Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage BT to increase its commercial investments.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Nine out of ten homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband, but our goal is to make sure the UK builds the right infrastructure to maintain our position as a world-leading digital nation. BT has a big part to play in this.
The government supports Ofcom in the changes that it wants to see in relation to Openreach. A more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and boost investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.
We are encouraging BT to invest in high-quality broadband infrastructure and have brokered a deal between Openreach and the Home Builders Federation that will see fibre-based broadband offered to all new developments either for free or as part of a co-funded initiative. Additionally, Virgin and GTC have recently signed new deals in this area.
We are creating a favourable regulatory environment to incentivise commercial investment for BT and all Communications Providers. For example: we will reform the Electronic Communications Code, to support faster and more efficient infrastructure rollout and to encourage investment and growth in the UK digital industry; and we are making permanent a relaxation of the rules for deploying fixed broadband infrastructure originally introduced in 2013.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote battlefield tourism in (a) England and (b) Northam in Torridge and West Devon constituency.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
There are 46 Registered Battlefields in England, 22% of these are located in the South West. Through the recently published Tourism Action Plan and Discover England Fund this Government is encouraging visitors, both domestic and international, to venture beyond London, so that the benefits of growth can be felt across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to increase battlefield tourism in South West England.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
22% of all Registered Battlefields are located in the South West. Through the recently published Tourism Action Plan and Discover England Fund, this Government is encouraging visitors, both domestic and international, to venture beyond London, so that the benefits of growth can be felt across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to promote battlefield tourism in England in the next 12 months.
Answered by David Evennett
The Heritage Lottery Fund is able to support projects concerned with historic battlefield landscapes. Over the coming months the Heritage Minister will be visiting several battlefield sites both at home and abroad to commemorate important events such as the Battle of Hastings and to promote battlefield tourism. The Battlefields Trust is on hand to help preserve and promote battlefield heritage across the UK and local authorities may also be able to help promote battlefields.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) protection and (b) funding is available for historic battlefields in (i) England and (ii) Northam in Torridge and West Devon constituency.
Answered by David Evennett
Registered battlefields are protected through the planning system under the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework. Historic England maintains the register of historic battlefields on the National Heritage List for England.
I am pleased to say the Heritage Lottery Fund are able to support projects concerned with protecting and promoting large landscapes such as a battlefield site. Funding may also be available from the relevant local authority.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to promote tourism in the south west of England in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Evennett
The Prime Minister’s Five Point Plan for Tourism sets out the Government’s commitment to encourage tourists to explore beyond London.
According to the Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey, there were 1.9 million inbound visits to the south west of England in the first nine months of 2015 (Jan-Sep); up 6% compared to the same period in 2014. Overseas visitors spent £0.84 billion during these visits, up 2% on Jan-Sep 2014. The £5 million South West Tourism Growth Fund, announced last year, will further promote tourism in the South-West of England.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to address poor mobile network coverage in rural communities in Torridge and West Devon.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The agreement announced on 18 December 2014 will improve coverage throughout the UK, and we expect coverage across Devon to improve dramatically. Under the agreement each mobile network operator (MNO) will provide voice and text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017, and we understand that data coverage will improve in many areas. This will lock in £5bn of investment in UK mobile infrastructure, halving partial not-spots and cutting complete not-spots by two-thirds. The MNOs have now made the agreed coverage obligations legally binding, by requesting that Ofcom vary their spectrum licences on a voluntary basis.