Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in England who live in a property not connected to the internet; and what support will be made available to those pensioners when BT close down Public Switched Telephone Network phone lines and move to a digital network service only in 2025.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom’s Adult Media Use and Attitudes research published in 2021 found that 18% of those aged 65 and over did not have internet access at home.
Voice-only services will remain available to consumers in the UK following the migration meaning those who do not wish to purchase an internet connection will still be able to access telephone services.
Further, the PSTN migration does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK. BT and KCOM are therefore still required to maintain access to a range of telephony services as well as provide a series of special measures designed for older or vulnerable users.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the Professional Football Association on the support and care required by former footballers affected by Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My Department has discussed a range of issues with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), including around instances of concussion and brain injury within football.
On 10 December 2021 we published our report on Concussion in Sport. It outlines the steps the government will be taking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport.
We are now working to develop a single set of shared protocols across the UK on concussion, and convening a new sports concussion research forum to identify the research questions that need answering in this important area.
On 14 March 2022, the Department for Health and Social Care launched a Call for Evidence to inform the development of the government’s Acquired Brain Injury Strategy. More information on the Call for Evidence can be found here.
The Government remains committed to working with sports stakeholders, including the PFA, to build on the positive work on concussion and brain injury that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department is making on delivering superfast broadband to homes and businesses located in remote, rural areas in Elmet and Rothwell constituency.
Answered by Matt Warman
We have achieved 97.55% superfast broadband coverage in the Elmet and Rothwell constituency as a whole which is above the UK and National average. This has increased more than 5% in the last 3 years.
We are, however, not resting on our laurels and have a project running in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to utilise the latest Fixed Wireless technology to further improve Gigabit broadband connectivity across the West Yorkshire region including 100 additional postcodes in the constituency.
Ultrafast (100Mbps) coverage is now at 68.87% in the Constituency and Gigabit coverage (1,000MBps) is now at 66.34%, both of which are also above the National average. This time last year Gigabit coverage in the constituency was just 11.8% so we have seen a rapid increase of the latest broadband technology in 12 months. (Source: https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E14000689)
For Constituents in your rural areas we would draw your attention to the UK Government Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which offers vouchers of up to £1,500 for Residents (as part of a Community Scheme) and up to £3,500 for SME’s. This is to enable them to upgrade to the latest technology.https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will ensure that the distribution of the covid-19 arts rescue package includes funding for (a) the Royal Northern Sinfonia and (b) other institutions in the North of England.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Culture Recovery Fund will provide targeted support to critical cultural, arts and heritage organisations to help them survive and recover through the coronavirus pandemic. Funding will be prioritised to institutions of national and international significance and those that are crucial to levelling up places and communities, including smaller organisations and cultural venues that are at the centre of their communities.
Key organisations in England are able to apply for grants or loans. The relevant DCMS Arms Length Bodies (Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute) will make funding decisions for grants against the published criteria agreed by Ministers. In addition, the independent Culture Recovery Board will make decisions regarding applications for loans, and provide additional assurance over the largest grants.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he can provide a timeframe for the events and exhibitions sector on when gatherings of more than 30 people will be allowed.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Meetings of up to 30 people indoors are now allowed in permitted venues if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate that it has followed the
Covid-19 guidance.
From 1 August, exhibition and conference centres are allowed to show small groups (of up to 30 people with social distancing requirements) around to view the facilities and plan
future events and to enable government-backed pilots to take place. They should not be
open fully to host events more widely.
From 1 October, it is expected that events of all types (such as trade shows, consumer shows, exhibitions and conferences) will be allowed at a capacity allowing for compliance
with social distancing. As with all aspects of the Government’s response to COVID-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health
assessments.
We have worked closely with events stakeholders through both the Visitor Economy and Events & Entertainment Working Groups to develop Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance
for the business events industry. We continue to meet with the Events Industry Senior
Leaders Advisory Panel to discuss the specific issues facing the industry. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place - including
agricultural shows, literary fairs and car boot sales.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timetable is for the village of Harewood in Elmet and Rothwell constituency to be included in the roll-out of superfast broadband; and what is policy is on BT Retail advertising broadband speeds well in excess of those actually available to customers.
Answered by Margot James
The superfast broadband rollout is planned for Harewood under an extension of our current Contract 2 deployment programme with our partner, Openreach. This has been delayed due to a number of technical issues but we are expecting these to be resolved very soon.
From March 2019, Ofcom will require providers to tell customers ‘minimum guaranteed speed’ and ‘more realistic speed’ estimates for peak times. If a customer's broadband speed falls below the minimum guaranteed speed, the provider will have a month to improve speed, after which customers will have the right to exit their contract without paying a penalty.
Guidance from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also states that, from 23 May 2018, numerical speed claims should be based on the download speed available to at least 50% of customers at peak time, and described as ‘average’.