Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made by National Trust and National Parks England in providing proposals to her Department that outline better engagement with communications providers to assist in tackling mobile not sports since February 2016.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We engage with the National Trust and National Parks England on mobile and broadband issues. We remain committed to improving connectivity across the UK and in November reforms to the mobile planning laws came into force that make it easier to install mobile infrastructure.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to reform the Electronic Communications Code following the closure of the consultation on 30 April 2015.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports a UK network that provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the consultation on reform of the Electronic Communications Code will begin; and how long that consultation will last.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The DCMS published the consultation on reform of the Electronic Communications Code on the 26th February 2015 and it will last for a period of 9 weeks. The consultation can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received from mobile network operators on the reform of the Electronic Communications Code to assist their mobile coverage plans.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Secretary of State has met with mobile network operators and other stakeholders to discuss improving mobile coverage. To further this work, DCMS officials have also met with stakeholders including the mobile network operators about the effect of the reform of the Electronic Communications Code on network development.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the current Electronic Communications Code on the ability of mobile network operators to improve mobile voice and data coverage in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government asked the Law Commission to produce a report on the Electronic Communications Code. The Law Commission reported in February 2013, setting out a number of recommendations for a reformed Code.
Since the publication of this report, DCMS officials have been analysing the effect of the existing Code, and in turn Code reform, on the development of networks, including mobile networks in urban and rural areas. The Law Commission’s report found evidence that the existing Code makes the rollout of communications networks more difficult, and representations received by DCMS from mobile network operators have supported this conclusion.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the respective policy responsibilities of the Secretary of State for (a) Culture, Media and Sport and (b) Business, Innovation and Skills are with regard to (i) telecoms policy, (ii) the digital economy and (iii) the creative industries.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
A joint DCMS and BIS Digital Economy Unit was set up in the summer to support a more co-ordinated approach to digital issues. I was appointed to the role of Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy and am a Minister in both BIS and DCMS. I am the minister with policy responsibility for telecoms policy, the digital economy and the creative industries, reporting to the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport for telecoms policy and the creative industries and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for the Digital Economy more generally.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Law Commission's recommendations for reform of the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Since the publication of the Law Commission’s report on the Electronic Communications Code, DCMS has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network roll out and service provision to consumers. In January 2014, we published an economic analysis of the impacts of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons library.
I am still considering my position on the reform of the Electronic Communications Code and will respond in detail to the Law Commission in due course.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the Law Commission's recommendations for reform of the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Since the publication of the Law Commission’s report on the Electronic Communications Code, DCMS has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network roll out and service provision to consumers. In January 2014, we published an economic analysis of the impacts of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons library.
My officials are continuing to assess the implications of the Law Commission’s recommendations and I will make public my plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code in due course.