Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has a role in setting Allwyn Entertainment Limited's policy on publishing data.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS does not have a role in setting Allwyn Entertainment Limited’s policy on data publication.
The responsibility for regulation of the National Lottery operator rests solely with the Gambling Commission, as set out in the National Lottery Act 1993.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason HM Government's household participation survey offers £10 shopping vouchers to those who complete the survey; and what is the estimated annual cost to the taxpayer of such incentives.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The use of incentives is in line with best practice for public surveys and is common practice across Government. Incentives improve survey response rates, which is important for ensuring we have enough representative data. Low response rates carry a number of risks including insufficient data to analyse, bias in survey results and reduced stakeholder confidence.
We keep abreast of relevant research (such as a 2020 ONS study) and review our incentive strategy regularly to ensure it continues to represent good value for money for the taxpayer.
In 2021/22, Kantar Public issued, on behalf of DCMS, 33,841 vouchers (22,202 e-vouchers and 5,639 by post) as an incentive for completion of the 2021/22 Participation Survey. This equates to £338,410.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many £10 shopping vouchers have been issued to people responding to the Participation Survey being conducted by Kantar Public on behalf of her Department; and what redress is available to those whose voucher claims may not have been honoured.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Kantar Public issued 33,841 vouchers (22,202 e-vouchers and 5,639 by post) as an incentive for completion of the 2021/22 Participation Survey. The other 1,791 respondents to the survey refused the offer of a voucher.
All respondents are entitled to a £10 shopping voucher, in line with best practice for this type of survey. Kantar Public has a help desk available to assist respondents with any queries, including incentive queries. The help desk details (phone number and email address), as well as how to contact DCMS, are included in the invitation letter received by the respondent.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking in response to the application by Openreach in January 2021 on behalf of 42 households in St Leonards, Dorset to have DCMS vouchers under the Community Fibre Partnership Scheme; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Community Fibre Partnership scheme (now titled the Fibre Community Partnership scheme) is an Openreach scheme for local community broadband projects. In rural areas, Openreach encourages communities to use the voucher funding provided by the government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) to pay towards the cost of installing the network.
As there are a number of ongoing voucher applications in St Leonards, officials in Building Digital UK (BDUK) have been unable to identify the particular project that has been raised in this question. As Fibre Community Partnership’s are Openreach products, Openreach should be able to provide information on the status of this particular project.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will commission an inquiry into the effect on (a) domestic consumers and (b) businesses of the interference to internet and telecommunications services in Christchurch constituency on 28 June 2021; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Warman
Reliable access to telecommunications services is vital for the operation of essential services, and our everyday home, work, education, and social lives, and I am sorry to hear about the recent issue experienced by your constituents.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport works with owners, operators and regulators to enable UK telecommunications networks and services to be as resilient as possible, and to respond quickly when incidents occur. As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom plays an important role in ensuring the ongoing security and resilience of the UK’s public telecoms networks by enforcing the current duties under the Communications Act 2003. Communications providers are responsible for delivering their services, for the resilience of their infrastructure, ensuring faults are fixed and for keeping customers up to date on progress.
From the information you have provided, this appears to relate to an incident with BT affecting internet access in the local area, which was resolved before midday on 28 June 2021. I understand BT reported the fault to Ofcom in line with their obligations, and Ofcom will determine whether further investigation is needed in line with its normal process.
Further information for consumers and businesses can be found on Ofcom’s website: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet, which also describes the formal complaints procedure for consumers unhappy with the response from their provider.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 publicise the (a) legal right for households to have an internet connection of at least 10Mbps and (b) entitlement to an upgrade to a fibre connection if other interventions fail; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Universal Service Conditions set out by Ofcom require the two Universal Service Providers (BT and KCOM in the Hull area) to take ‘reasonable steps... to raise awareness of the potential availability of Broadband Services under these Conditions among members of the public’. As of September 2020, BT had directly contacted 47,000 premises that are eligible for the Universal Service Obligation.
In addition, Ofcom, who are responsible for implementing the Universal Service Obligation, are taking their own steps to publicise it through both their website and a localised, geo-targeted social media campaign.
The Universal Service Obligation is technology neutral. It provides a legal right to request a decent broadband connection delivering a minimum 10Mbps download speed. It does not limit the technologies that can be used by the Universal Service Provider to deliver the minimum specification or provide a legal right for consumers to request an upgrade to a fibre connection. That said, the Universal Service Providers have provided fibre connections under the Universal Service Obligation where this is the most efficient technology solution.
In addition, the government has a number of other programmes to help people upgrade to gigabit capable connections, including the rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme for example. This is in addition to our commitment to invest £5bn from April 2021 to bring gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas as part of the UK Gigabit Programme.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of households with an internet connection with a speed which cannot exceed 10Mbps; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Warman
Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2019 estimated that the number of households that could not receive a ‘decent’ broadband service providing at least 10Mbps download speeds from either a fixed line or Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) connection, and are therefore potentially eligible for a connection under the Universal Service Obligation, was 189,000 premises. Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2020 is due to be published before the end of the year, and we expect to see a further reduction in the number of premises that cannot access a broadband service that meets the specification under the Universal Service Obligation.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many organisations in Christchurch constituency have applied for funding through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund; and what criteria are used to assess those applications.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Government has made available an unprecedented £750 million package of support, specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. This will ensure charities and other civil society organisations, including those at risk of financial hardship, can continue their vital work during the Covid-19 outbreak.
£200 million of this package is being administered and distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund which is mainly targeting smaller and local VCSE organisations. TNLCF received 7 total applications from Christchurch constituency for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. 3 were successful, 3 were unsuccessful and 1 was withdrawn by the applicant. Each of the unsuccessful applicants were provided with the results of their application and the reason for being unsuccessful.
Applications to the CCSF are assessed on the extent to which they meet the objectives of the Programme as set out in guidance published on the NLCF website, including among other criteria: Organisations that support people and communities who have experienced disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; Organisations providing services and support for vulnerable people, for which there will be increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; and Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to Covid-19.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will extend access to the £1.57 billion support package for cultural and heritage organisations to members of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association affected by the covid-19 lockdown restrictions on the live events sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. As a result of these grants and loans, organisations will be more able to resume cultural activity, albeit in a socially distanced way, which will increase employment opportunities for freelancers. Each organisation that receives money will know what best they can do to support their workforce, including their freelance workforce. To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, ACE have announced £95m of additional support for individuals, and ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those including stage managers and technicians.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his 5 July 2020 press release, when the Government plans to finalise its guidance on a phased return of the performing arts sector.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Performing Arts guidance published on 9 July sets out how organisations can prepare for and deliver their activities at each of the five stages set out in the Performing Arts Roadmap. This allows organisations to understand what will be required of them as we move to allowing fuller audiences within venues as set out for Stage 5 of the roadmap. We have always been clear that moving forward with the performing Arts roadmap depended on the prevalence of COVID-19.'