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1581968

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
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	Telephone Systems: 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, with reference to telecommunication providers transitioning from analogue to digital landlines, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of that transition on rural communities.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	135333
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2023 answer text <p>The analogue landline network, also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is privately owned and the decision to upgrade it has been taken by the telecoms industry. That said, DCMS is working closely with industry to ensure nobody is adversely affected by the upgrade, including the small number of rural areas which have limited digital connectivity. I chaired an industry roundtable in January to discuss how best to raise public awareness for the migration.</p><p>The replacement Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services require a minimum stable connection speed of just 0.5Mbps in order to function correctly. As a result, rural communities with limited digital connectivity can also be upgraded to digital telephony services. For current landline-only customers, it will be possible to order a VoIP landline without purchasing a general internet connection. Moreover, the migration from analogue landlines does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers, BT and KCOM, to offer telephony services throughout the UK.</p><p>Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. Ofcom has published <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/123118/guidance-emergency-access-power-cut.pdf" target="_blank">guidance</a> which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers, including consumers in rural communities who are dependent on their landline. This guidance states that providers should have at least one solution available that enables access to emergency organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage. The solution should be suitable for customers needs and should be offered free of charge.</p><p>DCMS is also working hard to improve rural connectivity through the £5 billion Project Gigabit programme and the £1 billion Shared Rural Network.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 07/02/2023 10:53:02 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1581969

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
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	Television Licences: 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, how many black and white television licenses were issued in the Solihull constituency in 2022.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	135334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2023 answer text <p>Under the Communications Act 2003 a fee for a television licence is payable to the BBC. The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the Government. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations and therefore does not hold the data requested.</p><p>The BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22 states that 4,000 black and white (monochrome) licences were in force as of 31 March 2022. The report does not break down this figure on a regional basis, so I recommend that you raise your query directly with the BBC if you wish to request further information about black and white television licences.</p><p>TV Licensing can be contacted by telephone on 0300 790 0368 or in writing at TV Licensing, Darlington, DL98 1TL. Other methods of contacting TV Licensing are set out on its website: <a href="https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/contact-us/index.app" target="_blank">https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/contact-us/index.app</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 07/02/2023 09:59:09 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1581970

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Commonwealth Games 2022
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 has made an assessment of the economic benefits of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	135335
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2023 answer text <p>DCMS has recently published an independent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games-interim-evaluation-report" target="_blank">interim evaluation report</a> on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on gov.uk. This report estimates that the short-term impact of the Games contributed £870.7 million GVA (gross) to the UK economy, with even more positive impact to follow.</p><p>The report focuses on short-term economic impacts for Birmingham, the West Midlands and wider UK economy generated through the planning and delivery of the Games, as well as through visitor spend.</p><p>Findings show over half of the estimated gross GVA (£453.7 million) was generated in the West Midlands, with at least £214.6 million (gross) of this within Birmingham itself.</p><p>This is the second of three reports measuring the short- and medium-term benefits of hosting the Games. The first was published in November 2021, and the final report - which will include the full impact of the Games - will be published in early 2024.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 07/02/2023 10:51:23 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1581976

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
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	Sports: 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 of the impact of inflation on sporting infrastructure projects.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	135338
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2023 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to ensuring that communities across the UK have the sporting facilities they need. We are investing over £300 million between 2022 and 2025 on multi-sport facilities, as well as an additional £22 million on tennis courts in local parks between 2022 and 2024.</p><p>Planning for these programmes factors in the impact of inflation - including the increases in energy costs, construction costs, and the cost of certain materials, such as steel and imported wood. We work closely with delivery partners to understand and assess these impacts in order to ensure these programmes - and similar non-government investment into elite and grassroots sporting infrastructure - continue to deliver for local communities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 07/02/2023 16:29:20 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1582000

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
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: Public Opinion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which Minister or official authorised the Counter Disinformation Unit to collect data related to public statements, social media and internet activity as part of the unit's work.
tabling member constituency	Haltemprice and Howden
tabling member printed	Mr David Davis
uin	135139
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2023 answer text <p>The Counter Disinformation Unit was established in 2019 as part of DCMS’s departmental responsibility for counter-disinformation, and as part of the government's manifesto commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending freedom of expression.</p><p>The monitoring of harmful disinformation narratives and trends, using publicly available information online, is an essential part of DCMS’ role in understanding the information environment and working with partners across government and with social media companies to counter narratives that have the potential to cause real world harm. The CDU reports regularly to ministers who have full oversight of the team’s work.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 02/02/2023 17:05:52 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	373 label Biography information for Sir David Davis

1582070

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
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	Music Venues: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with representatives of large (a) arenas, (b) stadiums and (c) festivals on providing financial support to grassroots music venues.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	135177
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2023 answer text <p>Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which are the lifeblood and research and development centres of our world-leading music sector.</p><p>DCMS is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues at every level. We work with industry and across Government to improve the sector's economic resilience to future economic shocks, as we did through the pandemic, and we continue to engage with the sector on the impact of current pressures. We are also supporting the sector through the Energy Bills Support Scheme and will continue to do so through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme until Spring 2024.</p><p>We will shortly be publishing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will set out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support all parts of the creative sector to 2030. We look forward to working with the music industry to deliver on these objectives.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 07/02/2023 11:10:39 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1581508

registered interest
date	27/01/2023
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	Music Venues: Tax Allowances
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 she will extend social investment tax relief to grassroots music venues.
tabling member constituency	Bolton West
tabling member printed	Chris Green
uin	134011
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) was introduced in the Finance Bill in 2014. It aims to incentivise individuals to invest in organisations (‘social enterprises’) whose trading activities seek to generate profit and bring social or community benefit.</p><p>Eligibility criteria and guidance on how to apply for the relief scheme can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-social-investment-tax-relief#trades." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-social-investment-tax-relief#trades.</a></p><p>Most profit seeking commercial trades qualify for the relief, and the criteria do not explicitly rule out grassroots music venues from receiving it. However, if your trade includes things like including property development or leasing activities, your enterprise may not qualify for SITR on the basis certain trades are often asset backed or have predictable or guaranteed revenue streams, making them lower risk. In turn, this could divert capital away from higher-risk enterprises that genuinely struggle to raise finance.</p><p>The Government keeps SITR under review in order to ensure it continues to meet its policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 06/02/2023 17:00:34 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4398 label Biography information for Chris Green

1581510

registered interest
date	27/01/2023
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	Musicians: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) support new and emerging talent performing at grassroots music venues and (b) improve funding opportunities.
tabling member constituency	Bolton West
tabling member printed	Chris Green
uin	134013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting emerging musical talent and our grassroots music venues, which are the lifeblood of our world-leading music sector.</p><p>The Government is supporting grassroots music through Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Live Music (SGLM) ring fenced fund of £1.5m. The fund is designed for organisations - including venues and promoters - with little or no prior experience of public funding applications. <br> <br>DCMS supported culture, including grassroots music, during Covid-19 through the unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). In England, the CRF provided immediate assistance to prevent 136 of our most loved and enduring grassroots music venues closing their doors for good.</p><p>In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has provided support to all businesses across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including grassroots music venues, protecting all non-domestic consumers from soaring energy costs, cutting the cost of power bills and providing them with the certainty they needed to plan through the acute crisis this winter. We will continue to do so through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme until Spring 2024.</p><p>The Government also supports new and emerging talent through a range of export support programmes, including the successful Music Export Growth Scheme and the International Showcase Fund.</p><p>DCMS and the Department for Education jointly published the National Plan for Music Education in June 2022, which sets out the Government’s vision to enable all children and young people in England to have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.</p><p>Finally, DCMS is also developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will set out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support this high-growth sector to 2030.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 06/02/2023 16:59:34 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4398 label Biography information for Chris Green

1581511

registered interest
date	27/01/2023
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: Prices
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 she has received representations from (a) industry representatives and (b) consumers on BT Openreach’s proposed increase in the price of wholesale broadband; and what steps Ofcom can take under the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review to alter the level of the increase.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	133972
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>Price regulation in the telecoms market is a matter for Ofcom as an independent regulator. Openreach’s prices are fixed by Ofcom as part of their five-year Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR) process and have been allowed to increase by CPI in order to reflect the significant additional costs faced when deploying new physical infrastructure. There are no plans to change the WFTMR until 2026. This is in line with industry requests for long-term stable regulation that incentivises competition and investment in the fixed telecoms market in order to increase the coverage of gigabit-capable networks as quickly as possible. This approach has been successful, with over 80 companies investing approximately £35 billion to connect premises across the UK.</p><p>The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom, published in 2019, states that we want to see regulation that incentivises network investment and ensures fair and effective competition between new and existing network operators. The Department regularly meets with Ofcom at all levels to discuss progress against its strategic priorities. My officials also regularly engage with representatives across the telecoms sector. On wholesale price increases specifically, the Department has received representations from both industry members and consumer groups.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 06/02/2023 17:02:00 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1581577

registered interest
date	27/01/2023
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	British Evacuees Association
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 provide support to the British Evacuees Association.
tabling member constituency	Dartford
tabling member printed	Gareth Johnson
uin	133983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>With government support, charities and civil society organisations have shown significant resilience over the past few years.</p><p>Government is supporting all organisations, including charities such as the British Evacuees Association, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.</p><p>Whilst it is not usual for DCMS to provide direct funding to individual charities, the department will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector to monitor the impact of rising costs, and signposting to other sources of funding where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 06/02/2023 17:07:45 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	3970 label Biography information for Gareth Johnson