Digital Economy Bill (Fourth sitting)

Thangam Debbonaire Excerpts

Committee Debate: 4th sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 18th October 2016 Public Bill Committees

[Claire Perry]

I accept the spirit of what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but I did sit until recently on the inter-ministerial Committee looking at how to upgrade the digital services right across the country.

It is clear that Ofcom is taking its responsibilities very seriously, both to report on the number of premises that are connected and to tighten up on some of the issues where broadband companies advertise the maximum speed a customer might ever get if connected rather than the average speed. Ofcom is a very good regulator under Ms White’s chairmanship and it is absolutely stepping up to the plate.

I am afraid that I cannot support the amendment or the new clause because they are stuck in the past, looking at how we push out a good solution rather than empowering consumers to pull through the best solution that works for them. That solution might look very different in my constituency of Devizes from how it might in Cheshire or the highlands of Scotland. We have made decent progress but it is not far enough. I applaud the Government for bringing forward both the USO as an underlying obligation and the flexibility to amend that as technology changes.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

I rise to support the amendments under discussion and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley for an excellent speech and for leading the debate, particularly on amendment 82.

I want to ask this of the Committee. Do we want to be ambitious? For me, this is about ambition. Do we want an economy that has the nuts and bolts, the things we require, to make it fit for the 21st century and the challenges it is already throwing up? Do we want our tech and creative industries, such as those that operate in my constituency of Bristol West, to be able to perform their functions, or do we want them to move away?

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I hope the hon. Lady does not mean to talk down the UK digital success story of 12.4% of GDP. I am sure she is aware that that is the largest in the G20 and compares with a European average of just 5.7%. We need to keep the progress going but we already have huge achievements, have we not?

[Thangam Debbonaire]

Yes, of course, I agree but I do not want that to slow down. I am ambitious because of that record and want it to continue, if possible, at an exponential rate of growth. Having such a low level of ambition in the USO will, I think, hold back the success stories that the hon. Gentleman so rightly talks about and that I have in my constituency. The medical and university sectors and researchers throughout industry all say to me that the issue is both upload and download speeds, as well as ensuring that they can compete with their competitors in Europe and beyond. As my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley said, the European ambition is for 100 megabits per second—10 megabits is just a fraction of that.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Chair]

Although the Committee is going really well and everyone is doing great, we are now straying slightly into Second Reading territory. Let us keep our comments focused on the amendments and new clause in hand and we will all get along swimmingly.

[Thangam Debbonaire]

Thank you, Mr Streeter. I do not have much else to say, but I say to the hon. Lady that I do indeed know her constituency well because one of my sisters was born in Devizes. She mentions 91% and Wiltshire Council’s excellent commitment, but what about the other 9%?

Before I sit down, I refer briefly to what Vodafone’s Paul Morris said in one of the oral evidence sessions last week. He said:

“I do not think that 10 megabits is enough for most small businesses”.––[Official Report, Digital Economy Public Bill Committee, 11 October 2016; c. 16, Q26.]

If it is not enough—if a telecoms provider acknowledges that it is not enough, and if tech companies in the creative industries and others in my constituency are telling me that it is not enough—I do not understand what would be so wrong with having an annual report to measure how we are doing. I thank you for allowing me the time to make that point, Mr Streeter, and I commend the amendment to the Committee.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Before I make a brief remark, I draw the Committee’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

I fully support the spirit of the amendments and new clause, but I am not entirely sure whether the Committee should support it. Surely it is the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s job to hold BDUK and the Department to account for their progress. I told you I would be brief, Mr Streeter.