Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of people benefit from the free TV licence for over-75s in (a) North West Durham, (b) North East of England and (c) the UK.
Answered by Margot James
We do not hold this information. The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of fixed-odds betting terminals on gambling addiction rates in North West Durham.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Neither the Department, nor the Gambling Commission, hold information on gambling addiction rates in individual constituencies.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to enhance provision of internet services in the rural areas of North West Durham.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government has committed over £12m to support the Digital Durham Superfast Broadband Project. In 2011, only 0.7% of premises in the North West Durham constituency had access to superfast broadband compared to over 93% of premises today. For all premises that do not have superfast broadband coverage the Government will ensure universal broadband of at least 10Mbps
All homes and businesses which are unable to receive a speed of at least 2Mbps can benefit from support from the Better Broadband Scheme. Further information on the Scheme can be found on our website (https://basicbroadbandchecker.culture.gov.uk/guide-to-better-broadband-subsidy-scheme.pdf).