Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to fund the monitoring work of the BBC directly through grant in aid.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The BBC is responsible for the funding, staffing and administration of the Monitoring service, which is provided under a specific agreement between the BBC and government, with the Cabinet Office being the lead department. The monitoring service is funded through the licence fee and there are no plans to change this arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a broadband universal service obligation for businesses.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Government has committed to putting in place a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) by the end of this Parliament. Once in place the USO will act as a safety net, giving both households and businesses the legal right to request an affordable broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps (Megabits per second). A connection speed of 10 Mbps will support many small businesses, and will help them make an even greater contribution to our economy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which regulator will have responsibility and oversight of the planned Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Under paragraphs 106 -119 of the Communications Act 2003 OFCOM are responsible for application of the Code to electronic communications providers.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the planned new Electronic Communications Code will be a statutory code.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The existing Electronic Communications Code is already enshrined in primary legislation, it is currently set out at Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Act 2003.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to introduce a new Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Government published full details of its proposals for a new Electronic Communications Code on 17 May 2016. The new Code will form part of the Digital Economy Bill, which was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 18 May 2016 and is due to be introduced during the current Parliamentary session.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (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 minimum broadband speeds required to help British businesses remain competitive in a global economy.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of broadband access throughout the UK for businesses in remaining globally competitive. That is why the Review into Business Broadband, jointly led by BIS and DCMS, was announced on 24 February to explore the barriers faced by businesses in accessing the affordable, high-speed broadband they need. That Review is ongoing and will report later this year.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish results against each of the key performance indicators highlighted in the policy document <i>Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation</i>.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Information on the key performance indicators set out in Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation will be included in the annual progress report to parliament planned for December 2016. It will include results of surveys, including Active Lives and Taking Part, and competitions, like the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be available in the course of the year.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (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 European Commission's recommendation that spectrum should be harmonised and allocated across all 28 member states as part of the Digital Single Market.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Government is currently assessing the risks and benefits of such harmonisation to inform its response to the public consultation and subsequent proposals.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when and how they intend to deliver the legislative changes identified in the policy paper Connectivity, Content and Consumers—Britain's digital platform for growth, published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in July 2013.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Connectivity, Content and Consumers paper set out the Government�s vision and strategy for the communications sector. As well as a range of non-legislative measures, it proposed a small number of targeted, incremental legislative changes. Government is in the process of implementing these proposals. We have introduced Secondary Legislation to enable Ofcom to share information with the Information Commissioner�s Office about organisations that may be breaking the rules. We are also in the process of introducing Secondary Legislation to ensure that video-on-demand material that would be rated R18 by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is put behind access controls, and to ban the provision of video-on-demand material that would not receive any classification by the BBFC.
Other legislative measures will be taken forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.