Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on competition of the decision by Betfred to close on-site bookmakers at UK racecourses.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The provision of on-site bookmakers at racecourses is a commercial matter for the racing and betting industries. Racegoers have access to a variety of betting options at the racecourse including fixed odds betting provided by on-course bookmakers at the side of the track, pool betting provided at the racecourse and online betting via smartphones.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assurances her Department secured in 2011 on the longevity of on-site bookmakers after the sale of the Tote to Betfred.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The provision of on-site bookmakers at racecourses is a commercial matter for the racing and betting industries. Racegoers have access to a variety of betting options at the racecourse including fixed odds betting provided by on-course bookmakers at the side of the track, pool betting provided at the racecourse and online betting via smartphones.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The information requested is already in the public domain. The Office for National Statistics publishes average salary information for each Civil Service Department by gender, and by working pattern. These figures are published as an annual salary.
The Civil Service statistics can be found at:
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which areas of Wales (a) have access to 4G and (b) are planned to receive access to 4G by 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Improving mobile coverage is a priority for Government. Government reached a landmark agreement with mobile network operators in 2014 to provide coverage to 90% of UK landmass, and the licence obligation on Telefonica (O2) will provide indoor 4G coverage to at least 95 per cent of premises in Wales by 2017. Ofcom is responsible for monitoring and enforcing this requirement and publishes coverage information on its online maps available at www.maps.ofcom.org.uk
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with UNESCO on ensuring that world heritage sites (a) are protected from development by extraction industries and (b) encourage eco-tourism.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Officials from DCMS regularly meet with UNESCO, and discuss a range of issues covered in the Department's portfolio.This Government is committed to theprotectionofCulturalHeritage here and abroad.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on the roll out of local television services.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
To date 18 Local TV services have launched across the UK, increasing the range and availability of local news, information and other local programming in areas served.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many fibre broadband hub stations there are in each local government area in Wales; how many such hubs are live; and what the expected roll-out date is for each station.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Superfast broadband coverage in Wales has now reached over 1 million premises, over two-thirds of the total in Wales. 345,000 premises have gained coverage as a result of the Superfast Cymru broadband programme which has funding from the UK government, Welsh Government and European funds.
The contract for Superfast Cymru is not based on delivery of cabinet or exchange upgrades, but instead requires target numbers of premises able to access superfast broadband. A list of exchanges and deployment status by local authority area is available on the Superfast Cymru website: http://www.superfast-cymru.com/where-and-when
Openreach publishes a list of exchanges accepting orders which can be searched at: https://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/