Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 80709 on Churches: Aerials, what estimate she has made of the average change in rents paid to (a) churches, (b) local authorities, (c) other public authorities and (d) private landowners for hosting telecommunications masts since the amendment of the Electronic Communications Code under the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Measures included in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 will extend the statutory valuation framework contained in the Electronic Communications Code to certain cases regulated by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and the Business Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. These measures have not yet come into force and therefore no assessment has been made of their impact on rents.
Following the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code, government representatives engaged regularly with stakeholders about their impact. The changes made by the 2022 Act were consulted on and received Parliamentary scrutiny during passage of the Act.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2017 Electronic Communications Code reform on rent revenues earned by church properties hosting mobile communications infrastructure.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made on the impact of the 2017 reforms on church properties. In the impact assessment produced in 2016 to accompany the 2017 reforms, it was anticipated that there would be a reduction in rents from operators to landowners but that it would be difficult to precisely predict the effect of the reforms on rental payments. The impact assessment referenced independent analysis conducted by the specialist telecommunications consultancy Nordicity, commissioned by DCMS, which estimated a potential 40% decrease in rents.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans he has to strengthen the regulation of online pornography platforms hosting violent and extreme content.
Answered by Feryal Clark
From 17 March 2025 services in scope of the Online Safety Act must take action to tackle illegal pornographic content. Publishers of pornography online also have a duty to use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing pornographic content. By summer, all user-to-user services that allow sharing of pornographic content should also use highly effective age assurance if necessary to prevent children from accessing such content.
The Government published the final report of the Independent Pornography Review on 27 February 2025 and issued an initial statement in response addressing the important issues it raised. A further update will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to ensure that BDUK provide maps at a parish level for their local plans.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Building Digital UK (BDUK) is currently considering the most appropriate options for publishing more detailed information about the delivery of Project Gigabit at a local level, noting that this is subject to change throughout the lifetime of the programme.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent estimate he has made of when the Independent Pornography Review will be published.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Independent Pornography Review will assess the effectiveness of current pornography legislation, regulation, and enforcement.
The government expects the review to present its final report by the end of the year.