Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of public telephone boxes in rural areas; and what steps they will take to ensure they are maintained in situ in areas with poor mobile signal.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of public telephone boxes to people across the UK. The telephony Universal Service Order requires that certain providers maintain telephony services across the UK, including access to public telephone boxes.
It is for Ofcom to designate the providers subject to this Order and set rules for public telephone boxes, including the rules regarding their removal. Ofcom estimates that there are 1500 public telephone boxes in areas with poor mobile coverage, many of which will be rural.
Ofcom has recently announced a consultation designed to strengthen these rules. Ofcom’s proposals include a criterion that protects public telephone boxes where they do not have coverage from all four mobile network providers.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend eligibility for Orchestra Tax Relief to include work created for paying online audiences.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, and regularly receives proposals for changes to tax reliefs. When considering proposed changes, HM Treasury must ensure they provide support to businesses across the economy in a fair way and represent good value for money for the taxpayer.
In 2019-20, the Government provided £18 million of support to 565 productions through the Orchestra Tax Relief.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many non-medical directors employed in NHS Hospital Trusts and NHS England earn more than the Prime Minister.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
There are 361 non-medical directors employed by either foundation or non-foundation National Health Service hospital trusts who earned more than £142,500, the prime minister’s salary in 2015, in the 12 months to the end of December 2016. The data produced by NHS Digital is based on total earnings which is basic salary plus any additional payments.
NHS England employs 17 non-medical directors who earn more than £142,500 and the data produced by NHS England is based on basic pay and has been adjusted for part-time hours.
The term non-medical directors has been defined as those having a job role as a director or chief executive and does not include non-executive directors, medical directors or those staff with a medical occupation code.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Retail Ombudsman was given Cabinet Office approval to use the word "ombudsman" in their title; on what date any such approval was given; and whether the Cabinet Office guidance on ombudsman schemes was followed.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Retail Ombudsman has been set up independently of Government and is a non-statutory organisation aiming to provide alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the retail sector. While anyone is free to set up a business providing ADR, ‘ombudsman’ is a sensitive word whose use in a company or business name requires prior approval by the Secretary of State. No approval has yet been given to the Retail Ombudsman to use this word.
Companies House and BIS are updating their procedures to ensure that the approval process deals with private sector applications to use this word.