Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the hourly pay-rate is for her Department's cleaning staff.
Answered by Matt Hancock
I refer the hon. Member to the answer on 4 March 2016 to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) to Question 28600.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have closed since February 2016.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport monitors proposed changes to library service provision throughout England, however the Department does not hold complete figures on total public library closures since February 2016.Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on travel that was not standard class in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Over the last 3 years the Department, and its predecessors, spent the following amounts on non-standard class travel:
2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
£57,900.30 | £61,605.77 | £25,283.42 |
Overall Total: £144,803.73 | ||
Total figures for 2011/12 and 2012/13 are not held centrally and to obtain them would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take in response to the recent ruling by Ofcom on the separation of BT and its Openreach division to support community groups to upgrade broadband connections in their local areas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ofcom has now announced how it plans to implement its recommendations for the relationship between BT Group and Openreach. We are clear that a more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and the UK’s digital infrastructure. We welcome Ofcom’s determination to tackle these issues, to give certainty to consumers, industry and investors in the UK’s broadband infrastructure to improve service and the level of investment.
DCMS has published guidance on its website for community groups who are interested in implementing community-led broadband solutions at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-led-broadband-schemes/introduction-to-community-led-schemes. BDUK also provides subsidies for upgrades in broadband connectivity for any premises that only have access to speeds of less than 2Mbps. This will continue throughout 2017 and will not be affected by Ofcom's recent announcement.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times her Department has (a) terminated a contract, (b) imposed a penalty and (c) denied permission for a company to tender on the grounds of grave professional misconduct since November 2015.
Answered by Matt Hancock
None.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many officials of her Department have opted out of the EU Working Time Directive.
Answered by Matt Hancock
There are no officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport who have opted out of the EU Working Time Directive.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the emergency services can be contacted in areas where mobile phone service is poor or non-existent.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Improving mobile connectivity across the UK, including in rural and hard to reach areas, is a priority for the Government and the December 2014 landmark agreement with industry guarantees that each mobile network operator will provide voice and SMS text coverage to 90% of the UK's landmass by end 2017. Additionally, Telefonica has a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of UK premises, also by end 2017. Taken together these obligations will cut complete not spots by two thirds, resulting in 98% of the UK landmass with mobile coverage.
This coverage would be available to all mobile phone users for emergency 999 calls as the Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service requires that a caller from a mobile phone is able to roam onto another mobile network to make an emergency call if they have no signal from their own provider.
Furthermore, the Government recognises the importance of public call boxes as a means of calling the emergency services. Ofcom requires that there is a period of consultation before a public call box is removed and that one of the factors to be considered by the relevant public body is the potential importance of the call box to contact the emergency services.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Queen's Speech 2016, if her Department will publish detailed plans to create the right for every household to access high speed broadband.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Following the Queen's Speech, the Digital Economy Bill has been introduced which includes measures to enable the Government to implement and review a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. We have asked Ofcom to undertake a detailed technical analysis on a range of factors that will impact on the design of the USO. Once we have considered Ofcom's report, we will consult on the detailed specifications for the USO which will be set in secondary legislation once the Bill has received Royal Assent.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what basis the contribution to broadband installation costs for the very remotest properties will be calculated; and whether there will be an upper limit on the contribution which individual households are required to make.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Queen's Speech 2016: background briefing notes, if he will define the terms (a) very remotest properties and (b) contributing to the cost of broadband installation in rural areas; and if he will estimate the number of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in that category.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.