Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) local government on improving broadband speeds in semi-rural areas.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Currently, 97.6% premises across the UK have access to a superfast connection (>=30 Mbps) and 76.4% have gigabit-capable coverage. In Scotland, these figures are 95.7% and 70.2% for superfast and gigabit-capable respectively. Through Project Gigabit the Government aims to reach at least 85% gigabit-capable coverage across the UK by 2025 and then to reach near-universal coverage as soon as possible.
For urban areas, a key part of the Government’s approach is to promote increased competition in broadband delivery. We have made it as easy and attractive as possible for firms to build their networks in the UK, and we now have a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.
To support coverage in rural areas, 31 local and regional procurements have now been launched within England, with 12 of these now in the contract delivery stage.
Within Scotland, the Scottish Government undertook a Public Review during March and April 2023 to seek responses from broadband suppliers and other interested parties on current and planned commercial coverage of gigabit broadband. The Scottish Government has also undertaken initial market engagement with suppliers on their potential interest in Project Gigabit contracts in Scotland, prior to procurements commencing later this year.
The Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) project is also providing gigabit broadband coverage to 115,000 premises that do not have access to superfast broadband, with £49.5 million funding from the UK government. This project has covered over 24,000 premises to date.
Premises in Scotland can also benefit from support through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides up to £4,500 towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable infrastructure for homes and businesses, while remaining sub-superfast premises are also eligible for support from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support her Department has provided to businesses to support the rollout of improved broadband services in (a) urban, (b) rural and (c) semi-urban areas.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Currently, 97.6% premises across the UK have access to a superfast connection (>=30 Mbps) and 76.4% have gigabit-capable coverage. In Scotland, these figures are 95.7% and 70.2% for superfast and gigabit-capable respectively. Through Project Gigabit the Government aims to reach at least 85% gigabit-capable coverage across the UK by 2025 and then to reach near-universal coverage as soon as possible.
For urban areas, a key part of the Government’s approach is to promote increased competition in broadband delivery. We have made it as easy and attractive as possible for firms to build their networks in the UK, and we now have a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.
To support coverage in rural areas, 31 local and regional procurements have now been launched within England, with 12 of these now in the contract delivery stage.
Within Scotland, the Scottish Government undertook a Public Review during March and April 2023 to seek responses from broadband suppliers and other interested parties on current and planned commercial coverage of gigabit broadband. The Scottish Government has also undertaken initial market engagement with suppliers on their potential interest in Project Gigabit contracts in Scotland, prior to procurements commencing later this year.
The Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) project is also providing gigabit broadband coverage to 115,000 premises that do not have access to superfast broadband, with £49.5 million funding from the UK government. This project has covered over 24,000 premises to date.
Premises in Scotland can also benefit from support through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides up to £4,500 towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable infrastructure for homes and businesses, while remaining sub-superfast premises are also eligible for support from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, lnnovation and Technology, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve 4G connectivity in (a) remote and (b) other areas.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This Government understands the frustration arising from the impact poor mobile coverage has on some communities, particularly in rural and remote areas. That is why we agreed a deal with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to deliver the Shared Rural Network (SRN) which will extend 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025, underpinned by legally binding spectrum obligations.
The SRN will improve mobile coverage for an extra 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads and will lead to increases in coverage across all four nations, with the biggest coverage improvements in rural parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
In fact the programme is already delivering coverage improvements across the UK with 4G coverage now at 92%, up from 91% when the SRN agreement was signed in March 2020. The MNOs have now deployed more than 150 new sites and have upgraded over 1,500 sites across the UK. On 3 May we announced the activation of the first government-funded SRN phone mast upgrade in Lockerbie, Scotland.
As part of our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, we have asked Ofcom to improve the accuracy of their reporting of mobile coverage and network performance in rural areas.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 adequacy of competition in the mobile network operator sector.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Any proposal to merge mobile network operators needs to be looked at by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA). The government does not have a role in the review of mergers on competition grounds. It is the responsibility of CMA to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.
Strong competition in the UK mobile market has produced good outcomes for consumers and businesses to date, in terms of costs, choice and quality of service. UK prices for mobile services are some of the lowest in Europe. In addition to the four national mobile network operators (MNOs) (BT/EE, VMO2, Vodafone and Three), consumers and businesses can also buy services from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The UK MVNO market is strong, representing 27% of mobile subscribers in the market.
Competition has encouraged the four MNOs to invest to extend and upgrade their networks. 4G coverage currently extends to 92% of the UK landmass from at least one MNO, and our Shared Rural Network programme will extend this to 95%. All four MNOs launched their 5G networks in 2019 and last year we met our ambition to deliver a basic 5G signal for the majority of the population by 2027 - 5 years early.
Our recently published Wireless Infrastructure Strategy set out a new ambition for nationwide coverage of standalone (high-quality) 5G to all populated areas by 2030.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made on the effectiveness of biodiversity net gain and nutrient credits.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Nutrient Credits
Government is committed to delivering sustainable development in areas impacted by nutrient neutrality advice and supporting local authorities and developers to identify suitable mitigation opportunities. Several catchments have already had successful mitigation schemes operated by local authorities or private organisations. The first credits from Natural England’s Nutrient Mitigation Scheme have now been sold in the Tees and Cleveland Coast catchment, providing mitigation to unlock housing. Further credits will be made available in Tees this year and work is underway to identify suitable projects in other catchments with high housing demand. To further support local nutrient mitigation schemes, DLUHC held a Call for Evidence and Expressions of Interest for funding which closed recently, and funding decisions will be made as soon as possible.
BNG
Mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG), introduced in the Environment Act (2021), has not yet commenced. Government intends to commence the biodiversity net gain regime for most major development granted planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act from November 2023, small sites from April 2024, and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects in 2025.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to develop public transport infrastructure in rural areas; and what assessment they have made of the impact this will have on the mental health of people living in rural communities.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are providing £300m funding for buses until April 2025. £150m will be available from July 23 to March 24, and a further £150m from April 24 to March 25.
Almost half of the additional funding will be provided to bus operators based on the distance of the routes that they operate. This will allow us to focus funding on longer routes, such as those in rural areas, where some services are less likely to be commercially sustainable without additional funding.
In 2021, we launched a £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) to trial more demand responsive minibus services in rural and suburban areas. 16 pilots are taking place across 15 different local authorities, including one in Warwickshire. The RMF provides us with an opportunity to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings.
Through our Tackling Loneliness with Transport fund, we’ve supported twelve projects with over £5 million of investment targeted at those most likely to suffer from loneliness.
Findings from these pilot schemes are being evaluated and will be used to build an evidence base which will inform how future transport schemes can contribute to reducing loneliness in communities.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on increasing access to nature through (a) improved maintenance of footpaths, (b) increasing the network of footpaths and (c) expansions of the freedom to roam.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
England already has a fantastic network of paths with some 120,000 miles of linear access through England’s countryside, but we are taking steps to improve this further.
For example, the Bridlington to Filey stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path was recently opened, connecting thousands of people to the Yorkshire coast. Over 850 miles of the path are now open to the public and, when complete, it will be the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world at 2,700 miles.
We are also designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route across the north of England as a new National Trail, crossing some of our most precious national landscapes making it accessible to cyclists and horse riders where it is feasible to do so.
We are delivering the £14.5 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which consists of a package of targeted measures in our protected landscapes, national trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive. More than £3.5 million has already been spent on making our protected landscapes more accessible, including on creating and improving footpaths to ensure that the countryside is accessible to everyone.
We are also improving the way in which rights of way are recorded by implementing a package of reforms to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the process for new rights of way to be added to the legal record for everyone to enjoy. Local highway authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of existing public rights of way and are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan to plan improvements to the rights of way network in their area. This must include an assessment of the local rights of way including the condition of the network.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a right to roam across open access land, giving the public a right of access to most areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin. This means that the public already has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside. We have no plans to change this.
We set out our commitment to the provision of safe and appropriate public access in as many woodlands as possible in the England Trees Action Plan. The Environmental Improvement Plan reiterates our commitment to publish our ambition for improving the quantity, quality, and permanency of woodland access.
Through programmes with the Community Forests and Forestry England we are enabling creation of large scale publicly accessible woodlands near towns and cities. For instance, as part of our ‘Access for All’ programme we are providing over £3 million to Forestry England to increase access to green and blue spaces in our most deprived urban areas.
We continue to support land managers to provide woodland access through our Countryside Stewardship and England Woodland Creation Offer schemes.
Under the new Environmental Land Management offer, for woodlands, we are providing societal benefits by bringing people closer to nature, allowing long-term permissive access for recreation and contributing to the rural economy.
The Department for Transport is investing in active travel. This includes delivering thousands of miles of safe, continuous routes for cycling and creating Active Travel England to support local authorities to deliver ambitious and transformational schemes. The Transport Secretary appointed Chris Boardman as National Active Travel Commissioner in June 2022.
This Government has done more than any other when it comes to walking and cycling. Around 250 more miles of walking and cycling routes have been opened since 2020 and we remain fully committed to the ambitious vision that by 2030 half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled. This is in addition to the objectives outlined in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2).
This Government absolutely understands the importance of active travel. That is why we are investing more than any other government, over £3 billion, into this area. This includes at least £100 million capital funding over the two-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25 for active travel infrastructure, following on from £850 million investment in the three years up to 2022/23.
We also committed in our 2020 Gear Change plan commits to improve the National Cycle Network (NCN), recognising the vital importance of the NCN in enabling everyone to walk, wheel and cycle safely and easily. Last year Sustrans was awarded £25 million to support and expand the NCN.
Active Travel England will work to ensure that this wider funding supports delivery of the objectives in CWIS2 including the need for projects to conform with national design guidance. Active travel remains at the heart of this Government’s agenda and the Department will continue to ensure that it is given the priority it deserves.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the (1) availability, and (2) reliability, of broadband in rural communities.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In March 2021, the Government launched Project Gigabit, its £5 billion mission to bring lightning-fast, reliable broadband to premises in rural and hard-to-reach locations across the UK. We have already made over £1.4 billion of funding available to broadband suppliers to build gigabit-capable infrastructure to premises that will not be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans alone.
Support is also available through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses in rural areas towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community broadband projects.
The Government is committed to working with broadband suppliers to ensure 85% of UK premises can access gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and then for nationwide coverage by 2030. We are on track to achieve our target.
The Government is also working to ensure that very hard to reach premises that may be unable to access a gigabit-capable connection in future also see an improvement in their connectivity. In April, the Government announced an £8 million fund to provide capital grants to further promote new satellite connectivity to up to the most remote 35,000 premises, helping these premises get improved broadband where required. Further details on the value of the grants, who will be able to apply for the scheme, and how to apply, will be released in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in what her Department's Environmental Improvement Plan ensures people have equal access to nature.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan we have committed to work across government to ensure that everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space. The Government is taking forward a number of polices to increase access to nature including:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the way brownfield sites may be used for nature rich environments.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Specific discussions on the use of brownfield sites for nature-rich environments have not taken place between the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The Environment Act 2021 introduced a number of policies that will support the restoration of habitat, including identifying areas in urban communities where nature recovery could be particularly beneficial.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities will work together to drive action, including to create or restore habitats that enable wildlife to recover and thrive, while conservation covenants will help secure habitat for the long term. LNRSs will provide the spatial framework for the Nature Recovery Network, which will guide creation, restoration and connectivity of habitats and sites to create mosaics of wildlife-rich habitat, including in urban communities; and incentivise private partnerships.
The Green Infrastructure Framework, launched in January, will help local planning authorities and developers to create or improve green infrastructure.