Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 91728 on Broadband: Henley and Thame, what spending she plans between the end of the current contract period for South Oxfordshire delivery of Project Gigabit in 2026 and the end of the spending review period in 2030.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Building Digital UK (BDUK) is working with suppliers to review future Project Gigabit delivery plans across the UK including in Oxfordshire. Further Project Gigabit procurements will be undertaken to complete the remaining delivery necessary to achieve nationwide coverage by 2032. This will be taken forward using the funding that is already available through the 2025 Spending Review, and any further funding that is made available through future Spending Reviews.
At the 2025 Spending Review, £1.8 billion of funding was allocated for Project Gigabit from 2026/27 to 2029/30, enabling delivery of existing contracts, the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, and ongoing procurements with the Devolved Administrations. This is in addition to almost £1 billion of funding which will have been spent on Project Gigabit by March 2026.
Commercial delivery in a competitive market has and will remain essential to the delivery of the overall gigabit broadband ambition, as most gigabit-capable connections will be delivered commercially. DSIT will continue to work in partnership with industry as it develops its ongoing commercial delivery plans. This includes removing barriers to delivery and working with Ofcom to maintain a stable pro-competition regulatory environment to support private investment.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 91728 on Broadband: Henley and Thame, what steps her Department is taking to secure additional funding to complete that project.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Commercial delivery in a competitive market has and will remain essential to the delivery of the overall gigabit broadband ambition, as most gigabit-capable connections will be delivered commercially.
At the most recent Spending Review we announced £1.8 billion in funding for Project Gigabit to cover the period 2026/27 to 2029/30.This investment will support the delivery of all existing Project Gigabit contracts, voucher projects and areas currently in procurement. This includes the South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire contracts referenced in the response to Question 91728.
We are refreshing our delivery plans ahead of the 2027 Spending Review and will continue to apply Project Gigabit subsidy in areas that are not expected to be reached commercially.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 91728 on Broadband: Henley and Thame, how much funding is required to meet the 99% goal.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Commercial delivery in a competitive market has and will remain essential to the delivery of the overall gigabit broadband ambition, as most gigabit-capable connections will be delivered commercially.
At the most recent Spending Review we announced £1.8 billion in funding for Project Gigabit to cover the period 2026/27 to 2029/30.This investment will support the delivery of all existing Project Gigabit contracts, voucher projects and areas currently in procurement. This includes the South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire contracts referenced in the response to Question 91728.
We are refreshing our delivery plans ahead of the 2027 Spending Review and will continue to apply Project Gigabit subsidy in areas that are not expected to be reached commercially.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme will be reintroduced in Henley and Thame constituency.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our priority currently is to provide gigabit-capable coverage to as many premises as possible in Henley and Thame constituency through our Project Gigabit contracts, rather than through other schemes.
Project Gigabit contracts give better certainty of delivery than voucher projects, and also involve lower administrative overhead for suppliers and communities as well as the government. Future delivery is therefore much more likely to be through contracts rather than voucher delivery in most areas.
We will continue to monitor progress and review the need for further support as delivery continues. If gaps in coverage are identified, further interventions, including reopening the voucher scheme, may be considered.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure Henley and Thame constituency has 99% gigabit coverage by 2032.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of Project Gigabit, Gigaclear is delivering a contract across South Oxfordshire to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises not included in suppliers’ commercial rollout plans. Approximately 3,300 premises in Henley and Thame constituency are currently included in this contract, which is expected to complete by 2026.
Additionally, approximately 250 premises within the constituency are included in a Project Gigabit contract being delivered by CityFibre covering Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire. This contract is currently expected to complete by 2029.
We will aim to cover the remaining premises that are not currently included in Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial delivery plans as far as possible as funding becomes available, in line with the objective of achieving nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act introduced a number of communication offences, which were commenced in January 2024, including the false and threatening communications offences. The new communications offences have replaced the equivalent offences in the Malicious Communications Act 1988. In the January to December 2024 period, there were 14 convictions under the false communications offence and 294 under the threatening communications offence.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure that parents receive adequate information on (a) the use of (i) parental controls and (ii) virtual private networks and (b) other steps to keep children safe online.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT has funded media literacy projects, including Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’, to help parents understand online safety. On 12 September 2025, DSIT published research exploring what support parents need to keep children safe online. Ofcom has also released a guide for parents on how new Online Safety Act measures will protect children online, including advice and links to trusted resources.
Virtual private networks have many legitimate uses. The Government and Ofcom continue to monitor whether technologies can be used to seek to circumvent the protections of the Act for children.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of online safety regulations for protecting people against harmful advice provided by AI chatbots.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Services with AI chatbots regulated under the Online Safety Act have duties to protect all users from illegal content and children from age inappropiate content. This includes harmful advice if it is illegal content or meets the definition of harmful content to children under the Act.
The Government keeps all legislation under review and we will not hesitate to strengthen the law further if required.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Online Safety Act 2023 on (a) Wikipedia and (b) news reporting sites.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act covers services where users post content or interact online, requiring sites like Wikipedia to address illegal material and protect children where necessary. Ofcom must ensure that the duties are proportionate and appropriate for the different kinds and sizes of services.
The Act includes exemptions for specific types of user comment sections, which will take many news publishers sites out of scope. Safeguards are also built in to protect news publisher content on the largest (Category 1) platforms and Ofcom will be required to review how the Act affects journalistic and news publisher material on such services.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Online Safety Act 2023, what assessment he has made on the adequacy of the security of personal data shared with third parties.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act has cross-cutting duties to ensure that users’ rights to privacy are protected. All providers are required to give particular regard to the importance of protecting users’ privacy rights when implementing measures to comply with their new safety duties, including age assurance technologies. Where Ofcom has concerns that a provider has not complied with its obligations under data protection law, it may refer the matter to the ICO.