Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish any assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the 2017 changes to the Electronic Communications Code in increasing digital connectivity.
The Department has not completed a formal assessment of the impact of the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code in increasing digital coverage and connectivity. The progress that has been made since the Code reforms came into effect will be due to a wide range of factors and it would not be feasible to conduct an assessment looking exclusively at the impact of the Code.
We have engaged with stakeholders on an ongoing basis since the 2017 reforms came into effect and we are aware that further changes may be needed to support the delivery of coverage and connectivity targets. We have also recently consulted about this through a public consultation which closed on 24 March 2021. Responses to that consultation are being considered and legislative proposals forming part of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will be laid before this House in due course.