Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what projects were supported by the first round of the Youth Investment Fund in County Durham and Darlington.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Twelve projects supporting young people in County Durham and Darlington were awarded funding from Phase One of the Youth Investment Fund. The funding has enabled local youth providers to invest in small-scale capital projects including outdoor/activity equipment, IT/Tech, a minibus, and small redevelopments that expand the reach, number and range of services they currently offer.
Phase One of the Youth Investment Fund, administered by BBC Children in Need, has delivered £12 million of funding this year to over 400 local youth organisations in levelling up priority areas in England. The full list of recipients can be found here.
Phase Two of the Youth Investment Fund is expected to open in summer 2022.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that internet speeds in rural homes matches those in urban areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Government is determined to deliver great connectivity to every community in the UK and is working to close the digital divide between rural, suburban, and urban areas. We are creating a competition-friendly environment to promote deployment in areas where this is commercially viable and we are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to support roll-out in less commercial locations, including rural areas. In three years national coverage has rocketed from six per cent to over 66 per cent and we have already upgraded 600,000 premises in hard-to-reach areas.
Our Project Gigabit procurements are prioritising delivery to rural, hard-to-reach premises and to those with the lowest broadband speeds. Broadband providers have so far been invited to bid for contracts worth up to £292 million to upgrade up to 187,000 premises across Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, North Dorset and West Cornwall - with initial deployment expected to commence later this year.
As part of Project Gigabit the government is also investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. The scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. Further information is available on the gigabit voucher website including eligibility criteria and how to apply for the scheme.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What steps his Department is taking to expand the availability of gigabit-capable broadband throughout the UK.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit capable connectivity as soon as possible. Much progress has already been made, with full fibre coverage doubling in the past year to reach 10% of UK premises, according to the latest Ofcom figures.
This Government will continue to take action to remove barriers to network rollout and to ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind. We have introduced legislation to make it easier for operators to deploy broadband in blocks of flats, will be legislating to mandate gigabit connectivity in new builds and will invest £5 billion of funding to support gigabit rollout in hard to reach areas.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support the 2025 celebration of the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington railway.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
As the birthplace of our modern railway system, the Stockton and Darlington Railway is an important part of our nation’s heritage and I fully support efforts aimed at celebrating its bicentenary in 2025.
Through their Heritage Action Zones, Historic England is funding a £700,000 programme aimed at rejuvenating and restoring the 26 mile stretch of historic railway.
This programme will help realise the railway’s potential to become a major heritage attraction and international visitor destination.