Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on extending the range of professional cycling disciplines that can qualify for managed isolation exemption letters from British Cycling to include downhill mountain biking.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) Regulations 2021 and the elite sport stage 4 guidance on return to cross-border competition sets the framework for elite sports exemptions to self-isolation.
It is for the National Governing Body to determine which disciplines or athletes meet the definitions within the legislation, and to issue the written evidence required to benefit from the exemption.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Gambling Commission on the regulation of the naming of gambling products in response to the suspension of Football Index's licence.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Gambling Commission has suspended the licence of BetIndex Ltd, the operators of Football Index, while it carries out an investigation. I have met the Commission to discuss the situation.
Regarding rules on the naming of gambling products, the Commission requires operators to act in a way that meets the licensing objectives to be fair and open. They are also required to present their products in a way that is compliant with Advertising Standards Authority rules regarding advertising and marketing. Where the ASA determines an operator has presented its products in a way that is in breach of these rules, the Commission can also consider whether further regulatory action is required as a result.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with Ofcom on clarifying consumer pricing regulations in relation to mobile operators' advertised spending caps to help ensure that consumers are aware when they are being connected to a service with a network access charge not included in their spending cap.
Answered by Matt Warman
Mobile bill limits were introduced by the Digital Economy Act 2017, and came into effect from October 2018. Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of this obligation. Prior to this requirement taking effect, to help consumer awareness, Ofcom published guidance on its website.
Mobile phone providers are required, under the legislation, to allow their customers to set a monthly spending cap for the services they provide, and send a notification when they are nearing limits. This means that for calls, such as to premium rate services, the ‘access charge’ is covered, i.e. the cost of the mobile operator to connect the call, but not the ‘service charge’, the actual cost of the service. To ensure consumers are aware of this facility, mobile operators allow their customers to set bill limits when signing up to services, and some providers also allow customers to set bill limits on all services, including third party services charged to their mobile.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Ofcom and the (b) Phone-paid Services Authority on improving regulation of companies selling turn key premium phone line (i) services and (ii) software to third parties.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) is the UK regulator for content, goods and services that are charged to a phone bill. The PSA is reviewing and updating its Code of Practice - the regulatory framework that companies offering phone-paid services to UK consumers have to follow. The PSA will consult on a draft revised Code of Practice in 2021, which Ofcom has to approve before it can come into force. The PSA keeps DCMS and Ofcom informed of the progress of the review.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for reaching the Government target of full fibre broadband for all people by 2025 of the provisions in the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review; and whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of the wider proposals in that review.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government remains committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. Over 3.5 million premises (or 12% of the UK) can access gigabit capable broadband according to the latest Ofcom figures, compared to 7% a year ago. Gigabit coverage is even higher at 20%, or one in five UK premises, as a result of Virgin Media’s upgrades of its existing cable network.
We support industry’s plans to deliver gigabit broadband to the most commercial parts of the UK (c.80% of the country) and will continue to take action to remove barriers to deployment to help them deliver this by 2025.
It will be more difficult to deliver gigabit connectivity to the hardest to reach 20% of the country by 2025. This is why we have committed a record £5 billion of capital funding to support deployment in these areas.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish further details on (a) how the £5 billion fund for rural roll-out will be allocated to support the roll-out of full fibre broadband and (b) what share of that funding will be allocated to Scotland.
Answered by Matt Warman
We are currently developing the pipeline of premises for initial deployment under the £5 billion investment into gigabit-capable broadband. To ensure these are successfully delivered, we need to consult plans with industry, Local Bodies and Devolved Administrations. We plan to publish the first draft pipeline later this year.
The £5bn programme will deliver to the hardest to reach premises in the UK. These are disproportionately situated in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland given their rurality. It is too early in our programme design process to provide figures of how much funding each region will receive from the programme. However, the funding will be allocated based on the number of eligible premises in that area, as opposed to the Barnett Formula.
Before we can confirm the share of the funding which will be allocated to Scotland we need the R100 programme, the Scottish superfast broadband programme, to complete its procurement phase so that we can determine which specific premises are in scope for R100 and therefore what remains to be done with funding from the £5bn. We are working with the Scottish Government to align our interventions.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, announced in Spring Budget 2017.
Answered by Margot James
The LFFN programme has engaged regularly with Scottish government officials on the overall programme and on specific initiatives, and collaborated with Scottish Government to run a joint regional event in December 2017 for Scottish Local Authorities, advising them how to bid into the £190m Challenge Fund. We are also in regular discussion with the Scottish Government around the R100 Programme, to ensure alignment between our programmes.
LFFN is delivering significant benefits in Scotland. Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire was selected as a pilot areas ahead of the launch of the £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The Highlands of Scotland were one of the successful bidders announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in 2018, and we are also currently in communication with several Scottish Local Authorities regarding their interest in bidding for the next round of the Challenge Fund.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department is making on the implementation of the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, announced in Spring Budget 2017.
Answered by Margot James
Following its announcement in the Spring 2017 Budget, the LFFN programme invested £10m in market trials of its full fibre stimulation approach across the country.
After evaluation of these trials, in November 2017 LFFN launched its £190m Challenge Fund, designed to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the whole of the UK. Local bodies were invited to submit formal bids, and the first round of funding was allocated to 13 successful bidders that were announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in March 2018.
In March 2018 LFFN also delivered on a manifesto commitment with the launch of its £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme for small to medium sized businesses and the local communities around them across the UK.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a statutory social tariff for broadband services.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We are committed to introducing a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) within this Parliament. The USO will give households and businesses the legal right to request a broadband connection with speeds of at least 10 Megabits, no matter where they live or work.
Ofcom are preparing advice and recommendations for Government on the design of the broadband USO, and we have asked them specifically to consider a social tariff to make sure it is affordable for all. Ofcom will report on its findings by the end of the year and we will consider them as part of our decision.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government makes available to businesses to (a) prevent and (b) recover from cyber-attacks.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The cyber security of the UK is a top priority for the Government which is why we are investing £1.9 billion to protect the nation in cyber space. The new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is helping to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. The NCSC is the UK’s authority on cyber security and aims to reduce risks to the UK by working with businesses to improve their cyber security.
The Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme shows businesses how to protect themselves against common cyber attacks and the ‘Ten Steps to Cyber Security” guidance shows organisations how to manage cyber risk and prevent attacks. The NCSC’s Cyber Security Incident Response scheme (CSIR) helps businesses deal with and recover from a cyber incident. A wide range of Government guidance, support and training is available via the NCSC and on www.gov.uk.