Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eighth annual report of the Press Recognition Panel, and what steps they plan to take in response to the three main recommendations contained therein.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has no plans to take forward the three main recommendations made in the Press Recognition Panel’s eighth annual report on the recognition system.
The Government committed in its manifesto to the repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which we will do through the Media Bill, and has consistently supported the independent self-regulation of the press.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department's review into the decision to award public funding to Hacker House will include how many UK-based employees her Department assessed Hacker House to have during the application process for grant funding under the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
I have written to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to set out the findings of the independent review conducted by the Government Internal Audit Agency and I attach a copy of the letter for reference.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department's review of the decision to award public funding to Hacker House will include a random audit of that company to determine how the public money granted under the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund has been spent.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
I have written to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to set out the findings of the independent review conducted by the Government Internal Audit Agency and I attach a copy of the letter for reference.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 2799, what proportion of gigabit broadband connections will be delivered by (a) fibre to the premise and (b) other technologies.
Answered by Matt Warman
As set out in the answer of 24 October 2019, the Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible through the deployment of full fibre broadband, upgraded gigabit networks and, potentially, other technologies such as 5G fixed wireless access. The Government has not set targets for the proportion, or number of premises to be covered by these different technologies, as we are focussed on the outcome of better broadband connectivity for consumers, and we wish to encourage innovation and increased network competition in this market.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department's review of the decision to award public funds to Hacker House will include whether the requirement for the allocation of funding to not exceed 50 per cent of the company's annual income was waived for any other Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund grant recipient.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
I have written to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to set out the findings of the independent review conducted by the Government Internal Audit Agency and I attach a copy of the letter for reference.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 2799 on broadband, to what (a) proportion and (b) number of premises does the Government aim to deliver full fibre to the premise by 2025.
Answered by Matt Warman
As set out in the answer of 24 October 2019, the Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible through the deployment of full fibre broadband, upgraded gigabit networks and, potentially, other technologies such as 5G fixed wireless access. The Government has not set targets for the proportion, or number of premises to be covered by these different technologies, as we are focussed on the outcome of better broadband connectivity for consumers, and we wish to encourage innovation and increased network competition in this market.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has awarded Government contracts to Amazon Web Services in the last five years.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Department has awarded no such contracts.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver 1 gigabit connections to all premises by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
The Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Both the Prime Minister and I have set out the Government's ambition to achieve this by 2025. We expect full fibre broadband and upgraded cable networks to play a major role in delivering our ambitions but we are also open to other technologies, such as 5G fixed wireless access, providing they can deliver similar outcomes for consumers.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost to the public purse was of developing policy on Age Verification for online pornography since 2015.
Answered by Matt Warman
Development costs from 2015-2016 were met through existing DCMS headcount resources. Since 2016, the government has spent approximately £2.2million through a contractual agreement with the British Board for Film Classification to implement age verification for online pornography. Building on on that work, we are now establishing how the objectives of Part Three of the Digital Economy Act can be delivered through our online harms regime.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver full fibre broadband to to all premises by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
The Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Both the Prime Minister and I have set out the Government's ambition to achieve this by 2025. We expect full fibre broadband and upgraded cable networks to play a major role in delivering our ambitions but we are also open to other technologies, such as 5G fixed wireless access, providing they can deliver similar outcomes for consumers.