Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of complex broadband and mobile contract negotiations on (a) older customers and (b) people with vulnerabilities.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department has not recently made any such assessment, however, we remain committed to supporting vulnerable and older consumers. We regularly engage consumer groups, such as Citizens Advice, who have conducted relevant research.
Ofcom has introduced several measures to help customers switch provider, including requiring phone and broadband providers to warn customers when their contract is ending, and what they could save by signing up to a new deal. Ofcom accredits price comparison websites that they have assessed to work well, and provide accessible, accurate, transparent, comprehensive, and up-to-date information. Ofcom also tracks provider performance through monitoring complaints.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that broadband and mobile providers do not disadvantage existing customers compared with new customers when setting contract prices.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government works closely with Ofcom to ensure fairness in telecoms pricing. A range of measures have been implemented, for example, since 2020 Ofcom has required providers to issue end-of–contract notifications. These alert customers when their contract/discounts are ending, encouraging to secure better deals.
Since January 2025, inflation-linked in contract prices rises were banned and providers must now state any increases upfront in pounds and pence. Contract summaries must also highlight key terms before a customer signs up. Together, these measures improve transparency and empower consumers to make informed choices about the services they buy.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment Ofcom has made of the (a) fairness and (b) transparency of in-term price increases in mobile phone and broadband contracts.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In 2023, Ofcom reviewed inflation-linked price rises. Ofcom found that while many broadband and mobile customers were on contracts subject to inflation-linked price rises, awareness and understanding of these terms were very low. Therefore, in December 2023 Ofcom consulted on banning this practice.
As a result, since 17 January 2025 where providers apply in-contract price rises, these need to be set out in pounds and pence, at the point of sale. Providers must also set out when any changes to the monthly price will occur.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) legislation and (b) policy relating to technology is informed by experts with technical knowledge.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The internal policies associated with technology (such as the AI Playbook) used within government, are directly informed by industry leading technical experts, which include digital and data civil servants, specialist third parties and expert non-exec board level advisors with extensive experience.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to support utility companies in (a) removing and (b) recycling redundant copper cables following infrastructure upgrades.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government hopes to see as much as possible of the copper network reused for other purposes. For example, the Government welcomes the recent commercial deal between BT Group and a recycling company to repurpose legacy copper cables that are being replaced by its new full fibre network. Copper is a valuable material and the Government expects the network providers to make the best use of it in line with their in-house policies, but does not plan to intervene in this emerging market.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help protect employees from (a) tracking surveillance and (b) covert monitoring.
Answered by Paul Scully
Monitoring of employees by employers must not breach the duty of trust and confidence implied into an employee's contract of employment and must comply with the European Convention of Human Rights, Data Protection legislation and Equality Act 2010. Employers are neither expressly permitted to monitor employees, nor are they prohibited from doing so.
Organisations that process workers’ personal data for the purposes of monitoring their activities or surveillance must comply with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’). This means that the data processing must be fair, lawful and transparent.
The UK GDPR and the DPA are administered and enforced independently of the government by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO publishes a range of advice and guidance for organisations on their data protection obligations.
The ICO have been consulting on draft guidance on the data protection considerations which are likely to be relevant if an employer is minded to use tracking or surveillance technologies to monitor the activities of employees. The draft guidance discusses the need for employers to make workers aware of the nature, extent and reasons for the monitoring unless exceptional circumstances mean that covert monitoring is necessary. The draft guidance, entitled Employment practices: monitoring at work can be viewed on the ICO’s website.