Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he made of the cost of Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet completed. We have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry, including any estimate of cost.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will hold an inquiry into regulation of non-print media.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Ofcom is the independent body that regulates TV, radio and video on demand services. The Broadcasting Code contains rules those TV and radio broadcasters must follow. There are separate rules for video on demand services which include TV catch up, online film services and libraries of archive content. Government considers this regulatory system is working well and has no plans to hold an inquiry.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 19385, for what reasons his Department does not plan to pay another grant to MG Alba.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
This information can be found in the 2015 Information Security Breaches Survey [Link]. The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) aims to tackle cyber crime and make the UK the safest place in the world to do business in the world. This includes the Cyber Essentials Scheme to protect businesses against common cyber threats and the cyber streetwise campaign which offers simple cyber security advice to small businesses and consumers. In addition to the £860 million investment under the NCSP between 2011-2016, in November 2015 the Chancellor announced a new five year £1.9 billion investment in cyber security to make the UK one of the best protected countries in cyber space.
All Government departments must adhere to the Government’s Security Policy Framework and are required to report, manage and recover from information risk incidents, including losses of protected personal data and ICT security incidents.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the contribution of the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy of 3 December 2015, Official Report, column 510, what the purpose was of the two one-off grants paid to MG Alba.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The two one-off grants to MG Alba were provided to support the production of high-quality Gaelic language content, including original drama, and to continue its valued services for Gaelic speakers.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Scotland and (b) Ministers in the Scottish Government on the provision of 4G mobile telephone coverage in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I met with John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister in the Scottish Government on 8 June 2015. 4G mobile coverage was not discussed at that meeting. The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy has met with the Secretary of State for Scotland and discussed options of mobile coverage including indoor 4G coverage to 98% of all premises by the end of 2017.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to refer fixed line telecommunications services to the Competition and Markets Authority.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
This is a matter for the communications regulator, Ofcom, or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), either of which might review the fixed line telecommunications market on their own initiative. Ofcom could conduct a market study and, if its findings warranted it, refer it to the CMA for a market investigation. In theory it is possible for the Secretary of State to request a referral to the CMA under Section 131 (1) of the Enterprise Act. However, this is a ‘reserve power’ and has never been used.
Ofcom periodically reviews the telecommunications fixed access market, most recently in May 2014. In March this year Ofcom launched an overarching Strategic Review of Digital Communications in the UK. This is covering both fixed and wireless networks and services.