Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide financial support to the British Library to recover from the ransomware attack and ensure the restoration of its data and systems.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The British Library is undertaking a forensic investigation of this incident, with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre and cyber security specialists. This investigation will help to provide a full picture of what happened, and the extent of disruption caused. This will take time, during which the British Library is liaising closely with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and others to provide updates, including on the financial impacts of the attack.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 1 December (HL3495 and HL3496), what is Art Council England's national opera strategy; and whether they will put on hold their plans to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera until one has been published.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England made its decisions regarding its 2023–26 Investment Programme in line with its published guidance and its ten year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’, which covers all art forms, and which can be found on its website at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/lets-create.
Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England staff, based on balancing criteria published in its funding guidance, and were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
More opera organisations will be funded in the new Investment Programme portfolio than in the preceding one, and opera accounts for 40 per cent of funding for music in the new portfolio. His Majesty’s Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the London Coliseum is under public (1) ownership, or (2) control; and if so, (a) what is its legal status, and (b) whether Arts Council England or any other public body retain any residual control or ownership rights, including the power to sell the venue.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Arts Council England discussed with English National Opera a plan of transition from their base in London, prior to their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from the organisation.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government with whom Arts Council England consulted prior to their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to mandate the rollout by Openreach of fibre-to-the-premises broadband to urban areas; and what is their timeframe for this rollout.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government's ambition is for nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Gigabit capable broadband can be delivered by fibre to the premise broadband, as well as other technologies, such as upgraded cable networks.
We believe the best way to deliver nationwide coverage is to promote network competition and commercial investment by BT Openreach and other operators wherever possible, and to intervene with public subsidy where necessary. To deliver this, we are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment including, for example, through the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold) Property Bill, which will make it easier to connect tenanted properties with an unresponsive landlord. At Budget, we also committed to invest £5 billion to deliver gigabit capable deployment to the hardest to reach areas of the country.
The Government does not have formal powers to mandate the rollout of gigabit capable broadband by a private sector company like BT. However, BT recently announced their ambition to deliver gigabit connectivity to 20 million premises during the 2020s.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in ensuring that every home and business in the UK will have access to (1) full fibre, and (2) gigabit-capable, broadband by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations update found that, as of January 2020, over 3.5 million premises or 12% of the UK had access to full fibre broadband. This represents a considerable increase from 7% coverage in January 2019. In addition, the independent ThinkBroadband website estimates that around 19% of UK premises currently have access to gigabit capable broadband, including full fibre, but also upgraded cable broadband.
Full fibre figures for London boroughs are generally higher than the UK average. According to Connected Nations, 19 London Boroughs had full fibre coverage above the national average. However, there are notable differences between boroughs, ranging from full fibre coverage of 50.9% in Barking and Dagenham, compared to 1.1% in Bromley.
We are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment and are confident that telecoms providers will step up and deliver gigabit capable coverage across London by 2025.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect (1) full fibre, and (2) gigabit-capable, broadband will be available to every home and business in London.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations update found that, as of January 2020, over 3.5 million premises or 12% of the UK had access to full fibre broadband. This represents a considerable increase from 7% coverage in January 2019. In addition, the independent ThinkBroadband website estimates that around 19% of UK premises currently have access to gigabit capable broadband, including full fibre, but also upgraded cable broadband.
Full fibre figures for London boroughs are generally higher than the UK average. According to Connected Nations, 19 London Boroughs had full fibre coverage above the national average. However, there are notable differences between boroughs, ranging from full fibre coverage of 50.9% in Barking and Dagenham, compared to 1.1% in Bromley.
We are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment and are confident that telecoms providers will step up and deliver gigabit capable coverage across London by 2025.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to broadband consumers in urban areas who are not able to access superfast broadband from Openreach.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, more than 98% of premises in urban areas can access superfast broadband. The Government’s Superfast programme has been instrumental in reaching this level of coverage, with £1.8 billion invested to date. The programme is still ongoing, and future delivery will further increase superfast coverage.
For consumers unable to access download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, including those on exchange only lines, the Government has legislated to introduce the broadband Universal Service Obligation, which provides households with a legal right to request this minimum speed up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.
In addition, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and has already invested in stimulating demand for gigabit broadband, including in urban areas. The £200 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme has funded projects in urban areas such as Belfast and London, for example.
The Government has also announced that it will invest a further £5 billion to provide gigabit-capable networks in the hardest to parts of the UK. This funding will focus on connecting more rural and remote areas but, alongside this, the Government is also taking action to reduce the barriers to deployment, and make it cheaper and easier for BT Openreach and other operators to roll out broadband commercially, including in urban and suburban areas. For example, we are taking the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill through Parliament, which will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord.
Finally, mobile network operators already provide 4G mobile broadband services which provide a viable alternative to superfast coverage in urban areas. In addition, according to Ofcom’s December 2019 Connected Nations report, more than 40 towns and cities already have access to even faster 5G mobile services, and the rollout has developed further since then.
As part of this, the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to broadband consumers who are unable to access (1) fibre-to-the-premises, or (2) fibre-to-the-cabinet, broadband from Openreach in urban areas where Openreach has no plans to make such services available.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, more than 98% of premises in urban areas can access superfast broadband. The Government’s Superfast programme has been instrumental in reaching this level of coverage, with £1.8 billion invested to date. The programme is still ongoing, and future delivery will further increase superfast coverage.
For consumers unable to access download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, including those on exchange only lines, the Government has legislated to introduce the broadband Universal Service Obligation, which provides households with a legal right to request this minimum speed up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.
In addition, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and has already invested in stimulating demand for gigabit broadband, including in urban areas. The £200 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme has funded projects in urban areas such as Belfast and London, for example.
The Government has also announced that it will invest a further £5 billion to provide gigabit-capable networks in the hardest to parts of the UK. This funding will focus on connecting more rural and remote areas but, alongside this, the Government is also taking action to reduce the barriers to deployment, and make it cheaper and easier for BT Openreach and other operators to roll out broadband commercially, including in urban and suburban areas. For example, we are taking the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill through Parliament, which will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord.
Finally, mobile network operators already provide 4G mobile broadband services which provide a viable alternative to superfast coverage in urban areas. In addition, according to Ofcom’s December 2019 Connected Nations report, more than 40 towns and cities already have access to even faster 5G mobile services, and the rollout has developed further since then.
As part of this, the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).