Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made in improving terrestrial television coverage in (a) Blaenau Gwent and (b) other areas of the UK to ensure that all households have access to basic channels without needing to purchase a satellite dish.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ofcom estimates that 98.5% of UK households have access to around 18 channels including those from the public service broadcasters (PSBs) on the digital terrestrial TV (DTT, or Freeview) platform. Around 90% of UK households are also able to receive additional commercial DTT channels. Around 1.5% of UK households cannot easily receive DTT services with less than 0.5% not able to receive DTT services at all. However, DTT, cable and satellite digital television services together cover practically 100% of UK households, so that in all but the most exceptional of cases, everyone, including homes in hard to reach areas, should be able to get digital television services. As well as subscription services, digital satellite TV offers non-subscription reception options for a one-off equipment and installation cost, but with no on-going monthly payments. This includes FreeSat free-to-view satellite service which was launched by the BBC and ITV in 2008.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department's offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering is available to the department but this is not managed by DCMS. Figures are not available for food purchased by staff for their own use.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department does not undertake procurement of dairy products. Catering is available to the department but this is not managed by DCMS.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that fans buying tickets for sporting and cultural events are not disadvantaged by organised gangs of online touts in the secondary ticket market.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government announced last week that Professor Michael Waterson has been appointed to chair the independent review of consumer protection measures in the secondary ticket market. The review will look into existing protections for consumers and how tickets come to be available on the secondary market.