Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that ongoing work under the digital identities framework to digitise (a) sex and (b) other personal information incorporates safeguards to guarantee the information used is accurate where it might be recorded differently on (i) passports, (ii) driving licences and (iiI) other documents.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Digital identities do not offer a new way to determine sex or gender. As with physical verification, individual organisations are responsible for determining what precise information it is appropriate to verify in a particular case and how they verify that to meet their requirements. The UK digital identity and attributes trust framework creates rules for how digital identity services operate. It does not set requirements for how government departments record sex and other personal information. Under data protection law, personal data which is processed must be accurate for the purposes for which it is processed.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the (a) quality and (b) total area coverage area for (i) 5G and (ii) other wireless data reception in Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency; and what steps he is taking to help improve 5G coverage in those areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report (published on 5 December 2024) 92% of the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators, while 85% of the constituency has 5G geographic coverage from at least one operator. I have raised my concerns about the accuracy of their coverage reporting with Ofcom and I welcome their continuing efforts to make improvements.
The government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including communities in Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030.
Improving 5G coverage is primarily the responsibility of the mobile network operators, but we continue to challenge and work with the mobile industry and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in protecting artists against breaches of artistic copyright by AI models.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department has not made its own assessment of the effectiveness of the Berne Convention in relation to AI models.
However, a recent meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which is responsible for the Berne Convention, included a session on the use of artistic and other copyright works by AI models.
The UK participated in this session and will continue to engage with WIPO and with other international partners as we consider the way forward on this important topic.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress he has made on the Shared Rural Network (SRN) since July 2024; and what SRN projects are underway in Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since July 2024, we have activated 40 government funded masts under the Shared Rural Network, providing new 4G coverage to rural communities across Great Britain. At the end of 2024 Ofcom confirmed that the programme had also hit its objective of helping to deliver 95% coverage a year ahead of schedule. In Mid Dorset and North Poole, outdoor 4G coverage from all four operators has increased to 92% up from 85% since the programme begun in March 2020. There will not be any further coverage improvements from the Shared Rural Network in Mid Dorset and North Poole.