Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she Department has made of the potential impact of Performing Right Society licensing fees on the profitability of microbusinesses, freelancers and sole traders, particularly those with low turnover or earnings below the income tax threshold.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Performing Right Society Limited (PRS) is a collective management organisation (CMO) and a private commercial entity and the Government does not regulate its commercial affairs. Consequently, the Department has not made an impact assessment in relation to PRS's commercial licensing fees.
Licence fees are usually the outcome of negotiation between a CMO and a trade body representing potential licensees in a sector. Prospective licensees have recourse to the Copyright Tribunal if dissatisfied with the terms of a licence, and the Tribunal’s decisions can be appealed in the High Court or the Court of Session in Scotland.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what oversight exists of tribunal decisions relating to Performing Right Society licensing fees; and what criteria are used to determine whether such fees represent fair and reasonable usage costs for small businesses and sole traders.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Performing Right Society Limited (PRS) is a collective management organisation (CMO) and a private commercial entity and the Government does not regulate its commercial affairs. Consequently, the Department has not made an impact assessment in relation to PRS's commercial licensing fees.
Licence fees are usually the outcome of negotiation between a CMO and a trade body representing potential licensees in a sector. Prospective licensees have recourse to the Copyright Tribunal if dissatisfied with the terms of a licence, and the Tribunal’s decisions can be appealed in the High Court or the Court of Session in Scotland.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with the pharmaceutical sector on promoting research and development investment in the UK.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Officials and Ministers from the department meet regularly with representatives from the pharmaceutical sector, including on investment in research & development.
This includes engagement on the Life Sciences Sector Plan, which sets out the Government’s 10-year strategy to grow the UK’s Life Sciences sector and drive inward investment. The plan includes clear actions that will support R&D – from our commitment to reduce the set-up time for commercial clinical trials to fewer than 150 days, through to establishing a national Health Data Research Service together with the Wellcome Trust, backed by £600 million. Going further, in September, the Government launched the Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund, backed by £50m, which aims to support major R&D investments in the UK.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his Department's policy is on the personal use of IT equipment to access the internet through (a) desktops and (b) wifi by (i) staff and (ii) Ministers.
Answered by Feryal Clark
All users within the department must adhere to our IT Acceptable Use Policy which details how departmental IT should be used. Departmental provided internet access, corporate IT and email services are intended for business use. Limited personal use is permitted where this is not detrimental to the department. All staff and ministers are accountable for their actions while using departmental IT.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how frequently his Department reviews compliance costs for the technology sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Sections 28–31 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set the legislative requirements for the inclusion of statutory review provisions in secondary legislation, including that a report of the first review must be published within five years of the relevant legislation's commencement date and subsequent reports published at intervals not exceeding five years. In the absence of a review provision, the post-implementation review statutory guidance made under section 31 of the act states that policies should still be subject to proportionate monitoring, evaluation and non-statutory review, where appropriate.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to commission external reviews of digital compliance regulations.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government's independent regulators regularly review regulations and provide their independent recommendations to the Secretary of State to ensure that these regulations are effective and support businesses within the sector.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the migration of analogue phone lines to digital voice over internet protocol on elderly people in the Isle of Wight East constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is determined to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated, for all customers across the UK.
A definition of vulnerable customers who may require additional support in the context of the PSTN switch-off was published in November 2024. It includes those who are telecare users and those dependent on their landline. Any customer, including the elderly, can also self-identify as requiring additional support.
Communication providers and network operators signed voluntary charters in December 2023 and March 2024, committing to protect vulnerable consumers during the PSTN switch-off. On 18 November 2024, the major communication providers agreed to adhere to further safeguards set out in the non-voluntary migrations checklist before restarting non-voluntary migration of customers.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) enforce compliance with the checklist for communication providers; and how customers will be informed of their rights and the safeguards in place during the migration to Voice over Internet Protocol.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The PSTN switch-off is an industry-led process. As per the checklist the Government is meeting with communications providers before they restart non-voluntary migrations to ensure they are meeting the checklist commitments. The Government is engaging regularly with the signatories of the PSTN Charter to monitor their PSTN switch-off plans and progress and compliance with the checklist.
The Government and Ofcom are engaging regularly with the industry to monitor their plans for raising awareness on the PSTN switch-off. Ofcom has placed an obligation on communications providers to engage in effective communication with customers about any change to their service.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many (a) internal policy reviews, (b) independent reviews, (c) external reviews, (d) taskforces, (e) public consultations, (f) investigations and (g) other reviews their Department launched between 5 July 2024 and 5 January 2025; what the titles were of those reviews; and how many of those reviews have been (i) completed and (ii) published.
Answered by Feryal Clark
This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.
As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.
Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.