Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of households that have access to high speed broadband in East Yorkshire constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 96% of premises in the East Yorkshire constituency can access a superfast connection. Over 77% of premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 4% in December 2019.
We recently announced a £60 million Project Gigabit contract to further extend gigabit broadband coverage in West and parts of North Yorkshire, including in the East Yorkshire constituency. Parts of the constituency are also included in the Project Gigabit procurement for South Yorkshire. We plan to announce the details of that contract shortly.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 4G and 5G coverage in (a) Yorkshire and (b) East Yorkshire constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government is taking steps to improve both 4G and 5G coverage across the country.
Across Yorkshire and the Humber our £1bn agreement with the industry to deliver the Shared Rural Network (SRN) will see 4G coverage from all four Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) rise to 90%, up from 81% when the programme began in 2020. 4G coverage from at least one MNO will increase to 99%, up from 95%.
In East Yorkshire, 4G coverage already stands at 93% from all four MNOs and almost 100% from at least one MNO. While the SRN is focused on areas with poorer coverage, it is not the only focus for infrastructure investment for mobile connectivity. In addition, the MNOs independently invest around £2 billion annually across the UK in enhancing and improving their networks.
The Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, set out the Government’s vision for wireless connectivity and shared a new ambition for nationwide coverage of higher quality standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030. This provides a long-term ambition 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 the public sector.
The Department provides extensive guidance for local authorities and operators to help facilitate broadband and mobile 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 the deployment of wireless infrastructure, including 4G and 5G.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to establish a formal regulatory framework for Artificial Intelligence; and whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals on this issue.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In March, we published the AI Regulation White Paper, which set out a regulatory framework to drive responsible, safe AI innovation. The White Paper set out five core principles to govern AI, and committed to establishing mechanisms to monitor AI risk, and coordinate, evaluate and adapt the regulatory framework as the technology evolves.
Since publishing the White Paper, we have taken rapid steps to implement our approach. We have established a central AI risk function in DSIT which will ensure that we can identify, measure and monitor existing and emerging AI risks. We are also engaging closely with regulators across the UK and their sponsoring government departments to understand their readiness to regulate AI effectively, across technical, regulatory, and market-specific expertise. Many regulators have already taken proactive steps to account for the impact of AI within their sectors – for example, the CMA has published its initial review of AI Foundation Models.
In the White Paper, we said that we do not intend to introduce new legislation at this stage. However, this is a fast-moving technology, and we will take action to mitigate risks and support safe and responsible AI innovation as required. We committed to an agile regulatory framework, and are monitoring current and emerging risks as AI evolves. As we have done throughout, we will develop our approach through engagement with industry and civil society, maintaining a pro-innovation approach that means AI improves the lives of the British people.
The consultation on the White Paper closed in June. During the consultation period, we heard from over 400 individuals and organisations across regulators, industry, academia, and civil society. We committed to an iterative approach that will evolve as new risks or regulatory gaps emerge. We will be setting out our next steps in our response to the White Paper consultation shortly.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress her Department has made on the delivery of fast and reliable broadband to rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are making excellent progress with Project Gigabit, the Government’s £5 billion mission to deliver fast, reliable broadband across the UK. Over 74% of UK premises can now access a gigabit-capable broadband connection, up from just 6% in January 2019.
More than £1 billion of public subsidy has been made available to broadband suppliers to extend their gigabit-capable networks to rural and hard to reach parts of the country. To date, we have awarded six contracts in locations from Cornwall to Cumbria, and we have launched a further 15 procurements, which combined will deliver fast, reliable broadband to up to 748,000 premises that would have otherwise missed out.
Support is also available for homes and businesses in rural areas through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The scheme provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. To date, almost 84,000 vouchers have been used to connect premises to gigabit-capable broadband.