Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will publish an annual assessment of all government IT contracts, detailing what proportion is delivered offshore compared to the UK.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Departments are responsible for managing their own commercial arrangements in line with procurement regulations and value-for-money principles.
Information on government contracts, including suppliers and contract details, is publicly available through the Find a Tender Service for above-threshold procurements and Contracts Finder for below-threshold procurements in England and other non-devolved territories. For procurements that began before 24 February 2025, only above-threshold notices are published on Find a Tender.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding her Department plans to provide to help improve IT skills in the next 12 months.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will spend up to £42m across the 2026/27 financial year and £187 million over the next four years delivering the TechFirst programme. As announced by the Prime Minister in June 2025, TechFirst is designed to strengthen the UK’s domestic tech talent pipeline by improving the IT and digital skills of children in secondary schools, as well as undergraduate, masters, and PhD students. The TechFirst programme also includes a grant fund to help skilled individuals into work.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the 2017 Electronic Communications Code on (a) telecoms operator profits and (b) consumer prices for telecom services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The 2017 changes to the Electronic Communications Code, which included changes to the valuation regime, were intended to support network deployment and facilitate infrastructure sharing. Following engagement with stakeholders about the impact of the 2017 reforms, government consulted on further changes to the Code, included in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.
A specific assessment of the impact that the 2017 reforms have had on small family businesses has not been carried out. The 2022 Act – which includes provisions that will, when commenced, extend the 2017 valuation regime to additional cases - received Parliamentary scrutiny and was subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.
Given the commercial – and often sensitive – nature of most Code agreements, meaningful data on rents would be difficult to collect and assess. In addition, rent is only part of operators’ expenditure, any such data therefore could not be causally related with profits and consumer price changes.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she has make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the 2017 Electronic Communications Code on small family businesses who rent land to major telecoms operators.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The 2017 changes to the Electronic Communications Code, which included changes to the valuation regime, were intended to support network deployment and facilitate infrastructure sharing. Following engagement with stakeholders about the impact of the 2017 reforms, government consulted on further changes to the Code, included in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.
A specific assessment of the impact that the 2017 reforms have had on small family businesses has not been carried out. The 2022 Act – which includes provisions that will, when commenced, extend the 2017 valuation regime to additional cases - received Parliamentary scrutiny and was subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.
Given the commercial – and often sensitive – nature of most Code agreements, meaningful data on rents would be difficult to collect and assess. In addition, rent is only part of operators’ expenditure, any such data therefore could not be causally related with profits and consumer price changes.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of telecommunications have been buried underground since the introduction of the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While the 2003 Regulations require operators to use underground lines where reasonably practicable, with certain exceptions, this will not always be possible due to costs or if existing infrastructure is not suitable for sharing.
The method of network deployment in commercially viable areas is a commercial decision made by network operators.
Therefore the Department does not actively monitor the proportion of telecommunications infrastructure buried underground since the introduction of the Electronic Communications Code.
However, Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2024 Report indicated that Openreach has deployed 496,000 km of ducts and 4.1 million telegraph poles across the UK.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to assess the effectiveness of part (a) 11 and (b) 12 of the Electronic Communications Code for ensuring that infrastructure developments for new mobile telecommunications equipment are suitable.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Parts 11 and 12 of the Electronic Communications Code provide rights to fly lines over land and set out when and how someone can object to these installations. The aim is to balance the efficient deployment of overhead networks with the interests of those affected by them. The provisions under Parts 11 and 12 relate primarily to fixed-line infrastructure deployment.
Part 11 was amended through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 to support greater infrastructure sharing, providing alternatives for network expansion. The measures in that Act received Parliamentary scrutiny and were subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.
A separate assessment of these provisions has not been completed, but the impact of all the 2022 changes will be assessed in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Part 11 of the Electronic Communications Code in providing flexibility to improve the network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Parts 11 and 12 of the Electronic Communications Code provide rights to fly lines over land and set out when and how someone can object to these installations. The aim is to balance the efficient deployment of overhead networks with the interests of those affected by them. The provisions under Parts 11 and 12 relate primarily to fixed-line infrastructure deployment.
Part 11 was amended through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 to support greater infrastructure sharing, providing alternatives for network expansion. The measures in that Act received Parliamentary scrutiny and were subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.
A separate assessment of these provisions has not been completed, but the impact of all the 2022 changes will be assessed in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect intellectual property rights in the training of AI models.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government recently consulted on the use of copyright material in AI model development.
The Government is currently analysing responses to that consultation, to help inform policy development. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and proposals will be set out in due course.
We have committed to report on progress to Parliament by December.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness in providing adequate protection for residents from unsuitable apparatus and lines of (a) Part 11 and (b) Part 12 of the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Electronic Communications Code provides rights and obligations intended to facilitate the installation and maintenance of electronic communications networks, subject to conditions and restrictions set out in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has powers to take enforcement action against any breaches of the 2003 Regulations.
Nonetheless, I am aware of community concerns with the deployment of new broadband infrastructure. Following my meeting with the industry, the Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations have been published, which includes an industry commitment to always consider the interests of communities.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to hold operators to account on their progress since the UK Network Operator industry roundtable discussion on 12 September 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Electronic Communications Code provides rights and obligations intended to facilitate the installation and maintenance of electronic communications networks, subject to conditions and restrictions set out in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has powers to take enforcement action against any breaches of the 2003 Regulations.
Nonetheless, I am aware of community concerns with the deployment of new broadband infrastructure. Following my meeting with the industry, the Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations have been published, which includes an industry commitment to always consider the interests of communities.