Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential economic impact of introducing a football regulator.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Independent Football Regulator will create a clearer and more certain regulatory environment for investors which will drive future investment and growth so that English football remains a global success story. A more sustainable game is a more investable game, and this in turn should drive continued economic growth in the market.

The government’s estimate of the economic impact of introducing a football regulator is set out in our Impact Assessment.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the timetable is for the (a) introduction of 5G and (b) the rollout of fibre broadband in Telford constituency.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government wants all areas of the UK, including Telford constituency, to benefit from good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030.

5G is already available in the Telford constituency. I have raised my concerns about the reporting of mobile connectivity with Ofcom, but according to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report (published on 5 December 2024) 5G is available from at least one operator outside 99% of all premises in the Telford constituency.

In the Telford constituency, over 99% of premises can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 87% have access to gigabit-capable broadband coverage (>1000 Mbps). There is high existing gigabit coverage and commercial plans in the area. Therefore, this constituency is not expected to see significant benefits from Project Gigabit.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish a timetable for a decision on the funding of the M54-M6 North link.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Funding for the M54 to M6 Link Road is subject to the multi-year Spending Review, and assurances cannot be provided on individual projects until the conclusion of the Spending Review.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans has to use World Heritage sites to encourage economic growth.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Heritage plays an important part in the UK economy. In 2023, seven out of ten of the most popular paid visitor attractions in England were heritage attractions, according to evidence from the Annual Visitor Attraction Survey.

According to research undertaken by the UK National Commission for UNESCO in 2020, a UNESCO designation, such as a World Heritage Site designation, leads to increased tourism, brings economic benefits for local communities, and delivers a greater international profile.

DCMS works with World Heritage Site coordinators and heritage agencies across the UK to continue to build the value of these designations and to support economic growth.

Our ambition is to have 50 million international visitors to the UK a year by 2030.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has set a deadline for councils to publish their (a) local growth plans and (b) local housing development plans.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

1. The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to the 11 Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority in September to invite them to begin the process of developing their Local Growth Plans. These will be locally owned, long-term strategic plans that set out how the authority will use its devolved powers and funding to support the national growth mission. Local Growth Plans will also help inform the development of the UK Industrial Strategy and will support its delivery. They will be published after the multi-year spending review.

2. All local development plans should be submitted for examination by December 2026 with the exception of plans that reach pre-submission consultation stage (Regulation 19) on or before 12 March 2025. These plans will proceed on the basis of the transitional arrangements set out in the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) average, (b) shortest and (c) longest wait was for determination of an application for a new rail line by a private operator for each year that records are available.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Access to the rail network is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its capacity as independent regulator for the rail industry.

ORR have advised that since 2020, it has determined four applications for wholly new open access services. ORR rejected one and approved three. The time taken to go through the industry processes and reach a decision on these applications was as follows:

- Grand Union Trains (London – Stirling): 126 days

- Grand Union Trains Application 1 (London – Carmarthen): 281 days

- Grand Union Trains Application 2 (London – Carmarthen): 163 days

- Go-op: 783 days

The Go-op process involved significant changes to the application from the applicant over the course of two years. For all of these applications, ORR took decisions within 6 weeks of receiving all relevant information from the parties.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Office of Road and Rail on reducing decision making times on the introduction of new rail routes (a) to and from London, (b) between London and Wales and (c) between Shropshire and London.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Access to the rail network is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its capacity as independent regulator for the rail industry. The Department works closely with both ORR and Network Rail to ensure that information to inform access decisions is provided in as timely a manner as possible, however it is important that decisions are fully considered and potential impacts to taxpayers, the efficient operation of the network, and to other operators are properly assessed.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Karen Bradley (Chair); Shaun Davies; Mr Paul Kohler; Ben Maguire