"May we have an urgent debate on the living wage, so that we can explore why councils such as Tory Croydon, which does not pay the living wage to its employees, charges a higher level of council tax than neighbouring Labour Lambeth, which does?..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"So why are the Government, through the ill-judged Broadband Delivery UK exercise, recreating a taxpayer-funded monopoly for superfast broadband? Will the Secretary of State confirm that the number of firms on his framework has now fallen from three to two, and that all the deals so far have been with …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"The cumbersome and expensive Broadband Delivery UK process appears almost to have eliminated competition, which ought to have had a very important role in it. Ministers made a big strategic error in supporting superfast broadband at county level, rather than regionally. Does the Minister recognise that it will be a …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"The Minister said that competition is still in play for superfast broadband procurement, but as he knows, many of the projects have only one bidder, BT. As far as I know, only one other bidder in the whole country is still in the frame for those projects. Will he confirm …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"But the right hon. Gentleman did say, I think, that the scorecard would be published in the summer, and we have not seen it yet. Will it cover progress towards universal broadband as well as high-speed broadband? It has been reported that the 4G spectrum auctions, which should have taken …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"Following the unfortunate conversation between the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and journalists from The Daily Telegraph, the whole of telecommunications policy has been vested in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. What steps will the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"It is extraordinary that the Government cannot tell us who is now responsible for what. Is it the case that the whole of telecommunications policy has been transferred from BIS to DCMS? Is the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), to whom the right hon. Gentleman referred a few moments …..." Stephen Timms - View Speech
"9. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the likely effects on competitiveness of the change in the time scale for the delivery of a universal broadband service...." Stephen Timms - View Speech