Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the findings of the Telecommunications Diversification Taskforce, what plans he has to create an international digital infrastructure recommendations and standards alliance.
Answered by Matt Warman
Increasing UK representation and participation in the international standards setting environment is vitally important in promoting secure, open and interoperable standards. To achieve these objectives, the Government is working closely with industry, the NCSC, Ofcom and a wide range of international partners.
Through the UK’s G7 Presidency, the Government led positive conversations on standards with international partners, and will continue to work closely with like-minded partners in order to forge a consensus on these issues.
The Telecommunications Diversification Taskforce has provided detailed recommendations to government as it takes forward this work, and we will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the findings of the Telecommunications Diversification Taskforce, what steps he plans to take to attract small-scale vendors to the UK market.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government is working with mobile operators and suppliers to build an open, flexible, and diverse telecoms supply market, following the recommendations of the Diversification Taskforce, published on 20 April on GOV.UK.
The Taskforce recommendations are helping to guide our approach delivering the Diversification strategy, including its central pillar of attracting new suppliers. The Government is designing a programme of targeted R&D to level the playing field for smaller suppliers, and we continue to consider all options.
Suppliers are themselves taking positive steps to support this agenda and a number of smaller suppliers have already announced new research facilities in the UK.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure couriers can resume regular shipments of (a) retail art and (b) antiques currently suspended due to customs complications in several EU states.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are working closely with businesses in the art and antiques sector to support them in trading with, and shipping goods to and from, EU member states.
We recognise that leaving the EU means a period of change for businesses, at a time when everyone has been responding to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, but this is an unparalleled opportunity for the UK to do things differently and better, and create the blueprint for our growing prosperity through the 21st century.
The deal we have negotiated secures preferential market access to the EU for UK businesses whilst securing the UK’s status as an independent and sovereign country. It ensures that there will be no tariffs or quotas for trade in goods with the EU.
We have taken steps to facilitate the export of cultural goods to EU countries. We developed a new inland pre-clearance process for export licences for works of art, and we are in the process of digitising the export licencing system for cultural goods. These steps reduce border friction and avoid delays and security risks.
We will continue to engage with businesses in sectors that are affected by our changing relationship with the EU to help them adjust and continue to successfully compete on the global stage.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2020 to Question 94546, and with reference to the report entitled Video Unavailable: Social Media Platforms Remove Evidence of War Crimes, published by Human Rights Watch in September 2020, what steps he is taking to ensure that online platforms preserve evidence of alleged war crimes when taking down extremist and hateful social media content.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is not working specifically on this issue, however it is committed to increasing online safety. As outlined in the Online Harms White Paper, this Government intends to introduce a duty of care on online companies to ensure they have appropriate systems and processes in place to deal with harmful content on their services, overseen by an independent regulator. The regulator will need to build strong working relationships with law enforcement and other bodies in order to ensure effective action against a range of illegal harms.Further details on online harms will be set out in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Foreign Secretary’s Oral Statement of 28 January 2020, what progress he has made on attracting established telecommunications vendors to the UK.
Answered by Matt Warman
We are continuing to work at pace to deliver a targeted diversification strategy to rebalance the supply chain. We will be bringing this strategy forward in the autumn, alongside the Telecoms Security Bill.
The strategy will be based around three core elements; securing incumbent vendors, attracting new vendors and accelerating the development of open interface solutions. It will also focus on building UK capability and influence within the supply chain.
To support the development of the strategy, the Government has recently announced the establishment of a Telecoms Diversification Taskforce. The Taskforce, which is composed of leading figures from industry and academia, will provide independent and expert advice to the Government - turbocharging our work on these three core elements of our strategy.
Throughout the development of the strategy, we have continued to look for opportunities to make progress on market diversification. In the coming weeks we will set out plans and details of some of the first Government supported ‘OpenRAN’ 5G trials in the UK. These will accelerate the delivery of the strategy and create opportunities for disruptive new entrants in the UK market.
We are also continuing to speak with a range of vendors about how we can support them to enter the market and accelerate diversification. We have actively engaged with major players and emerging vendors and we will continue to work with any vendor - big or small - who can help us achieve our aim to rebalance the supply chain.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Foreign Secretary’s Oral Statement of 28 January 2020, what progress he has made on supporting the emergence of new, disruptive entrants to the telecommunications supply chain.
Answered by Matt Warman
We are continuing to work at pace to deliver a targeted diversification strategy to rebalance the supply chain. We will be bringing this strategy forward in the autumn, alongside the Telecoms Security Bill.
The strategy will be based around three core elements; securing incumbent vendors, attracting new vendors and accelerating the development of open interface solutions. It will also focus on building UK capability and influence within the supply chain.
To support the development of the strategy, the Government has recently announced the establishment of a Telecoms Diversification Taskforce. The Taskforce, which is composed of leading figures from industry and academia, will provide independent and expert advice to the Government - turbocharging our work on these three core elements of our strategy.
Throughout the development of the strategy, we have continued to look for opportunities to make progress on market diversification. In the coming weeks we will set out plans and details of some of the first Government supported ‘OpenRAN’ 5G trials in the UK. These will accelerate the delivery of the strategy and create opportunities for disruptive new entrants in the UK market.
We are also continuing to speak with a range of vendors about how we can support them to enter the market and accelerate diversification. We have actively engaged with major players and emerging vendors and we will continue to work with any vendor - big or small - who can help us achieve our aim to rebalance the supply chain.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report entitled Video Unavailable: Social Media Platforms Remove Evidence of War Crimes, published by Human Rights Watch in September 2020, what recent discussions he has had with social media companies on preserving evidence of war crimes.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, including social media companies, on a variety of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support the Connecting Devon and Somerset scheme to ensure that all parliamentary constituencies in that area gain improved broadband coverage.
Answered by Matt Warman
Good progress has been made in Devon and Somerset, with 93% of premises having access to superfast broadband. To date, Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) have directly provided superfast access to more than 300,000 homes and businesses. Their current live contract with Airband will have delivered connectivity to c.21,000 premises across the two counties by the end of summer.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) officials are in regular contact with CDS, and are committed to delivering connectivity to those parts of the two counties that are currently unserved as quickly as possible. A £38 million procurement to target up to 89,000 premises is underway, with initial bids for this procurement now received. BDUK will continue to provide support and guidance to CDS during this procurement process, as well as during the delivery stages.
In the meantime for those still struggling, the Universal Service Obligation (USO) gives eligible premises in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable connection. For those rural areas across Devon and Somerset, voucher funding may be available to rural SMEs and residents where they can claim up to £3,500 and £1,500 respectively.