Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of cellular networks in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from reliable, high quality mobile coverage. We continue to work with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is as accurate as possible to allow us to reliably and accurately identify underserved areas.
4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass, and we continue to work with the industry to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage.
Our ambition is to go further, and for all populated areas, including rural communities, to have access to higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We continue to work closely with the mobile network operators and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment and competition in the market.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that people in rural areas have equal access to broadband services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to roll out fast, reliable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. Over 35 contracts, with a combined value of over £2.3 billion, have already been signed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to over 1 million premises, predominantly in rural areas.
Last week we announced a £157 million contract with Openreach to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to up to 65,000 rural and hard-to-reach premises across Central, Northern and Western Scotland, including in the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to encourage scientists to emigrate to the UK.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK offers one of the strongest science bases in the world, with world-leading universities and research institutions, with opportunities in growing areas like quantum and AI. The UK’s immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come here through various fast-track visa routes, such as the Global Talent, High Potential Individual and Skilled Worker visas. Our Global Talent Network aims to grow our science and technology power by attracting top international science talent to pursue opportunities in the UK. The UK's association to Horizon Europe enables international researchers to come to UK research establishments and collaborate across Europe.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the transition to digital telecommunications infrastructure on (a) older and (b) vulnerable people in (i) Scotland and (ii) other areas where digital signal coverage is limited; and whether he is taking steps to ensure that telecoms providers implement enhanced safety measures for at-risk people before proceeding with the withdrawal of traditional landline services in 2027.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that any and all risks of the industry-led migration from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated, for all customers across the UK.
The Department has acknowledged that customers who may be considered vulnerable in the context of the digital switchover may require additional support. A definition of a vulnerable customers was published in November 2024. It includes those who are telecare users and those dependent on their landline. Any customer, including the elderly, can also self-identify as requiring additional support.
Communication providers and network operators signed voluntary charters in December 2023 and March 2024, committing to protect vulnerable consumers during the PSTN migration. On 18 November 2024, the major communication providers agreed to adhere to further safeguards set out in the non-voluntary migrations checklist before restarting non-voluntary migration of customers.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of people dying of suicide after engaging with suicide-related content online; and what steps he is taking to reduce those deaths.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT is made aware when there has been an online-related death by suicide through Coroner’s ‘Reports to Prevent Future Deaths’ and has responded to nine reports in the past 12 months. The department is very concerned about the number of reports of deaths.
Under the Online Safety Act, which is coming into effect in the coming months, all in-scope services must proactively prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide content, and children from encountering legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide.