Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle digital exclusion.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has been clear that no one should be left behind in the digital age. Digital inclusion is a cross-cutting issue that spans education, employment, access to services and more. The Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy chairs the cross-Whitehall Ministerial group for digital inclusion, which aims to drive progress and accountability across Government.
In DSIT, we are taking steps to ensure support for some of the most urgent priorities such as investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to bring gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach communities or working with the telecoms industry to ensure provision of social tariffs.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment the Government has made of the impact of (a) smartphone and (b) social media use by under 16s on their (i) mental health and (ii) safety.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be a child online, as evidenced by the landmark Online Safety Act.
Harmful and age-inappropriate online content and activity can be particularly damaging for children. That is why the Online Safety Act places robust, much-needed responsibilities on technology companies – including social media platforms, search services and other services which host user-generated content – to keep all users, but particularly children, safe online.
In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers noted that the available research did not present evidence of a causal relationship between screen-based activities and mental health problems; however, some research found associations between screen-based activities and negative effects such as increased risk of anxiety or depression.
The government is committed to ensuring that children have a positive experience online, using the internet for connecting with peers, as well as to access educational resources, information, and entertainment.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with mobile phone operators on improving mobile reception in (a) London and (b) England.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This Government is taking steps to improve both 4G and 5G coverage across the country.
Improvements in 4G coverage have already started to be delivered across England through the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme. This agreement will see the government and industry jointly invest over £1 billion to increase 4G mobile coverage across the UK to 95%.
London already has good 4G and, as with other cities, will not be targeted by the SRN programme. However, in addition to the SRN, the mobile network operators independently invest around £2 billion annually in enhancing and improving their networks.
In our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April this year, we set out the Government’s vision for wireless connectivity and shared a new ambition for nationwide coverage of standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030. This provides a long-term vision to help the private sector invest in 5G networks by supporting competition, driving down deployment costs and driving the take-up of innovative, 5G-enabled tech by the business and public sectors.
The Department provides extensive guidance for local authorities and operators to help facilitate broadband deployment through the Digital Connectivity Portal. We have also taken steps to make it easier and cheaper for operators to deploy 4G and 5G. This includes reforming the planning system in England. Alongside this, measures within the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, will support upgrades of sites to 5G.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help improve mobile phone coverage in (a) London and (b) England.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This Government is taking steps to improve both 4G and 5G coverage across the country.
Improvements in 4G coverage have already started to be delivered across England through the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme. This agreement will see the government and industry jointly invest over £1 billion to increase 4G mobile coverage across the UK to 95%.
London already has good 4G and, as with other cities, will not be targeted by the SRN programme. However, in addition to the SRN, the mobile network operators independently invest around £2 billion annually in enhancing and improving their networks.
In our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April this year, we set out the Government’s vision for wireless connectivity and shared a new ambition for nationwide coverage of standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030. This provides a long-term vision to help the private sector invest in 5G networks by supporting competition, driving down deployment costs and driving the take-up of innovative, 5G-enabled tech by the business and public sectors.
The Department provides extensive guidance for local authorities and operators to help facilitate broadband deployment through the Digital Connectivity Portal. We have also taken steps to make it easier and cheaper for operators to deploy 4G and 5G. This includes reforming the planning system in England. Alongside this, measures within the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, will support upgrades of sites to 5G.