Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Electronic Communication Code on local authority revenues.

The Electronic Communications Code (ECC) is the legal framework underpinning rights to install and maintain digital communications infrastructure on public and private land. The Code was substantially reformed in 2017 and a key aim of those reforms was to make it cheaper and easier for digital infrastructure to be deployed, maintained and upgraded. Government recognised that this would mean site providers receiving lower payments for allowing their land or buildings to be used for these purposes than had previously been the case. However, these changes were only introduced following an extensive period of consultation and research, and were considered necessary to reduce operator costs and encourage the industry investment required for the UK to get the digital communications infrastructure it needs. The initial impact assessment for the ECC has been published at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524895/ECC_Impact_Assessment.pdf.

The majority of Code agreements are negotiated by mutual consent between operators and site providers. Where acceptable terms cannot be agreed operators may apply to the Lands Tribunal for the determination of any disputed matter, including the financial terms. In these cases, the Tribunal will have regard to the statutory valuation regime contained within the Code in determining the amount that should be paid. The Government has recently consulted on whether further changes to the Code are needed and is currently considering the responses to that consultation.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government collects and publishes annual data returns from local authorities in England. These figures can be found in the individual local authority data at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing. We do not collect data on the ECC or revenue from site rentals for telecommunications infrastructure in these returns. The financial position of councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the relevant devolved administration

Ministers and officials from MHCLG have regular discussions with counterparts in other government departments on matters relating to local government.