Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to safeguard the provision of digital terrestrial television and radio broadcast services beyond 2040 for communities in rural areas; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I refer my honourable friend to the answer I gave on 5 June 2023 to her question UIN 186801.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Media Bill on access to digital terrestrial television in the period to 2040.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government remains committed to the future of digital terrestrial television (DTT), the technology which underpins Freeview. Millions of households across the UK rely on DTT, particularly rural communities and older people.
We also recognise the crucial role that DTT services play in the wider UK broadcasting system, in particular in helping ensure that public service content continues to be widely available and free-to-air to all audiences.
For these reasons, the Government has already legislated to secure the continuity of DTT until at least 2034.
As the sector evolves, it is right that we continue to evaluate the future distribution of television services. To that end, and as set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the Government has asked Ofcom to continue to track changes in DTT viewing and to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025.
Before any decisions about the future of terrestrial television are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.
Separately, the Media Bill will reform decades-old laws to turbocharge the growth potential of our world-leading public service broadcasters (PSBs). The Government has published impact assessments for the draft Media Bill and, as is usual practice, an updated set will be submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee for independent scrutiny, and published when the Bill is introduced.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the continuity of (a) terrestrial television and (b) radio broadcast services for households that (a) live in rural areas and (b) do not have (i) access to broadband and (ii) sufficient broadband connectivity.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government remains committed to the future of digital terrestrial television (DTT) and national commercial digital radio services.
Millions of households across the UK rely on digital terrestrial television and radio broadcast services, and we expect this to continue over the next decade. This includes households in rural areas and the small number of households who do not currently have access to superfast broadband.
We also recognise the crucial role that digital terrestrial television and radio broadcast services play in the wider UK broadcasting system, in particular in helping ensure that public service content continues to be widely available free-to-air to all audiences.
For these reasons, the Government has legislated to secure continuity of digital terrestrial television until at least 2034 and national commercial digital radio services until 2035.
As the sector evolves, it is right that we continue to evaluate the future distribution of radio and television. To that end, and as set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the Government has asked Ofcom to continue to track changes in DTT viewing and to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025.
Before any decisions about the future of terrestrial television and radio broadcast services are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the outcome of the consultation on developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has not yet published a consultation on developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England.
In June, DCMS issued a call for evidence on the benefits and challenges presented by the rise in short-term and holiday letting seen in England over the last 10 to 15 years. This will inform the development of appropriate policy options, which the government intends to consult on later in 2022. The call for evidence closed on 21 September and we are now carefully analysing 4,000 responses to this exercise, which will help inform next steps.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) progress of the nationwide switch from copper phone lines to fibre and (b) resilience of fibre phone lines in rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The move from traditional to digital telephony, known as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration, is being led by the telecoms industry and not the government.
While DCMS meets regularly with telecoms providers to discuss the progress of their migration, we do not assess overall progress given each provider has their own schedule and plans for the upgrade including how and when they will migrate customers. Regardless, telecoms providers have said they remain committed to the 2025 deadline.
Telecommunications equipment is usually highly resilient and major outages are extremely rare. However, in general, fibre connections are less affected than copper cables by environmental factors, such as temperature and electro-magnetic fluctuations.