Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department was consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks.
DCMS is working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme of analysis across government.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the date of implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
Answered by Matt Hancock
There is no effect of the UK leaving the EU on the date of implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services. The date of implementation will be set by the Commission.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which areas of the UK had (a) limited and (b) no mobile coverage in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Following the Government's landmark agreement with mobile network operators in December 2014 and the 4G licence obligation on Telefonica we expect mobile coverage to improve significantly - with coverage to nearly 98% of UK landmass by 2017.In August 2015 Ofcom published an online interactive map showing areas of mobile coverage in the UK. The map is available at:http://www.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage. No such map exists for coverage in 2010.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK businesses that do not have access to broadband with speeds above 24Mbps.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2015, published on 1 December 2015, superfast broadband coverageis now available to 68% of small and medium businesses (SMEs) - up from 56% last year– a very substantial increase.
In addition, the £40 million government-funded Broadband Connection Voucher Schemehas benefitted well over 50,000 SMEs,who employ up to 1 million people across the UK; and we are on track to hit 95% superfast broadband coverage across the UK by 2017. In addition, the PM recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of households have access to broadband of at least 24Mbps; how many households are unable to receive a service of at least 2Mbps; and how many households use satellite broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Ofcom’s Connected Nations Infrastructure Report 2015 states that in May 2015, more than four out of five households had access to broadband of at least 24Mbps; and 98% of premises could access speeds of 2Mbps or more (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2015/downloads/connected_nations2015.pdf).
Throughout this month, the Government - working with local authorities and the devolved administrations - is rolling out a scheme to provide access to subsidised satellite broadband to all premises with speeds below 2Mbps. This scheme offers immediate assistance to those homes and businesses in the most remote areas with the slowest speeds and is part of our transformation of the UK's digital landscape. In addition, the Prime Minister recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish a Digital Transformation Plan.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
As part of the Government's Productivity Plan, we are developing a cross-Government Digital Transformation Plan that will be published in due course. This will set out how we will support theadoption of digital technologies andtackle the barriers to new businesses entering and creating new markets.