Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to reduce the number of nuisance calls.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

We have introduced and increased penalties for companies that breach the regulations, we have encouraged greater co-operation between regulators and we have improved guidance for consumers. In our strategy paper, published at the end of July, we made proposals to enable the regulators to share their information better.

[Bob Blackman]

The most insidious calls start with the words, “Don’t worry, this is not a sales and marketing call.” If a person answers the survey, they are told that someone will call them about their needs and a veritable barrage of unwanted sales calls follows. What action will the regulator take to combat this insidious action, and if the regulators will not act, what will my hon. Friend do?

[Mr Vaizey]

I would have thought that the most insidious call started with the words, “I am calling from the Labour party”, but in any event we are going to take action. That includes lowering the threshold at which enforcement action can be taken. We have introduced higher fines and technology will play an important part in enabling better calling line identification.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

A constituent of mine was receiving nuisance silent calls. He rang his ISP, which said that it could not help. He rang the Telephone Preference Service, which said that it does not police silent calls. He then rang Ofcom, which told him that it could not do anything and that he should change his number. Is not the problem that no single authority is responsible for dealing with nuisance calls?

[Mr Vaizey]

It is certainly problematic that two regulators deal with the issue, given the nature of the regulations, but one thing that I have tried to do—I think this is working effectively—is to ensure that the Information Commissioner’s Office and Ofcom work together more closely. We want to ensure that they can share data, and they have published a joint strategy paper.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Residents in the borough of Kettering are plagued by nuisance calls and they tell me that, despite registering with the Telephone Preference Service, the calls still get through. What can the Minister or Ofcom—or anyone—do, especially about companies that phone from other countries and jurisdictions?

[Mr Vaizey]

Two important points arise from my hon. Friend’s question, the first of which is that we have to examine carefully consumers’ consent, because we need much more clarity about when a consumer gives consent for a direct marketing call. On calls from abroad, we need to change the technology, but I was pleased by BT’s evidence that we will begin to be able to identify such calls.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

5. What steps she is taking to deliver a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Paralympic games.

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[Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What steps she is taking to improve the quality of broadband provision in urban areas.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

Under our super-connected cities programme, we have made £150 million available to support broadband in cities across the country, including Edinburgh. It is one of five cities piloting the voucher scheme, which will eventually reach 22 cities.

[Mark Lazarowicz]

Edinburgh is indeed one of those cities, and that support from the Government is welcome, but there are households right in the city centre that, under present plans, will not get superfast broadband because, on the one hand, BT says that providing them with it would not be commercial and, on the other hand, they are regarded as areas in which it can be developed commercially so they do not get aid under EU state aid rules. Will the Minister get involved and ensure that all households in urban areas get superfast broadband and are not left out, as some of my constituents will be?

[Mr Vaizey]

We are determined that by the end of 2015 every house will have at least 2 megabits broadband, but I will certainly work with the hon. Gentleman to ensure that if there are pockets of Edinburgh that will not get access to superfast broadband, either commercially or under the super-connected cities programme, we will look at creating a solution.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

What assessment has the Minister made of the conclusion that the Government will fail to reach their urban targets for rolling out superfast broadband and that rural broadband speeds will remain woefully slow?

[Mr Vaizey]

My conclusion is that rural broadband speeds will increase considerably. We are on target to reach 88% of the country with superfast broadband by the end of 2015, and I fully expect us to reach 90% in early 2016. We will be reaching 10,000 homes a month by next month, and I fully expect that pace to continue.

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

May I remind the Minister that literally four miles from here, in Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks, in the capital city, there are still areas that are have woefully slow broadband, to the disadvantage of a very dynamic community? Will he look again to see whether we can speed up both BT and the programme so that the capital city, like the rest of the country, can have the broadband it needs to be the most efficient and effective that it can be?

[Mr Vaizey]

I will happily work to ensure that for the capital. There will always be pockets of slow broadband. I was interested to read recently about a couple from Cornwall who went to visit Google in silicon valley and found that the superfast broadband speed in the hotel was slower than it was in Cornwall, which is the result of our programme.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

10. If she will publish maps showing which areas of the country are not expected to be covered by broadband by 2015.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

The Government are encouraging all broadband projects to publish maps showing their expected coverage of superfast broadband, and I hope that the Scottish Government will do likewise.

[Ann McKechin]

I am grateful to the Minister for his reply and hope that he is successful in his efforts to persuade the Scottish Government to release the information. Social landlords in Glasgow tell me that many areas in the city lack any basic infrastructure. Given that access to basic broadband is increasingly a matter of social justice, does the Minister agree that the public should automatically know where not-spots are located so that they can hold Governments and providers to account?

[Mr Vaizey]

We have asked local authorities to make this information available where it is appropriate. The plans are set out and they may change, but each local authority has to make the decision by itself. I will happily meet the hon. Lady to discuss the provision of broadband in social housing in Glasgow and work with her to see what we can do to increase speeds there.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

North Yorkshire has recently published its maps and is very close to getting to 95% coverage across the county. We need a couple of million pounds more from Government. Will the Minister use his charm and persuasive ability to urge Broadband Delivery UK to give it to us?

[Mr Vaizey]

As Opposition Members stress repeatedly, it is important that we ensure that we get value for money. If my hon. Friend wants to make the case to me, I will listen. North Yorkshire is already three months ahead of schedule, and that is symptomatic of the programme, which is beating its targets all the time.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

I represent Shoreditch, which has a reputation for being a very connected, tech-focused area of London, yet I am inundated with complaints from businesses and residents about the problems of physical connectivity, the time it takes to make the connection, and particularly about the virtual monopoly of BT Openreach, the charges it makes, and the service it provides to businesses such as Perseverance Works. Will the Minister meet me to discuss this and see what can be done to make sure that we have proper connectivity in Hackney?

[Mr Vaizey]

Of course I will meet the hon. Lady to discuss it. However, as regards BT’s so-called monopoly, it is important to stress that BT has the lowest market share of any incumbent provider in any major European country. BT Openreach is open to all providers, such as TalkTalk and Sky. We have some of the lowest broadband prices in Europe, and we should celebrate that.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

12. What recent discussions she has had with the BBC Trust about that BBC attracting a more diverse work force.

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[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

13. What recent assessment she has made of the skills required by the creative industries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

The Government provide funding for the sector skills councils for the creative industries to ensure that people in the creative industries have the right skills to grow their businesses and compete successfully on the global stage. We have also set up skills funding schemes such as the skills investment fund and the digital content production fund.

[Debbie Abrahams]

The creative industries are among the most successful in the country, they are vital for the economic recovery and are a key sector of the future. The Sharp project in Manchester has told me that the UK video gaming industry is fast losing the skilled coders that it needs to continue. Has the Secretary of State had any discussions with the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor about the promised developments on the information and communications technology curriculum and tax breaks to support the industry?

[Mr Vaizey]

Yes, I have. In fact, I am very pleased to say that one of the first things I did as a Minister was commission a report on skills which has been adopted by the Department for Education. I was pleased to read an article by the Chancellor in The Observer—that wonderful Sunday newspaper—saying that the most important change this Government are making in technology is changing the information and communications technology curriculum from one in which children passively receive technology to one in which they actively learn to code.

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

Working with UK games industry representatives from UKIE—the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment—and TIGA, we were delighted to secure the UK games tax relief, a significant boost to the creative industries. Will the Minister provide an update on the unhelpful European Union Commission investigation?

[Mr Vaizey]

I would never accuse the European Commission of being unhelpful. It was very quick to allow us to introduce our very important tax credits for high-end television and animation. It has concluded its consultation on video games tax relief and I expect a decision in the very near future.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

14. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the 2014 winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia.

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[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

Last week, I had the pleasure of launching Turning Earth, a new ceramics studio that is partly funded through crowdfunding. The Financial Conduct Authority is currently consulting on the future of crowdfunding. Given its importance to the creative industries in my area and up and down the country, is the Department having a serious input into that inquiry and having discussions about what creative businesses need?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady that crowdfunding is an option for the creative industries and the arts. We will certainly be involved in that consultation. We listen to representations from trade bodies such as UKIE, the video games trade body, on crowdfunding.

[Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

T7. I welcome the fact that UK broadband speeds have increased by a fifth in six months. However, what progress has the Department made in getting BT to disclose the 10% of areas that it will not cover by 2015, so that smaller providers can help plug the gap?

[Mr Vaizey]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. It is important to stress that local authorities are in the driving seat in broadband roll-out. Whether to share roll-out plans is a decision for them and some are keen to manage demand. The Secretary of State has written to all local authorities and urged them to share their roll-out plans with their communities, precisely so that community broadband providers have the opportunity to plug the gaps.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The National Audit Office has told us that the rural broadband programme is already running 22 months late. It also states that

“the Department does not have strong assurance over the appropriateness of the levels of contingency”.

May I press the Minister again to ensure that adequate cost data are provided by BT before money is handed over, not least so that there is a fair opportunity for community initiatives such as the one we heard about a few minutes ago?

[Mr Vaizey]

First, it is important to stress that the broadband programme is going extremely well. As I have said before, we should reach 88% coverage by the end of 2015 and 90% in early 2016. That is far ahead of Labour’s plan, which was only to get to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. It is also important to stress that the NAO acknowledged that the in-life controls in local authority contracts with BT were robust. We follow exactly the same procedure as that used in Cornwall, where BT has gone from 80% to 95% coverage for the same amount of money, and we have robust cost controls.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

In Dover and Deal, people complain bitterly about how long it takes to get a broadband connection and how long it can take to get it sorted out if the connection goes wrong. Given that the infrastructure provider is effectively a monopoly provider, is it not important that we have a better service?

[Mr Vaizey]

May I say what a pleasure it was to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency the other day, to see some of his historic churches and to open the Deal arts festival?

I hear what my hon. Friend says. Those questions do arise, but I know that BT Openreach works hard to ensure that it can give the best customer service possible. We have regular discussions with BT Openreach and other major providers to ensure that customer service is good.

The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked—