Oral Answers to Questions

Margot James Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

Our ambition is for the UK to have better digital connectivity wherever people live, work and travel, which very much includes rural areas. Superfast broadband is now available to 95% of UK premises, and roll-out will continue to cover the majority of remaining premises. By 2020, the universal service obligation will give everyone the legal right to high-speed broadband at 10 megabits per second or faster.

[Trudy Harrison]

I thank the Minister for her response, but around 33% of my rural constituency of Copeland is still not covered by fast internet, which is holding back our villages and farm businesses. What can be done, as soon as possible, to help those businesses and communities?

[Margot James]

We are doing a great deal to help businesses and people in rural areas. My hon. Friend might like to campaign for greater awareness of the access that people in her constituency have to the internet, because it is now at 93%. As in many other constituencies, however, people are not taking that up, and I urge those who live in rural areas, where the access is there, to take it up.

[Victoria Prentis]

Last week, I held a meeting of larger employers in my constituency, and it became clear that one thing they feel is holding them back is the lack of a mobile signal between junctions 10 and 11 of the M40. Will the Minister work with me to improve that?

[Margot James]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that problem about the M40, which I experience regularly on my way to my constituency of Stourbridge. Current coverage on UK motorways is 97% for telephone calls, but that is no comfort to those travelling on the stretch she has identified. I will work with her to bring about a solution as swiftly as possible.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

May I urge the Minister to be much more sceptical about the figures given out by mobile phone companies and operators? In all honesty, looking at their maps on the ground, they have nowhere near the figures of which they boast.

[Margot James]

The Ofcom “Connected Nations” report contains new measures that reflect truer consumer standards, and it is opening the new 700 MHz spectrum band, which will be suitable for wider area coverage. I accept the hon. Gentleman’s point, and we are working to get better consumer measures on those matters.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Although there has been an improvement over the years, 63,000 homes and offices in Northern Ireland—8% of properties—remain unable to sign up for broadband speeds. What discussions have taken place with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland to ensure a roll-out of the moneys agreed for rural areas through the confidence and supply agreement?

[Margot James]

Northern Ireland’s outdoor geographic coverage is better than the UK average, but I recognise that indoor coverage is poor compared with the rest of the country. The new code reforms will help, alongside our desire to extend geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the entire United Kingdom.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Are 10 megabits enough?

[Margot James]

My right hon. Friend refers to the universal service obligation that will guarantee 10 megabits per second. According to Ofcom, that is enough for multiple usage in the home, and for downloading film and video.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Villages such as Lixwm, Ysceifiog and Bagillt in rural areas of my constituency are getting increasingly frustrated with the performance of Openreach in delivering broadband. Two years ago, the Government pledged through Ofcom to deconstruct Openreach from BT, but what progress has been made on that objective?

[Margot James]

I encourage the right hon. Gentleman to remember that BT and Openreach are no longer a monopoly. I draw his attention to today’s announcement by TalkTalk that it is cutting its dividend and connecting more than 3 million homes to full fibre, building Britain’s full fibre future.

[Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to improve access to the mobile web.

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[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

7. What steps he plans to take to maintain the level of funding for the film industry after the UK leaves the EU.

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

The UK film industry is worth £4 billion a year to the UK economy. The Government are committed to supporting the industry and are consulting stakeholders to ensure that the sector continues to thrive after we leave the EU. The Prime Minister has made it clear that, where possible, we will continue to participate in EU programmes where there is mutual benefit to the UK and the EU, as there is in the case of Creative Europe, for example.

[Nick Smith]

Blaenau Gwent’s stunning scenery makes us an ideal location for UK films and television series, and the Creative Europe programme has supported the cinema distribution of more than 100 UK films in European markets in recent years. Will the Government ensure our continued participation in Creative Europe after we leave the EU, because it has been such a success?

[Margot James]

I agree that Creative Europe has been a success and that the hon. Gentleman’s constituency of Blaenau Gwent is a wonderful location, which has been used for many broadcasting opportunities. We are very committed to our role in Creative Europe. We recognise its value, and the Treasury has committed to honouring all applications, even those that are likely to require funding post-Brexit. We can be optimistic, although of course during negotiations there can be no guarantees.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

Amid this tour of the UK, Derbyshire and Dorset, may I remind the Minister that the county of Sutherland in my vast and remote constituency offers huge potential for the UK film industry? We have some of the most majestic scenery and Dunrobin castle. What “Downton Abbey” did for Highclere, a new show could do for Dunrobin castle.

[Margot James]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good case for Dunrobin castle, and I am sure he will be able to make the most of that as he lobbies for broadcasters to beat a trail to his constituency.

[Mr Speaker]

A Cook’s tour of the United Kingdom awaits the Minister. I am sure that she looks forward to it with eager anticipation and, I hope, bated breath.

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[Martin Whitfield (East Lothian) (Lab)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to improve digital infrastructure.

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

£1.7 billion of public funding has been invested to deliver superfast broadband across the UK, and a further £1.1 billion to support the next generation of digital infrastructure, including 5G test beds and trials and a fibre infrastructure challenge fund. We have also reformed mobile planning laws in England and reformed the UK electronic communications code, removing barriers to deploying infrastructure.

[Martin Whitfield]

Given the Government’s commitment to deal directly with local authorities in Scotland in the near future on digital infrastructure, would the Minister agree to meet me, the local authority and, more importantly, disruptive local providers who may be able to give answers to some of the problems that we face?

[Margot James]

We do need to reduce obstacles and costs in the commercial deployment of digital infrastructure. That is what our reforms to the code were about. The Scottish Government have introduced the first stage of their planning reforms. I hope that they can build on that and introduce reforms for their designated areas, albeit they have fallen behind Wales and England and indeed Northern Ireland. I agree to meet the hon. Gentleman and his local authorities.

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[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to promote equal pay for women in television, film and radio.

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

The Government are making great strides towards ending the gender pay gap in broadcasting and in the rest of the economy. The new legal requirement for companies above a certain size to publish their gender pay gap details reinforces the requirement by our former Secretary of State for the BBC to publish the salary details of those earning more than £150,000 a year. I hope the hon. Lady agrees that that has been very revealing.

[Liz McInnes]

I thank the Minister for her response, but it is clear that pay in the BBC has not been managed properly. There is too much individual pay bargaining without any clear guidelines or justification. It is a system that has been advantageous to men at the expense of women. What will the Minister do to ensure that there is transparency and fairness in the future?

[Margot James]

I strongly agree with the hon. Lady’s comments, but I draw her attention to the fact that there is an independent regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission. I understand that it has already approached the BBC following the many concerns raised by journalists and broadcasters in the corporation. We rely on the BBC to set a lead in this regard. I hope very much that the EHRC will call it to account, and that real and lasting change will be the result.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

15. What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the recruitment and retention of skilled workers in the computer games industry.

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

The games industry makes a crucial economic and cultural contribution to the UK’s games market, which in 2016 was the fifth largest in the world. We are committed to supporting the video games industry so that it can continue to recruit and retain top talent, both from the UK and internationally. We are working closely with the sector to understand the impacts on and opportunities for it as we prepare to leave the EU.

[Mr Sharma]

What representations has the Minister made to the Home Office about the effect on the UK tech sector of the tightening of the tier 2 visa regulations?

[Margot James]

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman. We have asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on the economic and social impacts of our exit from the EU. We are also speaking to the sector and its key trade bodies, such as Ukie and TIGA, as well as individual businesses such as Ubisoft and CE Europe, to ensure that top talent continues to be available to the sector.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

16. What recent discussions he has had with Channel 4 on its potential relocation outside London; and if he will make a statement.

Thank you for reaching me.

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[Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)]

T2. My cup really doth runneth over today: I have a topical question as well. I welcome the progress the Government are making on superfast broadband, but can my hon. Friend the Minister assure me that the remaining 17% of premises in my constituency that do not have access to fibre broadband will have it as soon as possible?

[The Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Margot James)]

We are all very happy for my hon. Friend.

Progress has continued to bring superfast broadband to Cornwall: access coverage is now 91%. A further 3% of premises in Cornwall will be covered by December 2019 through the current broadband contract between Cornwall Council and BT. I also draw my hon. Friend’s attention to the rights of her constituents under the universal service obligation.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

rose—