Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) organisations and (b) businesses working for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on becoming accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage employer; and in what format that guidance was issued.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance for the Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (known as the OC) on accreditation as a Living Wage Employer, will be considered as part of work to agree appropriate contractor policies and pay for the Organising Committee and other Games delivery partners.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance he has issued and in what format to anyone connected to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on becoming accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage employer.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance on accreditation as a Living Wage Employer will be considered as part of work to agree appropriate contractor policies and pay for the Organising Committee and other Games delivery partners.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether all (a) directly employed staff and (b) contracted workers for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 will be paid the Real Living Wage; and if the Organising Committee for the games will accredit as a Living Wage Employer with the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games Ltd (known as the OC) is now established in Birmingham. All staff directly employed by the OC are paid at least the 2018 voluntary Living Wage. The OC will be primarily responsible for procuring goods and services for the Games. We are working with the Organising Committee and our other Games Partners to agree the appropriate contractor policies and pay. Consideration of accreditation as a Living Wage Employer will form part of this work.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what threshold cost-to-benefit ratio of the West Midlands Combined Authority 5G roll out proposal is required for his Department to release funding for that proposal.
Answered by Margot James
The Urban Connected Communities (UCC) Project, part of the Government’s 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme, is a research and innovation project to trial new 5G technology, services and applications for the public sector, industry and citizens.
The project is in a mobilisation stage of work. Arrangements for the Department to co-fund projects within UCC are in development. These are planned to include business cases, of which the economic case will be part.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Government funding has been released to the West Midlands Combined Authority to support the roll out of 5G.
Answered by Margot James
The Urban Connected Communities (UCC) Project, part of the Government’s 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme, is a research and innovation project to trial new 5G technology, services and applications for the public sector, industry and citizens.
The Department will make £25 million of funding available over three years, subject to business case approval, for projects within UCC matched with investment from the local public sector and private sector. There is potential for the Department to make available up to an additional £25m over the same time period.
The project is in a mobilisation stage of work, which the Department is co-funding with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). To date, the Department has approved grants of £500K to WMCA, of which £168,600 has been drawn down, WMCA has matched this.