Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reforms to the Electronic Communications Code enable tenants in properties in Fylde to access full fibre broadband.
Answered by Matt Warman
My department published a consultation in January 2021 asking whether further reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are needed in order to ensure the Code provides the right legislative framework to promote fast, cost effective network provision across the UK. The consultation covered a range of issues, including matters relating to negotiations and dispute resolution, rights to upgrade and share apparatus and problems relating to the renewal of expired agreements.
This consultation closed on 24 March 2021. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the possible outcomes of the consultation at this stage, as responses are being considered. The consultation response will be published in due course and we will bring legislation forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.
The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act gained Royal Assent in March 2021. This Act aims to address one stated policy barrier: making it easier for telecoms companies to access multi-dwelling buildings (such as blocks of flats) where a tenant has requested a new connection, but the landlord has not responded to requests for access rights.
The Act inserts a new Part 4A to the Electronic Communication Code, which provides a process that telecommunications operators could use to gain code rights to multi-dwelling premises for a defined period. This only applies where:
a lessee in occupation in a multi-dwelling building has requested a telecommunications service from an operator
to connect the property the telecoms operator requires an access agreement with another person such as the landlord
the landlord has not responded to the telecoms operator’s request for access
My department has also recently launched a consultation, which seeks views on the terms that will accompany the interim Code rights provided to operators who have successfully applied for an order made under Part 4A of the Electronic Communications Code. This consultation closes on Wednesday 4 August. Responses will be considered and the consultation response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 need to reform the Electronic Communications Code to enable people in Fylde constituency to access full fibre broadband.
Answered by Matt Warman
My department published a consultation in January 2021 asking whether further reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are needed in order to ensure the Code provides the right legislative framework to promote fast, cost effective network provision across the UK. The consultation covered a range of issues, including matters relating to negotiations and dispute resolution, rights to upgrade and share apparatus and problems relating to the renewal of expired agreements.
This consultation closed on 24 March 2021. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the possible outcomes of the consultation at this stage, as responses are being considered. The consultation response will be published in due course and we will bring legislation forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.
The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act gained Royal Assent in March 2021. This Act aims to address one stated policy barrier: making it easier for telecoms companies to access multi-dwelling buildings (such as blocks of flats) where a tenant has requested a new connection, but the landlord has not responded to requests for access rights.
The Act inserts a new Part 4A to the Electronic Communication Code, which provides a process that telecommunications operators could use to gain code rights to multi-dwelling premises for a defined period. This only applies where:
a lessee in occupation in a multi-dwelling building has requested a telecommunications service from an operator
to connect the property the telecoms operator requires an access agreement with another person such as the landlord
the landlord has not responded to the telecoms operator’s request for access
My department has also recently launched a consultation, which seeks views on the terms that will accompany the interim Code rights provided to operators who have successfully applied for an order made under Part 4A of the Electronic Communications Code. This consultation closes on Wednesday 4 August. Responses will be considered and the consultation response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote the UK as a tourist destination abroad and (b) attract more foreign visitors to (i) smaller towns and (ii) coastal areas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are currently working with VisitBritain, VisitEngland and local partners to champion England’s diverse tourism offer through the Enjoy Summer Safely campaign. Last year the Government spent £19 million on domestic marketing activity, such as the Enjoy Summer Safely campaign, and much more is planned for this year. The Government will work with VisitBritain to welcome back international visitors as soon as it is safe to do so.
More broadly, the Tourism Recovery Plan will set out a long-term framework for how the Government will work with the sector to build back better from the pandemic and develop a more sustainable, innovative, and data-driven tourism industry, including in coastal areas. The Levelling Up Fund, the 83 Towns Deals and the City and Growth Deals in Scotland and Wales show that the Government is investing in tourism infrastructure across the Union, helping towns and coastal areas further develop their tourism offers.
In recent years, the £45m Discover England Fund has supported the development of multiple internationally marketed tourism products in Lancashire, such as VisitBritain’s Gateway Partnership with Manchester Airport.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve home broadband connections for people in (a) rural and (b) semi-rural locations who are continuing to work from home.
Answered by Matt Warman
DCMS are working tirelessly to improve home broadband connections. £2.6bn public funding is committed to subsidising the roll-out of broadband infrastructure in harder-to-reach areas through the government's Superfast Broadband programme. The original programme target of 95% was achieved and we have continued beyond this to greater than 96%.
Over 96.6% of UK premises have access to superfast (30Mbps) broadband, with 5.3 million additional homes and businesses in both rural and semi-rural areas having superfast broadband available for the first time thanks to the government’s investment in the Superfast programme. (Source: ThinkBroadband)
Blackpool has recently completed an LFFN project, which has enabled the development of a full fibre broadband network throughout Blackpool comprising the re-use of existing Blackpool network assets, the build of an additional 20.678km underground duct infrastructure and the installation of 54.5km of fibre optic cables. The project has enabled business and consumers across the authority access to Gigabit services as part of the deployment of the network.
The Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme, launched in May 2019 acting as the first step towards piloting the “Outside-In” approach identified in the FTIR. The programme was set up to trial the LFFN PSBU delivery mechanism, to provide gigabit capable connectivity to public sector buildings (Hubs), along with vouchers to eligible residential and business premises in rural and remote areas. The RGC programme is combining both demand and supply-side interventions.
The programme focused on targeting Hubs located within the Final 10% & 20% of least commercially viable areas across the UK identified through DCMS modelling (This was originally only the F10%, however this was altered to the F20% following the Year 2 business case submission to HMT in March 2020).
The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme was a pilot which has enabled us to test different approaches to stimulate the broadband market and to support the installation of gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses; it has been very successful and we're going to build on this success with a new voucher in April, while also taking the opportunity to refine our approach to ensure that we focus support on the hardest to reach premises.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to online hate speech posted on social media using country-specific language or tropes which might not be identifiable as such elsewhere or via an algorithm, whether the online harms Bill will include a requirement for social media companies to operate specific UK moderating teams which will be able to recognise country-specific language.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As part of the new online harms regulatory framework, Ofcom will set out how companies can fulfil their duty of care via codes of practice. The codes will outline the systems and processes companies must have in place to keep their users safe, including procedures on the training and support of human moderators.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department took to ensure that the distribution of the £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund was as wide and as fair as possible.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Each Arms Length Body, Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the British Film Institute, is responsible for delivering the Fund. They were chosen due to their long established grant delivery role, their expertise and understanding of the sectors in which they operate.
They are overseen by the independent Culture Recovery Board, chaired by Sir Damon Buffini. The board has an advisory role in the delivery of the larger grants, makes final decisions on the repayable finance applications, and provides assurance that the criteria is being used consistently across each part of the Fund.
As well as financial and cultural significance criteria, applications are also considered against balancing criteria, including ensuring a geographical spread of successful applicants
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote (a) the North and (b) Lancashire as tourist destinations.
Answered by Michael Ellis
VisitEngland administers the £40m Discover England Fund, supporting the development of innovative and bookable tourism product across England to international markets. For example, the “Discover More Than Just A Holiday” project, led by Marketing Lancashire and “Buzzing For The Weekend”, led by Warrington Council.
VisitBritain also has a Gateway Partnership with Manchester Airport, promoting Manchester as a gateway to the North of England, encouraging visitors to choose Manchester, the North of England and Northern Wales as their destination.
ExploreGB will be held in Harrogate this May, promoting UK tourism product to over 200 international buyers from over 30 countries. Destinations from the North of England will be attending this event, promoting their products face to face.
The proposed Tourism Sector Deal aims to improve productivity in the tourism industry across the country through a range of initiatives. The sector and the Government are currently in formal negotiations over the deal and we hope to be able to provide further information in due course.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the UK as a tourist destination abroad.
Answered by Michael Ellis
VisitBritain are responsible for marketing Britain to the international market and do so through a variety of campaigns. This is a statutory duty under the Development of Tourism Act 1969. For example in 2018, they launched their ‘I travel for…’ global marketing campaign using short films and story-telling to highlight less explored parts of the country.
VisitEngland administer the£40m Discover England Fund which invests in innovate, bookable products aimed at specific international markets around the world.
VisitEngland also use English Tourism Week to promote English tourism product through social media channels, working with Government to create impactful posts to a large audience.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to enable the BBC to introduce subscription charges for viewing content on its iPlayer outside the UK.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Under the new BBC Charter and Framework Agreement the BBC are able to trial international subscription models, and now it is a matter for the BBC to progress this.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what mechanisms are in place to represent the interests of consumers in relation to the extent of mobile telephone coverage and prices in the event of changes to the number of mobile network operators.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Communications Act 2003 places a principal duty on Ofcom to further the interests of citizens and of consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition. Ofcom set and enforce regulatory rules for the communications sector and have powers to enforce competition law in those sectors, alongside the Competition and Markets Authority. The competition authorities will take all relevant evidence on market circumstances, including market consolidation moves and any remedies elsewhere, into account when considering mergers and acquisitions that affect the UK market.
Under the infrastructure report, Ofcom will continue to report to my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the coverage of communications networks across the UK and its nations, including publishing detailed maps of mobile network availability by operator. On 18 December my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a landmark agreement with the mobile network operators that they would extend mobile coverage to 90% of UK landmass by the end of 2017. This became a legally binding obligation in January 2015 through an amendment to the spectrum licences held by the mobile network operators.