Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UKRI funding in helping innovative projects scale-up.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Criteria assessing the impact and effectiveness of UKRI funding to support scale-up of innovative projects are consistently tracked through the UKRI Commercialisation Monitoring Framework, as well as Innovate UK’s Impact Management Framework.
All evaluations are published on UKRI’s website and are used to inform future approach and investments.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Healthy Ageing Challenge in helping companies scale up projects.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
An independent evaluation of the Healthy Ageing Challenge has been published on UKRI’s website. The evaluation found that the Challenge has:
The medium- to long-term outcomes are likely to be achieved over the next 3 to 5 years.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the value for money of the Shared Rural Network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To deliver the Shared Rural Network, the UK’s four mobile network operators are investing £532m to eliminate the majority of ‘partial not-spots’ – areas which receive coverage from at least one, but not all, operators. The programme has already delivered substantial improvements for rural communities across the UK, with Ofcom reporting that 4G coverage from at least one operator now stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
The government’s grant funding to upgrade Extended Area Service masts and tackle ‘total not spots’ is capped to prevent overspend. Building Digital UK is working with its delivery partners, including the Home Office, to ensure that maximal benefit can be achieved within the allotted programme funding and that the programme represents good value for money.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the overspend of the Shared Rural Network project will be paid from the public purse.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To deliver the Shared Rural Network, the UK’s four mobile network operators are investing £532m to eliminate the majority of ‘partial not-spots’ – areas which receive coverage from at least one, but not all, operators. The programme has already delivered substantial improvements for rural communities across the UK, with Ofcom reporting that 4G coverage from at least one operator now stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
The government’s grant funding to upgrade Extended Area Service masts and tackle ‘total not spots’ is capped to prevent overspend. Building Digital UK is working with its delivery partners, including the Home Office, to ensure that maximal benefit can be achieved within the allotted programme funding and that the programme represents good value for money.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve mobile signal for (a) farmers and (b) rural businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Shared Rural Network will bring 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. Ofcom assesses the mobile network operators progress against their individual coverage targets. Ofcom reports that 4G coverage from at least one operator currently stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 adequacy of progress made on the Shared Rural Network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Shared Rural Network will bring 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. Ofcom assesses the mobile network operators progress against their individual coverage targets. Ofcom reports that 4G coverage from at least one operator currently stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of Ofcom coverage maps for (a) 4G and (b) 5G signal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
From my own experience, I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage maps do not always match consumers’ experience of mobile networks. My Department is working with Ofcom to identify what more can be done to improve the accuracy of its reporting, noting that all sorts of factors will impact people's experience, including how many other people are on the network at any given point, as well as weather conditions.
We have also asked Ofcom to keep under review its definitions of what constitutes “good” 4G and 5G coverage, so that they continue to reflect consumer expectations as people’s usage and their requirements evolve.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when he expects every household in North Shropshire constituency to have access to gigabit broadband.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Over 72% of premises in the North Shropshire constituency can access a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) broadband connection.
Project Gigabit will extend this gigabit coverage. Freedom Fibre is delivering a contract to upgrade over 12,000 additional premises in the region, including over 9,000 premises in the North Shropshire constituency. We expect the first of these premises in North Shropshire to be connected by the end of 2024 and the contract is due to be completed by 2026. We will also keep suppliers’ commercial delivery plans under review and consider what else may be necessary to fulfil our ambition for gigabit coverage across the UK by 2030.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of mobile signal roaming in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Roaming already exists for 999 calls, as the Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service requires that any call from a mobile phone will automatically roam onto another mobile network free-of-charge to make an emergency call if they have no signal from their own provider.
The Government is committed to improving rural coverage. The Shared Rural Network is set to increase 4G geographic coverage throughout the UK to 95% by the end of 2025. This will enable emergency calls in new areas and will reduce the digital divide between rural and urban areas of the UK, helping rural businesses and communities to thrive.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take to help improve 4G signal (a) partial not spots and (b) total not spots.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is working in partnership with mobile network operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network, which will reduce both partial and total not spots and bring 4G coverage to 95% of UK landmass. Ofcom reports that 4G coverage currently stands at over 93%.