and</p></li><li><p>Openreach will contribute up to £1,400 per premise.</p></li></ul></ul><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We have worked with Openreach to extend their free offer of gigabit broadband for new builds and also reduce costs for smaller developments. Openreach reduced their costs of connecting developments consisting of 2 to 4 premises to £2,000, from £3,100, ensuring they all fall within the proposed cost cap.</p><p>Based on discussions with industry, we estimate that 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 11/11/2020 15:36:33 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

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

1249706

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	Gambling
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 long it takes the Gambling Commission to approve an application from a charity for accreditation to receive LCCP RET contributions.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	113034
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2020 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission requires all operators licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 to make an annual contribution to fund research, prevention and treatment of problem gambling, and publishes a list of organisations to which operators may direct this contribution. The time taken by the Commission to reach a decision about whether an organisation can be included on that list depends on a number of factors. These include the quality and completeness of the information provided by the organisation, the complexity of issues associated with information provided and whether further investigation into independent oversight or potential conflicts of interest is required.</p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 18/11/2020 16:06:52 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1249728

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	Arts: 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 ensure that the Government’s emergency funding package for people working in arts and culture is delivered as soon as possible.
tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
uin	113190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2020 answer text <p>Each Arms Length Body, Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the British Film Institute, is responsible for delivering the Fund and were chosen due to their long established grant delivery role, and their expertise and understanding of the sectors in which they operate. This has enabled funding to be delivered at pace whilst still ensuring robust due diligence is conducted through the applications and distribution process.</p><p>In total, over £500m of the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated. This is across capital and recovery grants and is in addition to £188m allocated to the devolved administrations as part of the Barnett formula, and £100m for the national cultural institutions and English Heritage Trust.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 13/11/2020 15:52:39 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1249879

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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	National Archives
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 assessment his Department has made of the effect on research by historians of the reduction in (a) opening hours, (b) visit appointments and (c) numbers of documents which can be accessed per visit at the National Archives; and whether such reductions are planned to be reversed in entirety after the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	New Forest East
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
uin	91842
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2020 answer text <p>The National Archives suspended its reading room service as of 5 November 2020, in line with the new national restrictions in England and in alignment with other national cultural institutions, however access to its collections and services remains available online.</p><p>The pandemic has impacted The National Archives’ ability to meet demand from researchers and throughout the pandemic I have received regular updates from officials at The National Archives on the provision and expansion of its public services and the measures adopted to ensure a COVID safe environment.</p><p>With the benefit of user feedback, The National Archives continues to review all elements of its public service offer and will restore and then seek to increase services when it is safe to do so and in line with national regulations and guidance.</p><p>I and The National Archives remain committed to the provision of public services that maximise access to the public record for users of all kinds, whilst ensuring the safety both of users and staff.</p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 11/11/2020 15:22:50 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis

1250005

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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: 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 proportion of gigabit fibre broadband connections in new builds in the last twelve months were installed (a) at any cost to the delevopers and (b) at a cost of more than £1,800 per connection.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	91851
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2020 answer text <p>My department does not currently hold this information for the last 12 months as it is part of commercial arrangements between telecoms operators and housing developers.</p><p>The Government is bringing forward a policy that will deliver gigabit broadband to the vast majority of new homes at minimal costs to developers. We will do this by bringing forward amendments to the Building Regulations 2010 to require housing developers to provide gigabit broadband unless the costs to the developer exceeds £2,000.</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 Openreach, Virgin and Gigaclear on the costs of connecting new homes, these include:</p><ul><ul><li><p>Virgin will contribute at least £500 per premise and up to £1,000 for larger developments;</p></li><li><p>Gigaclear will contribute up to £1,000 per premise; and</p></li><li><p>Openreach will contribute up to £1,400 per premise.</p></li></ul></ul><p>We have worked with Openreach to extend their free offer of gigabit broadband for new builds and also reduce costs for smaller developments. Openreach reduced their costs of connecting developments consisting of 2 to 4 premises to £2,000, from £3,100, ensuring they all fall within the proposed cost cap.</p><p>Based on discussions with industry, we estimate that 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 11/11/2020 15:46:31 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1250039

registered interest
date	06/11/2020
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	Theatre: 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, with reference to Regulations 16(1), 16(3), 17(6) and Schedule 2 Part 2 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, if he will revise the Government's performing arts guidance of 5 November 2020 so that theatres that (a) are businesses and (b) operate within a designated theatre can continue to hold covid-secure rehearsals regardless of the professional status of the performers.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	91929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2020 answer text <p>Since Thursday 5 November, new national restrictions have been in force in England to control the spread of coronavirus and to limit contacts between households.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1200/pdfs/uksi_20201200_en.pdf" target="_blank">Health Protection Regulation</a> 5(1) states that no person may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse. The exceptions to the restrictions enables people to leave their homes for the purposes of work where it is not possible for them to work from home.</p><p>This exception extends to professionals within the performing arts who are unable to train, rehearse or take part in performances for broadcasting or recording purposes at home. Other than for this purpose, theatres, concert halls and entertainment venues must close.This exemption does not apply to non professional activity within the performing arts in accordance with the wider restrictions.</p><p> </p><p><strong></strong><br><br></p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 11/11/2020 15:55:06 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper