Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 ensure (a) effective management and (b) oversight of fibre broadband rollout in Chichester constituency.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
CityFibre is delivering Project Gigabit contracts across East and West Sussex, as well as Hampshire. These contracts currently include approximately 4,750 premises in the Chichester constituency.
All Project Gigabit contracts include criteria and obligations regarding time and budget against which suppliers’ performance is monitored. These include measures to manage effective build plans, milestones, risks and issues.
My Department holds regular meetings with suppliers to discuss their progress. Each supplier’s performance is measured using monthly contractual reporting, reviewing the build progress and payment claims on each contract.
Failure to deliver to a contract milestone on any build phase of a contract can result in the trigger of a rectification plan process and cessation of payments until the milestone is achieved.
Beyond Project Gigabit, in areas where deployment is commercially viable, we have created a competition-friendly environment to support the roll-out of gigabit broadband.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans she has to review the threshold for eligibility criteria for the Higher Education Innovation Fund.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has no current plans to review the threshold for eligibility for the Higher Education Innovation Fund. The new eligibility criteria and threshold were recently developed and published in May 2025.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 mobile phone signal in Chichester constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom’s improved online mobile coverage checker went live on 26 June, which I would encourage the Hon Member to consult.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. We continue to work with industry to deliver this and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment into mobile networks and competition in the market.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if his Department will take steps to lower the Information Commissioner's data protection fee for smaller (a) organisations and (b) charities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The data protection fees fund the Information Commissioner’s statutory responsibilities in relation to data protection and privacy and electronic communications. There are three tiers of fees payable, based on the size and turnover of organisations. Small organisations typically pay £52 or £78 annually (compared to £3763 for large organisations), with charities always classified in the lowest tier. A £5 discount also applies to payments made by direct debit. The Government will keep the fees under review to ascertain whether they remain fit for purpose and ensure that the income generated is proportionate and sufficient.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to complete the implementation of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is considering options for ratifying the Beijing Treaty and will announce its intended approach in due course.