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  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the level of take-up was for superfast fixed broadband in each parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which data is available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    BDUK do not hold take-up data at constituency level, but do have take-up data on local projects with BDUK funding. BDUK publish these statistics for local projects on the programme’s webpage, which is publically accessible at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hs00bNsyRV1WoOt-fow3rsNXzpcKg26AsOWvk1bvJRk/edit#gid=0

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  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) fixed residential and (b) business broadband lines there were in each parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which data is available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    BDUK do not hold data on the number of residential and broadband lines in each constituency.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what basis the contribution to broadband installation costs for the very remotest properties will be calculated; and whether there will be an upper limit on the contribution which individual households are required to make.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 31 of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, if he will publish the minutes of the roundtable events held with the creative sector as part of the BBC Charter review process.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will not be publishing minutes of the events held with the creative sector as part of the BBC Charter review process. A list of the attendees of these meetings are however available in Annex 2 of the White Paper.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Queen’s Speech 2016: background briefing notes, if he will define the terms (a) very remotest properties and (b) contributing to the cost of broadband installation in rural areas; and if he will estimate the number of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in that category.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of staffing levels for Ofcom in each year up to 2028.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom decides resource allocation and staffing levels based on the activities identified in its annual planning process. For 2014/15 the average resource cost was £63.8m and average number of staff was 787. The 2015/16 figures will be published and laid before Parliament in July.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in which the occupants qualify for free television licences that will make voluntary payments in each year up to 2022.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government has agreed that the BBC will be able to ask for voluntary payment of the licence fee from those aged 75 and over who are entitled to a free licence. We are working with the BBC to implement the legal aspects of this agreement, but the number of households which may choose to make such a payment is unknown.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to publish the draft BBC Charter.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The government is in the process of drafting the Royal Charter and we expect to publish a draft version in the coming months.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 50 of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, if he will publish details of the appointment process for members of the new BBC unitary board.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As a result of the proposals set out in the White Paper the BBC, for the first time, will be responsible for appointing at least half of its own board members. This approach will enhance the independence of the BBC and its Board. For the public appointments to the new Unitary Board, these will be made in line with OCPA processes, with final approval coming from the Queen’s Council. Appointments made by the BBC to the new board will also follow public appointments best practice, including independent members on the selection panels.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 50 of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, if he will publish details of the public appointments process for the chair, deputy chair and non-executive members from the four nations of the UK for the new BBC unitary board.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As a result of the proposals set out in the White Paper the BBC, for the first time, will be responsible for appointing at least half of its own board members. This approach will enhance the independence of the BBC and its Board. For the public appointments to the new Unitary Board, these will be made in line with OCPA processes. With particular reference to the appointment of the four national representatives the Government’s intention is to follow the existing protocol of involving each of the devolved administrations in the process for the relevant representative.