Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contracts are held by (1) government departments, and (2) arm's-length bodies, with Starlink; and what is the value and duration of each contract.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and its Arms Lengths Body’s (ALBs) including the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) hold no contracts directly with Starlink, aside from the Very Hard to Reach Alpha trials which are due to close in the coming quarter. These are rolling monthly contracts with Starlink Internet Services, and the currently anticipated expenditure in March 2025 is £1,035.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) alongside the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have reported no contracts with Starlink. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) does not hold information on which departments have used Starlink.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of radio waves from satellites on astronomical observation, and what steps they are taking to mitigate any interference.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government draws on the international studies that indicate the increasing number of communications satellites, particularly in Low Earth Orbits (LEO), have the potential to cause interference to some radio astronomy facilities. The UK regulator Ofcom has aligned its licences for LEO constellations with international regulations to protect radio astronomy sites in the UK.
Through the International Telecommunications Union, the UK is actively participating in studies on reducing interference to internationally important radio astronomy sites including the Square Kilometre Array. These will lead to the development of new regulations with the potential to be confirmed at the 2027 World Radio Conference.
I also refer to the answer I gave the Viscount Stansgate during a Lords Oral Question session on Wednesday 20th November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many satellites under the control of UK-registered businesses have been launched from overseas locations in each of the past 15 years.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
728 UK-registered satellites have been launched overseas in the last 15 years. Between 2010 and 2019 there was an average of five and a half UK-registered satellites launched overseas each year, rising to 134.4 launches each year between 2020 and 2024.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many satellites under the control of UK-registered businesses have been in orbit in each year of the past 15 years; and what estimate they have made of the number of satellites under the control of UK-registered business in orbit by 2035.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the UN Index of Objects Launched in Outer Space and following the Elevation-1 satellite launch earlier this year, there are now 763 UK owned satellites in orbit. We do not currently have an estimate of the number of UK-registered satellites expected to be in orbit by 2035.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total number of satellites expected to be in orbit by 2035, and how many satellites were in orbit in each of the past 15 years.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Estimates vary but the total number of satellites in orbit is expected to reach up to 60,000 by 2030, and increase further by 2035. In 2010 the total number of satellites in orbit was 3,327, rising to 6,271 by 2020 and to over 13,600 today.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the higher rates of advanced prostate cancer diagnoses among black men.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A £42 million United Kingdom-wide trial, the TRANSFORM trial led by Prostate Cancer UK with £16 million funding from the Government, is under way and aimed at helping find best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms and could save thousands of lives.
This study will also aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment. This is vital as previous trials have not included enough black men to adequately demonstrate the harms and benefits of screening for this group specifically, despite their significantly higher risk.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings in the National Prostate Cancer Audit's State of the Nation Report, published in January, particularly regarding the disparities in health outcomes for black men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the findings in the National Prostate Cancer Audit's State of the Nation Report. However, the Government understands more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer, including for black men.
To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer, we have invested £16 million in the TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping to find a way of catching prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will ensure that one in ten participants are black men.
Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for all tumour types, including prostate cancer. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be. We will provide updates on this in due course.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the British Broadcasting Corporation regarding the investigation into allegations of sexist behaviour on MasterChef; and what was the (1) content, and (2) outcome, of those discussions.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State has spoken with the BBC leadership on this matter and wider workplace culture issues, to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with complaints.
The Secretary of State set out her view at the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on the 10th December that we are seeing too many of these cultures of silence and issues being swept under the rug across the sector.
In relation to the complaints against Gregg Wallace it is essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously, and it’s right that a thorough investigation has been launched by Baniijay, the production company behind MasterChef.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government. The BBC is currently undertaking a workplace culture review, which must deliver clear and timely recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work of the Local Democracy Reporting Service; and whether they plan to enhance its effectiveness in supporting local journalism and democratic accountability.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) plays an important role in supporting local journalism. LDRS reporters have been able to uncover stories that publishers may have otherwise been unable to discover due to increasing constraints on their resources. This is an area of reporting that is often significantly under provided but is essential to journalism’s role of holding those in authority to account.
The Secretary of State has recently announced her plans to develop a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We are working across Government and with the sector and other stakeholders as we develop this strategy, and recognise the continued importance of the LDRS.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the effectiveness of the hybrid working policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our department’s hybrid working policy expects the majority of our staff to spend at least 60% of their time in our offices or meeting key stakeholders.
To monitor the effectiveness of this policy, all Government departments publish HQ Office Occupancy data on a quarterly basis which shows the monthly average number of staff working in Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) buildings.
In September, which is the most recent monthly average published on gov.uk, our department had a 65% attendance at our London Headquarters.