Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of premises in (a) England, (b) East of England and (c) North West Norfolk constituency have access to superfast broadband.
Answered by Matt Warman
According to Thinkbroadband, currently 97.3% of premises in England now have access to superfast broadband (>24 Mbps) - up from 61% from 2012 (http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/england).
The East of England region currently has 97% of premises with the ability to connect to superfast speeds (>24 Mbps) (http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/east-england).
95% of premises in the North West Norfolk constituency currently can access Superfast broadband (>24 Mbps). This is up from 7% in 2012 (http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E14000859).
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many covid-19 cases have been as a result of transmission at sporting pilot events approved by his Department.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department does not hold information about covid-19 transmission rates at sports pilot events. However, the sport pilots demonstrated that many risks related to Covid-19 transmission within these events can be mitigated with Covid secure guidance.
We fully understand that fans want to be back watching live sports and other events, and we are continuing to work with the sector on solutions and innovations.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to issue guidance for non-league football clubs in the National League and National Leagues North and South on allowing supporters into grounds to watch matches.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
On 18th August, the Government amended its guidance to provide extra clarification for organisers of sports events to help them manage and admit spectators safely, adhering to social distancing.
Non-league football clubs from level seven of the pyramid, below the National League North / South, can admit spectators in line with the FA’s definition of non-elite football.
We continue to work closely with all sports, including the interests of football from National League and above, to support the safe return of spectators to stadia more widely from October 1st. As announced by the Prime Minister, this remains subject to successful pilot events, which will now be capped at 1,000 people, and wider prevailing public health factors, both of which remain under active consideration.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Gambling Commission has made of the level of risk of harm to vulnerable people from permitting gambling charges to be added to post-paid mobile phone bills.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
All operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission and comply with licence conditions. These include requirements to protect vulnerable people from being harmed by gambling and to intervene when a customer shows signs of being at risk of harm, which apply however payments are made.
Payments made by mobile phone are capped by the Payment Services Regulations 2017 at £40 per transaction, up to a total of £240 per month. These limits cover all services charged to phone bills, such as gambling and music downloads. They are not a common means of spending on gambling, currently accounting for around 0.4% of the annual gross gambling yield (including lotteries). In addition to the regulatory requirements of the Commission, the Phone-Paid Services Authority also regulates services that involve charges to phone bills.
Phone payments do not represent a breach of rules banning credit card payments for gambling but the Gambling Commission has committed to evaluate the impact of the ban, including looking at displacement to other payment methods. They will continue to monitor the use of phone-paid payments as part of that evaluation.