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, if she will take steps to require telecommunications providers to bear financial responsibility for losses arising from scam and spoofed telephone calls to improve accountability under Ofcom’s regulatory framework.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has no plans to require telecommunications providers to bear financial responsibility for losses arising from scam and spoofed telephone calls.
Tackling fraud and pursuing the criminals behind it is a priority for the Government. We are working closely with industry, law enforcement and consumer groups to identify and prosecute criminal activity of this nature.
The Government works closely with Ofcom, the independent regulator, which has a duty to protect consumers and to ensure that UK numbers are not misused. Ofcom has powers to set and enforce rules requiring providers to take steps to prevent fraud and protect consumers, including measures to block scam calls.
In addition, the Government and industry are taking forward collective action through initiatives such as the Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter and the Fraud Strategy, which set out measures to strengthen the security, traceability and reliability of calls and tackle spoofing.
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 has been made of the effectiveness of Ofcom's enforcement of caller line identification requirements in reducing the number of scam and spoofed telephone calls received by consumers.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Tackling fraud is a priority for the Government. We are working closely with industry, law enforcement and consumer groups to identify and prosecute criminal activity of this nature.
As the independent regulator, Ofcom has strengthened its Calling Line Identification guidance following consultation, with rules coming into force in January 2025 requiring providers to block calls from abroad which falsely display UK landline numbers. Ofcom also consulted in 2025 on further measures to address calls that imitate UK mobile numbers and is continuing work on next steps.
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the effectiveness of Ofcom’s enforcement of caller line identification requirements in reducing the number of scam and spoofed telephone calls received by consumers.
The Government continues to support Ofcom’s work, including through the Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter and the Fraud Strategy, to protect consumers and reduce scam calls.
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 data her Department holds the percentage of landline telephone connections that have been migrated from the Public Switched Telephone Network to digital voice services.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is a privately-owned telecoms network and the decision to upgrade it to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) was taken by the telecoms industry in 2017.
Over 92% of PSTN landlines have already been migrated to VoIP. As of 31 March 2026, fewer than 2.8 million PSTN lines remain operational, down from 35.2 million PSTN lines at the network’s peak.
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 her Department has made of the potential impact of the migration from Public Switched Telephone Network to digital landline services on the number of (a) scam and (b) caller ID spoofing telephone calls.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK. Ofcom have confirmed that VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam and spoofed calls. For example, BT Digital Voice blocks over 17,000 scam calls every day.
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, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of digital voice services, compared to the legacy Public Switched Telephone Network, on protection against scam and spoofed calls.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK. Ofcom have confirmed that VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam and spoofed calls. For example, BT Digital Voice blocks over 17,000 scam calls every day.
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 his Department is taking to (a) require broadband providers to share infrastructure and (b) ensure that (i) lamp posts and (ii) other publicly-owned infrastructure are accessible for usage in (A) 5G, (B) broadband and (C) mobile development.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Duties and obligations relating to telecommunications installations are included in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003, which include requirements to share apparatus where practicable. This is supported by the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016 and the recently published Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations, published by the Internet Services Providers’ Association.
The Communications (Access to Infrastructure) Regulations 2016 give operators the right to request access to another operator’s infrastructure. Furthermore, the government supports Ofcom’s Physical Infrastructure Access framework, which facilitates the sharing of Openreach’s infrastructure, such as ducts and poles.
We have encouraged the use of public sector assets for digital infrastructure, including via the £7 million Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator programme, which helped councils and industry identify publicly owned assets suitable for telecoms deployment. Our £1.3m Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme funded six local authorities to install "smart" multi-purpose columns or lamp posts that provide wireless connectivity services and other uses, such as EV charging and WiFi.
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, if he will hold discussions with the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency on holding a public consultation before external trials of sun dimming take place.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.
ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.
Whilst ARIA is not intending to hold a public consultation on the Exploring Climate Cooling programme, ARIA has put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.
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 help support small landowners in accessing (a) legal and (b) technical advice when negotiating agreements under the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is keen that negotiations for Electronic Communications Code agreements are developed as collaboratively as possible. We recognise the benefits of all parties having access to sufficient information and advice to support this.
We endorse the work of the National Connectivity Alliance, an alliance of telecommunications providers, infrastructure providers, landowners and their professional advisers who are brought together to collaborate on areas of mutual interest. Their activity includes a working group specifically aimed at developing guidance notes to provide education around issues in telecoms leases, with a view to assisting in the timely conclusion of wayleaves and code agreements for mobile sites.
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 his Department is taking to ensure the effective roll out of broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Project Gigabit is designed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises that will not be built to by the market without subsidy. The significant majority of these premises will be in rural areas.
More than £2.3 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over 1 million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. This includes two contracts being delivered by Wessex Internet benefiting the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency.
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 potential impact of duplicate fibre broadband cabling on the (a) distribution of fibre coverage nationally, (b) environment and (c) infrastructure for residents on roads with duplicate cabling.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Competition in the broadband market leads to positive outcomes for consumers, including widespread coverage and competitive pricing. We do not intervene in commercial deployment decisions.
We are aware that having multiple operators can mean deployment of overlapping networks. The sharing of ducts and poles between operators can minimise the disruption this can cause. To support, this Ofcom has put regulations in place to require Openreach to give access to its physical infrastructure to other networks. The Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations 2016 also gives operators the right to request access to another operator’s physical infrastructure to facilitate sharing across utility, transport and communications sectors.