Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on local government finance, including for Wolverhampton, Swindon and Leeds City Councils, of forthcoming changes to the Electronic Communications Code 2017.

The reforms made to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017 were intended to make it cheaper and easier for digital infrastructure to be deployed, maintained and upgraded. These reforms recognised the increasing importance of digital communications services to UK consumers and businesses, and to the wider economy. The Government realised that the reforms would mean landowners receiving lower payments for allowing their land or buildings to be used 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 Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (the Bill) contains provisions which will, amongst other things, amend the Code. Prior to the Bill’s introduction an assessment was carried out on potential impacts of reforms in the Bill, but this was general in nature and did not focus on specific categories of landowner.

Digital communications infrastructure needs to be rolled out in the right places. From this perspective, publicly owned land must be treated no differently from privately owned land. Although the reforms made to the Code in 2017 may have caused revenue from local authority sites to decrease, they will, however, gain through increased connectivity in their districts and from the economic growth which will accompany increased coverage.

The Government does not intend to carry out any additional assessment on the Bill’s potential impact on local authorities. Many consensual Code agreements include a confidentiality clause, meaning that information about the financial terms agreed cannot be shared with others or made publicly available, except in limited circumstances or with the other party’s consent. In addition, the financial arrangements underpinning these agreements can vary significantly: for example, in some instances the parties may agree to up front or lump sum payments, instead of, or as well as, ongoing rental payments.

It would therefore be extremely difficult to conduct such an assessment as it is unlikely that comprehensive data would be available. In any event, we do not believe such an assessment is needed or appropriate. Local authorities are responsible for managing their own budgets. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities collects data returns from local authorities in England, however data on the Code or the revenue from telecoms infrastructure sites is not included in these returns. The financial position of councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the relevant devolved administration.