Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What recent steps she has taken to increase the (a) strength and (b) reliability of mobile phone signals in Scotland.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government wants the UK to have high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel, including Scotland, and we are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK.
There is currently 77% 4G geographic coverage from at least one Mobile Network Operator for the Stirling Local Authority area, up from 49% in June 2017. We are in discussions with the Mobile Network Operators about their proposal for a Shared Rural Network to improve coverage. We will consider all options.
I also welcome Ofcom’s proposal for their forthcoming spectrum auction, which aims to deliver two operators to 90% geographic mobile coverage.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to respond to the Scottish Government's 5G strategy entitled Forging our Digital Future with 5G: A strategy for Scotland, published on 26 August 2019.
Answered by Matt Warman
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made in restoring shooting to the range of sports in the Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The decision on which core and optional sports are included in the Commonwealth Games sports programme rests with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and its constituent members. A decision on the status of shooting as an optional sport was taken at the 2015 Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, and also reaffirmed in 2016, when the new CGF Constitution was approved.
Shooting was not included at point of bid in the sport programme for the 2022 Games in Birmingham, but following interest from a number of the optional sports and disciplines, the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee has recently concluded an Additional Sports review and costing exercise, considering the merits of adding additional sports, including shooting, to the Games within available resources. The review considered financial considerations and the potential for additional revenue generation, the availability of suitable venues, and alignment with the CGF Constitution and the objectives of Games partners. It also considered submissions from each of the sports concerned. Based on the conclusions from the review, the Organising Committee’s recommendation was to support the inclusion of Women’s Cricket, Beach Volleyball and Para Table Tennis, but not to add Shooting or Archery to the programme for Birmingham.This recommendation was subsequently approved by the CGF Executive Board, and confirmed by a vote of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s membership, who make the final decision on the matter. Looking ahead, any consideration of shooting’s inclusion in future games will be a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation, and the Organising Committees of future Games.
The Government does recognise the strength of feeling on the matter among the shooting community, and the desire to have an opportunity to showcase the sport in 2022, and as such I have spoken to the Commonwealth Games Federation regarding the matter. They have agreed to advise British Shooting on the next steps for taking forward proposals for an event for Commonwealth shooters, to be delivered separately from the Games. The responsibility for any event would sit with British Shooting, but I hope that this will give the shooting community in the UK the opportunity to compete against shooters from across the Commonwealth in a UK event in 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking following the action taken by the Advertising Standards Authority against misleading presentation of pricing information on the websites of secondary ticket operators.
Answered by Margot James
The Government is determined to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online ticketing market and improve fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. We have strengthened the existing ticketing provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, are in the process of introducing a new criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets than that allowed, and support the work of the Competition and Markets Authority and National Trading Standards in enforcing the law in this area. We recognise, however, that Government can’t act alone in addressing this issue, and that the ticketing industry, regulatory bodies, and online platforms need to take actions themselves. We welcome the action taken in March by the Advertising Standards Authority against four of the main operators in the secondary ticketing sector banning the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites, and the assurances from these platforms that they would make changes to their websites to comply with this ruling. We hope this will help improve transparency in the market and help consumers find legitimate official ticketing sites.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to increase the funding for basketball at grassroots level across the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Sport England has invested over £31 million in grassroots basketball since 2009, and is investing £5,140,000 in Basketball England across the 2017-21 period.
Sport England makes funding for grassroots sport available through a series of investment programmes, details of which are set out on its website, and which are open for individual organisations to apply for. It has also recently launched a new grant finding service on a one year trial to help organisations access the right type of funding opportunities that are appropriate to them: http://www.idoxopen4community.co.uk/sportengland/
Sport England is the arms length body of government that supports and invests in grassroots sport and physical activity in England. Support for grassroots sport and physical activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the respective Home Nations Sports Councils.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has any powers to intervene over the removal of Channel 4 HD services from the Freesat satellite television network.
Answered by Margot James
The Secretary of State does not have any statutory powers to intervene in the removal of Channel 4 HD from the Freesat satellite television network. The High Definition version of Channel 4 is not a public service channel. Therefore, Channel 4 Corporation may provide Channel 4 HD to platforms on a commercial basis.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has any powers to intervene over the removal of Channel 4 HD services from the Freesat satellite television network.
Answered by Margot James
The Secretary of State does not have any statutory powers to intervene in the removal of Channel 4 HD from the Freesat satellite television network. The High Definition version of Channel 4 is not a public service channel. Therefore, Channel 4 Corporation may provide Channel 4 HD to platforms on a commercial basis.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the dates were of the most recent meetings between Ministers from her Department and their counterparts in the devolved administrations; and what the dates are of the next planned meetings.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The table below lists the most recent meetings between Ministers from DCMS and their counterparts in the devolved administrations and the next planned meetings:
Minister | Devolved Administration | Date of most recent meeting | Next planned meeting |
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport | Welsh Government | 26 September 2016 | N/A |
Minister for Digital | Scottish Government | 6th November | 28th November 2017 |
Minister for Sport & Civil Society | Welsh Government | 20th November 2016 | N/A |
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism | Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments | 26th October | N/A |
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the average length of time is for a (a) commercial property and (b) domestic residence to be connected to a broadband service in each region and nation of the UK.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We do not hold these figures. For one provider quarterly data on the average length of time for commercial and residential properties to be connected to Openreach’s network is publicly available from their website at https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/OurResponsibilities/our-performance.aspx.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what initiatives are being sponsored by her Department to support and grow the UK digital skills base.
Answered by Matt Hancock
DCMS has sponsored many programs that have helped support and grow the UK digital skills base. Some of them include the following: