Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress she has made on revising the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
In August 2024, the then Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms asked industry to consider revising the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice to better reflect community concerns and convened a roundtable discussion with network operators.
In response, industry established the Telecommunications Poles Working Group, which published best practice recommendations in March 2025. These set out expectations for operators on siting infrastructure and engaging with local authorities and communities.
The Government will continue to assess how the industry’s response to this issue affects the deployment of new networks, but has no plans to revise the Code of Practice further at this stage.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of whether X continues to qualify for protection as a platform rather than a publisher under UK law.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Online Safety Act imposes a range of duties on user-to-user service providers, including X, requiring them to proactively identify, mitigate and manage risks to users, and to be accountable for the safety of their platforms.
Service providers must proactively mitigate risk of use for illegal activity and must address illegal content when it appears. They must also prevent children from encountering the most harmful content and must implement age-appropriate measures to protect children from other kinds of harmful content.
Ofcom, the independent regulator, has powers to take robust enforcement action where service providers do not comply with Act duties.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of social media on young people’s wellbeing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
I know parents are worried about how social media impacts children's wellbeing.
Two weeks ago, we published a study led by Professor Amy Orben which reviewed recent causal research on this issue and found it to be inconclusive. There is more to be done, which is why we announced a swift consultation, backed by a national conversation.
We will gather the evidence necessary to identify next steps and give children the childhood they deserve.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve mobile phone coverage in Shipley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government is committed to improving mobile coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s recent coverage reporting shows that 99% of Shipley has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators. Non-standalone 5G is available from at least one mobile operator outside 99% of premises.
I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks at a local level, and I am intent on ensuring Ofcom takes all necessary steps to improve its accuracy.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have high-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition.