Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 31 January (HL5527), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, further to the tweet by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 16 January where she stated that “this licence fee announcement will be the last”, whether they intend this to be the last time the BBC licence fee is renewed.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State’s announcement to Parliament on 17 January made clear that this was the start of the process and that no decisions have been taken at this stage.
The statement can be seen on Hansard.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the tweet by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 16 January where she stated that “this licence fee announcement will be the last”, whether they intend this to be the last time the BBC licence fee is renewed.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has committed to maintain the current licence fee funding model for the duration of this 11-year Charter period, i.e. until 2027.
As the Secretary of State has made clear, we will be reviewing the licence fee funding model well in advance of the next Charter period.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) body, or (2) individual, is accountable for the delivery of gigabyte-capable broadband for all by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
DCMS is the lead Government department for the delivery of gigabit capable broadband, working closely with the telecommunications industry and other Government departments.
Government is delivering a number of reforms to make it easier for the private sector to deploy gigabit broadband. For example, the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord. The Government also intends to bring forward legislation to ensure new build homes have the infrastructure to support gigabit capable connections. In addition, the Government intends to invest £5 billion of funding to deliver faster broadband in the hardest to reach areas of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require technology companies selling consumer devices to state at the point of sale how long they will continue to provide software updates which will allow such devices to continue to function.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 27 January 2020, DCMS published a response to their regulatory consultation on increasing the baseline cyber security of Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) security.
The regulatory proposals advocated that all consumer IoT devices embed important security requirements. These requirements are set out in the Code of Practice for Consumer IoT Security, published by my department in March 2018, and ETSI TS 103 645, the first globally applicable standard for consumer IoT security.
One of these guidelines would require manufacturers of IoT devices to explicitly state the minimum length of time for which the device will receive security updates, with that information clearly displayed at the point of sale.
Responses to the consultation showed widespread support for the introduction of such a baseline, as a significant step towards protecting consumers and enabling the IoT sector to grow and flourish. As such, DCMS are seeking to bring forward legislation to mandate these guidelines as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 13 December (HL11924), what is their assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the prohibition on the sale of devices which interfere with the legitimate use of spectrum, in the light of the ongoing advertisement of GPS jammers on eBay.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government has not made such an assessment. Enforcement is a matter for Ofcom, as the independent regulator.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 27 November (HL11428), what steps they are taking to ensure the relevant enforcement agencies are taking action to prevent the open sale of low-cost GPS jammers on services such as eBay.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ofcom has an arrangement with services such as eBay to have listings for jammers of all types to be removed and is in regular contact with vendors to remove listings that are placed.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ban the sale of electronic jammers which can be used to disable tracker devices on stolen vehicles and agricultural equipment.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
It is currently prohibited under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 to sell any such devices which interfere with legitimate use of spectrum or to otherwise place them on the market.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings by Which? that broadband services to British households are on average 51 per cent slower than the maximum advertised.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) found that allowing companies to advertise headline ‘up to’ broadband speeds - which only need to be available to 10% of customers - was misleading.
As a result, the ASA has announced that numerical speed claims should be based on the download speed available to at least 50% of customers at peak time, and described as ‘average’. This guidance came into effect from 23 May 2018, and has been welcomed by Which?
In addition, Ofcom has amended its code of practice on broadband speeds. From March 2019, Ofcom will require companies to provide customers with a minimum guaranteed speed and more realistic speed estimates for peak times at the point of sale. If a customer's broadband speed falls below the minimum guaranteed speed, the provider will have a month to improve speed, after which customers will have the right to exit their contract without paying a penalty.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the governance of English football.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Football Association is required to comply with the highest standards of sports governance as set out in Sport England and UK Sport's A Code for Sports Governance. The FA, along with all other National Governing Bodies of sport, had until the 31st October to demonstrate that they comply with the Code.
Sport England and UK Sport will be assessing the evidence provided by the FA shortly to determine whether or not the FA is Code compliant. Any organisation found to be non-compliant will be at risk of having their public funding removed.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Her Majesty's Government what is the percentage of premises reached by ultrafast broadband in the UK; and how that penetration compares with (1) Japan, (2) South Korea, (3) the US, (4) France, and (5) Germany.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ultrafast broadband - referring to speeds of 100 megabits per second and above - is currently available to around 52% of premises in the UK, according to thinkbroadband.com. Internationally, this compares to coverage in:
South Korea: 100%;
Japan: 98%;
USA: 68%;
Germany: 64%, and;
France: 28%.
As well as growing ultrafast coverage the UK has the has the cheapest available fixed broadband services at superfast speeds compared to major European competitors. The UK’s average being quoted at £45 per month, compared to £68 per month in Italy, who were the most expensive.
We are keen to support further investment in ultrafast services and facilitate the expansion of full fibre networks. This is why, at Autumn Statement 2016, we announced £1.1 billion to funding to boost the UK’s digital infrastructure.