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Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Culture, | :00:09. | :00:17. | |
Media and Sport, Mr Richard Graham. Number one. I am pleased to tell | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
you, Mr Speaker, that broadband roll-out is going extremely well, | :00:23. | :00:28. | |
particularly in our cities. This is juju the success of business voucher | :00:29. | :00:34. | |
scheme. I make no apology for returning to the issue of | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
frustrations of poverty in Gloucester. BT promised to upgrade. | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
In 2014, the were sorry for the delay. In 2016, they said could I | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
send them the original e-mail saying they would ever upgrade the box. At | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
what stage is a commitment from BT a real commitment that will not result | :00:58. | :01:06. | |
in in situ and saying, you lied. I am not a BT spokesman. But I hope | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
they're listening to what by honourable friend has to say. He is | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
a fantastic MP and it is incumbent, although I am proud of roll-out | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
programme, the BT gets its act together in terms of customer | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
service and delivering on its promises. When the minister boasted | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
that we have some of the best broadband in Europe, who is he | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
actually comparing us to? Is he aware of the House of Lords report | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
that shows that we are the 19th fastest in the world and the 12th | :01:42. | :01:49. | |
fastest speed in Europe? Is that not abysmal? Can we not be better? I | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
don't think we could do better than we are already doing, actually. When | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
I compare our Broadband to similar countries, Germany, France, Spain, | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
Italy, we're beating all of them. When you look simply a speed, I | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
think this is a narrow view, you don't look up prices, we have some | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
of the lowest prices anywhere in the world. If you look at the results, | :02:15. | :02:20. | |
the fact that we lead the world in terms of e-commerce, it shows we are | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
probably the world's most advanced digital nation. Technology is | :02:26. | :02:33. | |
available for the roll-out of superfast broadband and go for | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
ultrafast broadband. With the Minister agree with this, to reduce | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
disruption and give businesses in Bath a huge boost? It is important | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
to set realistic targets, which is why we dropped the Labour policy and | :02:50. | :02:56. | |
we're starting to look at gigabit Britain. Let's not get stuck in the | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
past with Labour. Let's go forward to future. Is the Minister aware | :03:01. | :03:10. | |
that the very latest European Commission Digital economy | :03:11. | :03:12. | |
scorecard, published in the last few weeks, ranks the UK not just below | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
the Nordic countries, which we would expect, but the low countries like | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
Belgium. Will the Minister, despite the well-known antipathy of his | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
Secretary of State to all things Europe and European, will the | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
Minister actually pressed the European investment bank to put more | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
money into extending broadband, particularly in rural constituencies | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
like East Lothian? The question is ongoing. People must not leave the | :03:43. | :03:50. | |
Chamber while a question is ongoing. I am sure the honourable gentleman | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
is interested in views other than his own. BT may already be on the | :03:54. | :04:01. | |
phone. However, I am surprised at the town of contempt for small | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
countries like Belgium. I think small countries are often extremely | :04:07. | :04:09. | |
successful. Small and perfectly formed. I was talking to an investor | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
the other day about the extraordinary digital businesses | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
that exist in Edinburgh, really ground-breaking businesses, | :04:19. | :04:21. | |
developing facts to our digital policy. I know he will support what | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
we're doing. I have forgotten his original point and! Because I was | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
going out tonight on about what a fantastically digitally capable | :04:32. | :04:43. | |
country Scotland is. Mr Speaker, public service broadcasting is the | :04:44. | :04:46. | |
powerhouse of the UK's world-class television industry. In 2014, PSP | :04:47. | :04:54. | |
invested ?2.5 billion in original TV content and accounted for over half | :04:55. | :05:03. | |
of all TV viewing. I have had representations from constituents | :05:04. | :05:04. | |
concerned about the future of the BBC. It is overwhelmingly positive | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
and supportive. Now we have the result of the consultation and over | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
three fifths are in favour of continuing with the current funding | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
system. Can we have assurances there will be no further top slicing of | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
the licence fee? I hope to be able to update the House on our progress | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
with renewal of the charter in due course. But we're taking all the | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
responses we received seriously. We take them into account. I would | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
point out, we agreed with the BBC that one of the top slices of the | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
licence fee, the amount taken for broadband, will come to an end in | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
2020. I know my right honourable friend will have noted the | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
forthcoming BBC Shakespeare season, held in collaboration with other | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
bodies, including the Royal Shakespeare Company. Designed to | :06:00. | :06:01. | |
bring Shakespeare July for a new generation, using TV and radio and | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
online services. Does he agree with me that this is exactly the sort of | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
thing the BBC not to be doing and something that only the BBC can do? | :06:12. | :06:21. | |
I do agree. This year is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death | :06:22. | :06:24. | |
and it is an enormously important event. The BBC has a crucial role to | :06:25. | :06:31. | |
play. I had the pleasure of going to watch the filming of Ben Elton's new | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
comedy, based on Shakespeare, and I suspect this is the sort of thing | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
that only the BBC would do. That the Secretary of State agree that | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
proposals by BBC Scotland to strengthen its news output investing | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
in jobs and production for an entirely editorial independent | :06:52. | :06:57. | |
Scottish six, anchored from Scotland, is a development that all | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
across the House can welcome as an example of long-term commitment to | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
public service broadcasting and can he promise us that there will be no | :07:06. | :07:12. | |
interference from Downing Street? Well, I had a very good meeting with | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
Fianna Hyslop a couple of weeks ago to talk about the way in which the | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
BBC meet the requirement to serve all the nations and regions of the | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
UK. I'll office we welcome any investment which will create | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
additional jobs, particularly in Scotland. And how the BBC goes about | :07:29. | :07:38. | |
meeting that obligation is for the BBC and certainly is not something | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
that I or my colleagues in number ten would want to instruct them how | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
to go about. Mr Speaker, 80% of the 192,000 responses from the | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
consultation see the BBC serves its audience well and the majority | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
believe the content is high quality and distinctive from other | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
broadcasters. The Secretary of State purports to be a supporter of the | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
BBC, so why is he using charter renewal to restrict what the BBC | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
does, rather than help it compete in the rapidly changing, increasingly | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
global broadcasting environment? I was not surprised to find the | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
responses showed the vast majority of people value the BBC. I value the | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
BBC, as I have said. We will have to wait for the publication of the | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
white paper. It is not a question of trying to come back on its output. | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
There is a case which is borne out by responses, that the BBC needs to | :08:35. | :08:42. | |
be more distinctive. That is something the director-general | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
himself has said. He set out his own plans for the charter renewal. Well, | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
the Secretary of State's speech yesterday was rather more about | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
bashing the BBC than anything else. That is what the chair of the BBC | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
Trust said. Bashing the BBC is the one thing the Secretary of State and | :09:00. | :09:02. | |
the Prime Minister and the Chancellor agree about these days. | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
They all want to use charter renewal to eviscerate the BBC, to do it a | :09:07. | :09:13. | |
competitive favour, rather than delivering what the licence fee | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
paying public want to see. They do not accept that the British people | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
like the BBC and wanted to continue what it is doing. When the Lisa | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
Graham state except that charter renewal should be about making the | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
BBC fit for the future, rather than trying to diminish it for the | :09:28. | :09:30. | |
commercial convenience of its competitors? The honourable lady | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
must've been looking at a different speech to the one that I delivered. | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
It certainly was not about bashing the BBC. As soon as I finished it, I | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
had an extremely good meeting with the chairman of the BBC Trust, who | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
did not mention anything about bashing the BBC at all, and indeed, | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
welcomed what I had said. As for the charter renewal, it is precisely | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
about making the BBC fit for the future and I do intend to try to | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
bring forward the publication as soon as it is possible. As the | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
honourable lady knows, there are a number of very important | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
contributions, including the 192,000 consultations, which we want to take | :10:11. | :10:23. | |
fully into account. We're making good progress on superfast broadband | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
roll-out and averaged 4 million premises. It is going extremely | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
well. I welcome the commitment to faster broadband in rural areas. | :10:34. | :10:36. | |
Constituents have found it difficult to find information about the | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
voucher scheme. Will he committed to working with Lancashire County | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
Council to help people benefit from satellite broadband? I am pleased | :10:46. | :10:53. | |
that within my original answer, I was pointing out how well the | :10:54. | :10:56. | |
satellite broadband scheme was going. We at the end of December. To | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
ensure people that had speed is of less than 2 megabits could get the | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
speed they need. It was a soft launch, but we will be making it | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
much more high profile in the next months and I will happily work with | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
my honourable friend on making sure his constituents can benefit from | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
the scheme. I note that superfast broadband roll-out will be almost | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
100% in his constituency and in Lancashire. | :11:23. | :11:30. | |
Merseyside authorities are not claiming millions that BT settled | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
side and non-commercial broadband areas. Could put some pressure on | :11:36. | :11:44. | |
the councils? -- that BT set aside. The councils know what is happening | :11:45. | :11:46. | |
on the ground, and will work with them to access funding from central | :11:47. | :11:55. | |
government or from Europe. Number four. Thank you. York, along with | :11:56. | :12:06. | |
other areas affected, are being promoted by a ?1 million publicity | :12:07. | :12:15. | |
campaign, this is designed to encourage British families to spend | :12:16. | :12:17. | |
their Easter holidays in the north and. The Culture Secretary also | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
launched pigeon trains 30% discount offer on the 1st of February, as | :12:24. | :12:31. | |
part of his visit to York, as part of promoting the region is open for | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
business. I thank him for his response. Around 200 businesses in | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
York were flooded after Christmas, and thankfully many are getting back | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
on their feet. Eldon on what he said about the recent visit England | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
campaign to encourage families to visit the area, would he give | :12:54. | :12:56. | |
consideration to providing individual grants, so local tourist | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
attractions can market themselves to let everybody know they are open | :13:02. | :13:09. | |
again for business. I know how assiduous he is to his commitment in | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
the area. After the recent floods, York is open for business and | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
welcoming back visitors. Tourism visitors in flood affected areas are | :13:22. | :13:29. | |
eligible for a ?5 billion flood recovery grant, which can be used by | :13:30. | :13:31. | |
businesses to help promote themselves. Visit Britain and visit | :13:32. | :13:40. | |
England are also helping spread this message that business is open. It is | :13:41. | :13:51. | |
1000 years since King Canute's accession to the throne. There | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
trying to raise money so they biking centre in York can open again. What | :13:57. | :14:07. | |
help can he give? The first priority is to make sure we deal with the | :14:08. | :14:10. | |
physical impact of the floods themselves. We worked hard to make | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
that happen. Now we need to make sure we work hard to give those | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
businesses helped to attract the bookings they need. I have been to | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
this Jorvik centre myself, and was very impressed with it. We need to | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
make sure businesses are using channels to support the affected | :14:35. | :14:41. | |
areas. The government is taking forward measures to tackle nuisance | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
calls. This includes strengthening the regulators ability to take | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
enforcement action against organisations that break the law, | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
and increasing consumer choice by consulting on making it a | :14:55. | :14:56. | |
requirement for direct marketing collars to display their line | :14:57. | :15:04. | |
identification. Many of my constituents will be pleased by that | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
answer, but they would hope that the action is taken quickly because, | :15:09. | :15:14. | |
like me, they are fed up to the back teeth with sleazy calls, trying to | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
sell PPI protection or to help with personal injuries that never | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
happened. It is time something is done to stop these practices. We're | :15:24. | :15:34. | |
constituency neighbours, so I am aware of the concerns expressed by | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
the constituents on this. We would never be guilty of making nuisance | :15:41. | :15:43. | |
calls in relation to our own election! But this is the case, | :15:44. | :15:56. | |
action is being taken. The new measures at taking effect. Last week | :15:57. | :15:58. | |
the information commission office has announced a record fine of | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
?350,000 against one of the leading firms responsible for nuisance | :16:06. | :16:14. | |
calls. The issue of nuisance calls is a problem for myself and | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
constituents, and maybe affecting more in Scotland, with nine out of | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
ten people complaining. In March, there is the second anniversary of | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
the DC MS report on nuisance calls. What plans does he have two issue a | :16:29. | :16:39. | |
revised plan to tackle this problem? We keep this matter under continual | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
review, that we have taken a number of measures and we will be coming | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
forward shortly with the outcome of the consultation that we have been | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
conducting, into strengthening the requirements on direct marketing | :16:53. | :17:04. | |
collars. -- collars. We're also consulting with "Which?", and | :17:05. | :17:13. | |
further measures will be taken. The roll-out of superfast broadband is | :17:14. | :17:16. | |
going very well and we have reached almost 4 million premises. Areas in | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
my constituency fault into the so-called broadband white areas | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
where Internet access is virtually nonexistent. In 2010 the government | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
committed to providing a new home with a basic broadband connection by | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
the end of 2015. Three months later I have been contacted by many | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
constituents who are still without a decent broadband connection. Will he | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
look into this issue and delivered on the commitment made five years | :17:44. | :17:46. | |
ago that every household and business is given access to | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
broadband, which is surely a necessity now, not a luxury. I am | :17:50. | :17:59. | |
pleased to tell her that 96% of premises in her constituency will be | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
getting superfast broadband. But as I said earlier, the satellite | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
voucher scheme is now available. All of her constituents who do not have | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
broadband or have slow broadband, can now apply and have it installed | :18:15. | :18:24. | |
for three. -- free of charge. Those in my constituents who have missed | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
out on superfast broadband are pinning their whole is on the | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
universal service obligation. -- pinning their hopes. Can he outlined | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
to the House how he has got on with the consultation, which I understand | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
has to be conducted before it can be introduced? I am pleased to tell him | :18:44. | :18:52. | |
that we are proceeding at pace with the consultation, which we will | :18:53. | :18:56. | |
issue shortly, and we will legislate to bring in the universal service | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
obligation in the Digital economy Bill, and I am delighted he will get | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
superfast broadband in his constituency anyway. I have several | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
cases of superfast broadband not reaching several constituents, | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
including businesses. What discussions has he had with the | :19:15. | :19:23. | |
businesses ensuring superfast broadband is available to more of | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
them? We challenged the communication providers, and I am | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
pleased to say that virgin and BT and extending their roll-out. There | :19:33. | :19:38. | |
will be around 85% in his own constituency. Details of the | :19:39. | :19:45. | |
meetings which we have had with interested parties on this matter | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
are available through the Department's transparency returns. | :19:51. | :19:53. | |
My officials engage regularly with interested stakeholders to discuss | :19:54. | :19:56. | |
gambling policy more generally, including the issue of fixed odds | :19:57. | :20:04. | |
betting terminals. In 2014-15, people in my area lost 209 -- | :20:05. | :20:12. | |
millions of pounds on these terminals. People cannot afford to | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
Leeds large sums of money in my area. Does the government realise | :20:16. | :20:24. | |
the risk that they pose? I understand the concern expressed | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
about fixed odds betting terminals, and we keep this under review. She | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
may be aware that last year we brought in new requirements which | :20:34. | :20:38. | |
improved player protection, by putting a stop to unsupervised play, | :20:39. | :20:45. | |
stakes over ?50. It is already clear that has had an impact on player | :20:46. | :20:50. | |
behaviour, and as far as we can see, the rate of problem gambling remains | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
under 1% and has not shown any sign of rising as a result of this. But | :20:55. | :21:02. | |
we do keep this under review. As he knows, problem gambling rates have | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
actually reduced since the introduction of fixed odds betting | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
terminals, and the campaign for Federer gambling claim that fixed | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
odds machines make a profit of ?1000 per week. As a betting shop is open | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
for over 90 hours per week, that works out at an average profit of | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
around ?11 and are. Does he think around ?11 and are. Does he think | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
that is an excessive profit rate, and if so, what does he think | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
unacceptable profit rate would be? -- ?11 an hour. I would say that | :21:34. | :21:41. | |
they are a lot of claims and counterclaims being made in this | :21:42. | :21:44. | |
area, and not all of them stand up to scrutiny. It is the government's | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
intention to maintain a close watch on this, and any further changes we | :21:50. | :21:56. | |
bring in will be firmly evidence -based. I have regular meetings with | :21:57. | :22:03. | |
ministerial colleagues at the Home Office to discuss a range of issues. | :22:04. | :22:13. | |
Companies often talk about social responsibility, and I can think of | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
nothing more responsible about consulting with the police regarding | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
death threats. But they have been waiting... Does the Minister agree | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
that Facebook and other social media need to do more to help the criminal | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
justice system? I would expect all social media companies to assist the | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
police and uphold the law. It is the case that those providing | :22:42. | :22:44. | |
communication services to UK users have an obligation to comply with | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
warrants, requesting the content, and disclosure of data. That is | :22:51. | :22:54. | |
perhaps something he should bring to the attention of Facebook and | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
Greater Manchester Police, if the cooperation is not forthcoming. Will | :23:00. | :23:07. | |
the Minister agree with me in welcoming the consultation starting | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
today which has commenced in taking action on Internet trolls, who | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
create fake profiles and bully, harass other members on time, in | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
particular children affected by online bullying? I share her concern | :23:25. | :23:34. | |
on this matter. It is a very distressing matter when this | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
happens. I discovered someone had set up a profile of me, without my | :23:39. | :23:44. | |
knowledge, a few weeks ago. It is clear that we need to tighten the | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
law in this area where people are using these profiles to cause | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
distress and in some cases breaching the law, so I welcome the new | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
guidelines which the CPS are coming out with. Normally Internet | :23:59. | :24:06. | |
companies are required to respond to requests from the police, but they | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
are not given time skill requirement to do so. With Twitter, it is over | :24:12. | :24:16. | |
three weeks on average before they provide data to the UK police for | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
criminal investigations. What is the Minister and government going to do | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
to force the Internet companies to respond promptly and immediately to | :24:26. | :24:33. | |
our law-enforcement agencies who are pursuing criminals? As I said to the | :24:34. | :24:41. | |
honourable gentleman a moment ago, I would expect social media companies | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
to comply with the law, and to do so without any unnecessary delay. | :24:46. | :24:52. | |
Therefore, if there is evidence that they are delaying, that is a matter | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
that I'm happy to discuss with my colleagues in the Home Office to see | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
what can be done about it. I am very pleased to tell the House that this | :25:02. | :25:04. | |
government is a great champion of the digital single market, and I | :25:05. | :25:11. | |
know you will have all read the Prime Minister's excellent White | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
Paper. And it means that we're not paying roaming charges when | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
travelling across the EU, and also when we get the digital single | :25:25. | :25:26. | |
market in place we are going to see a huge increase in our GDP. | :25:27. | :25:29. | |
According to the number ten website we can -- could create 325 billion | :25:30. | :25:37. | |
in growth regarding the digital market. Why would anyone campaign to | :25:38. | :25:44. | |
leave the EU, rather than working to get the best deal for the UK? Why | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
indeed would anyone want to leave the EU! We present a united front in | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
this House, on the benefits of EU membership. | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
Yes... The Minister will be aware that the UK's internet economy is | :26:04. | :26:16. | |
largest of all the G20. Twice the size of Germany and about four times | :26:17. | :26:20. | |
the size of France. Does the Minister agree that that is why | :26:21. | :26:24. | |
getting a good deal out of the single market is so important | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
because so many jobs depend on it? I agree with my honourable friend. | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
When he points out the share of the internet economy, it is incumbent on | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
the opposition to explain why they come to this House all the time to | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
rubbish our digital record and pretend there is an broadband in the | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
UK. How does a digital economy come about if people are not using the | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
brilliant superfast broadband we're delivering? Number ten, please. Our | :26:51. | :27:02. | |
5-point plan makes clear the Government support for the tourist | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
industry. This helps tourists explore the country beyond London. | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
We have secured a discover England fund. This will encourage public and | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
private sector partners across the country to come together and improve | :27:19. | :27:25. | |
English tourism. Thank you. What help is being provided to owners of | :27:26. | :27:32. | |
historic homes, such as Rockingham Castle, to not only conserve these | :27:33. | :27:40. | |
out to boost local tourism? My honourable friend is known as a | :27:41. | :27:47. | |
champion in Northamptonshire and his constituency. I recognise the | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
importance of private heritage in supporting terrorism. These historic | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
houses can apply for Heritage Lottery Fund Inc of up to ?100,000 | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
on projects which are of public benefit. You can get funding from | :28:01. | :28:10. | |
historic England. It is important to know the facts. Before you reprimand | :28:11. | :28:20. | |
me, can I remind the House that John Clare was the Northamptonshire poet | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
and the John Clare trust has opened the wonderful cottage to terrorists | :28:28. | :28:30. | |
and can I say to the Minister, he would be welcome to pay an official | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
visit any time. Could he tell the world that we have a campaign, every | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
child's right to the countryside, to get kids to learn outside the | :28:40. | :28:49. | |
classroom. This is a powerful point. I endorse his comments. I look | :28:50. | :28:56. | |
forward to visiting his area. Northampton and Rugby share a | :28:57. | :29:04. | |
heritage in leather products. 50,000 visitors came during the Rugby World | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
Cup, which established an interest in tourism. Would now be a good time | :29:10. | :29:15. | |
to develop a permanent rugby themed visitor attraction in the town? When | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
we get that attraction, I invite him to visit. I should like to commend | :29:20. | :29:25. | |
the hard work my honourable friend has done. When we had visitors going | :29:26. | :29:32. | |
to the birthplace of rugby, during the Rugby World Cup. I am interested | :29:33. | :29:37. | |
in his proposition. I look forward to seeing what progress can be made | :29:38. | :29:42. | |
and to visiting his area. Question 11. We have a competitive internet | :29:43. | :29:52. | |
service provider marketed in the UK. Ofcom has published additional | :29:53. | :29:54. | |
communications review, which promises further changes, which will | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
be welcomed. Age-mac will the Minister tell the House what | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
discussions he had had with his partner regarding encouraging | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
alternative investment and competition in the UK | :30:10. | :30:11. | |
telecommunications infrastructure? Item actually have announced a joint | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
review of the Department of business on business broadband in the | :30:16. | :30:18. | |
Secretary of State for business takes an interest in this issue. | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
Both departments are very focused on Ofcom's recommendations. My message | :30:24. | :30:27. | |
to BT but I hope they will reach an agreement with Ofcom in the future. | :30:28. | :30:34. | |
In areas where there is insufficient competition, there is a requirement | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
for regulation to ensure existing providers provide a fair service. In | :30:39. | :30:44. | |
rural Cheshire, we have no competition and insufficient | :30:45. | :30:47. | |
regulation. Ofcom are allowing providers to charge a premium to | :30:48. | :30:50. | |
rural customers because they live in rural areas. Will the minister speak | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
to Ofcom to provide tough regulation and a fair deal for rural broadband | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
customers? You might yes, I met with the Chief Executive of Ofcom | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
yesterday and I told her we were behind the review, which includes | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
tough measures on BT. We want BT to reach agreement with by the end of | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
the year. Also very proconsumer mechanisms, such as automatic | :31:15. | :31:17. | |
compensation, which we strongly support. I am pleased to tell you | :31:18. | :31:28. | |
there is strong support for the arts within the Northern Powerhouse | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
project. The investment in the factory in Manchester as well as our | :31:34. | :31:35. | |
batting for the whole City of Culture and the great exhibition of | :31:36. | :31:42. | |
the North. I welcome the statement and plans for the future. Can I | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
highlight that this year sees the return of a festival in | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
Macclesfield. Many events and performers and all visitors are | :31:54. | :31:59. | |
welcome. With ?90,000 of art council funding, joining the mix of private | :32:00. | :32:02. | |
and public funding, this is the perfect example of how arts funding | :32:03. | :32:06. | |
can help fuel the Northern Powerhouse. I do agree. Funding has | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
helped make the festival director a paid position for the first time and | :32:12. | :32:15. | |
it is a great example of how the arts Council is working with | :32:16. | :32:18. | |
organisations all over the country. Particularly in the north, to | :32:19. | :32:24. | |
support our world-class arts. The royal photographer society's archive | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
was recently threatened with being moved from Bradford to London. What | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
assessment has the Minister made of the impact on cultural provision | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
within Bradford, the wider Yorkshire region, and indeed, the Northern | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
Powerhouse, for such a move? I've been closely involved with this site | :32:45. | :32:49. | |
is busy on the future of the national medium Museum, for example | :32:50. | :32:53. | |
and I am sure that is being put on a more firm fitting now. But I would | :32:54. | :32:56. | |
say there is extensive support for the arts in Bradford. Something like | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
?9 million about council funding. I would point to the excellent article | :33:02. | :33:04. | |
written by the Chief Executive of the arts Council about the support | :33:05. | :33:10. | |
being given to Bradford. The Minister shows great artistry in the | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
picture he paints. But the regions are already losing out on arts | :33:15. | :33:20. | |
funding by a road show of 14-1. Before the Chancellor chose to chop | :33:21. | :33:25. | |
billions from northern local authorities, struggling to maintain | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
arts for all. The Sutton Road Port said that arts are becoming less and | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
less accessible. Does the Minister agree that the arts are far too | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
important to our culture and to our identity to be left in the hands of | :33:40. | :33:45. | |
a privileged few? Well, I would certainly agree with her on that | :33:46. | :33:49. | |
point. Our forthcoming white paper will announce new measures to | :33:50. | :33:52. | |
increase access to the arts. We support music education, we have | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
extended the in harmony scheme and have introduced new arts schemes in | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
schools. So, I would take great issue with her implicit criticism | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
that we're not doing anything to increase access. The report | :34:07. | :34:14. | |
published by Janet Smith was the result of incomprehensible and | :34:15. | :34:16. | |
wide-ranging review. This is a matter for the BBC, who commissioned | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
the review and are responsible for responding. The chairman and | :34:21. | :34:26. | |
director general take this issue seriously and I have already | :34:27. | :34:28. | |
discussed this with the director-general. This four-year, | :34:29. | :34:37. | |
six now confirmed that Jimmy Savile abused young victims and that | :34:38. | :34:47. | |
attacks occurred in the BBC over a period of 47 years. Now senior | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
manager past or present has accepted individual responsible at it for | :34:52. | :34:54. | |
failing to stop this. Does the Secretary of State believe this is | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
an adequate response from Britain's leading public service broadcaster? | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
Well, I would say to my honourable friend that I hope he will read in | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
full the statement by the director-general, which makes clear | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
that the BBC does take this matter very seriously. It offers a full | :35:14. | :35:19. | |
apology. It fully accepts the recommendations of Dame Janet Smith. | :35:20. | :35:21. | |
The important thing is that measures are put in place to ensure this kind | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
of thing can never happen again. A lot has been done already by the | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
BBC. They have also accepted the recommendation of a further review | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
to be carried out, to ensure that the impossible is being done to stop | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
this kind of abuse ever happening again. Topical questions, Chris | :35:39. | :35:46. | |
Green. Number one. Mr Speaker, as you will know, today is World Book | :35:47. | :35:53. | |
Day! And since the last questions, my Department has published a | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
summary of responses to our consultation on the BBC Charter | :35:58. | :36:04. | |
review. And independent research. That will inform thinking. The House | :36:05. | :36:13. | |
will be delighted to hear that we welcome my honourable friend, who | :36:14. | :36:21. | |
has had a baby since we last met. We wish her and her new arrival well. | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
The House will join me in congratulating the British winners | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
at last week and's Oscars and wishing our track cycling team is | :36:32. | :36:38. | |
well this weekend. The British horse racing industry and the economic | :36:39. | :36:45. | |
impact is ?3.5 billion a year. It has this economic impact. We have | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
popular racecourses in my constituency. Can we confirmed the | :36:52. | :36:58. | |
dates when offshore bookmakers will make a financial contributor to | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
racing? My honourable friend is correct to draw attention to the | :37:06. | :37:08. | |
importance of horse racing to this country. I can tell him that our aim | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
is to introduce a new funding arrangement for British racing by | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
April, 2017. We will create a level playing field for British and | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
offshore gambling operators and ensure a fair return from all | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
bookmakers to racing, including those based offshore. Racing will be | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
responsible for making decisions on spending the new fund and will be | :37:31. | :37:32. | |
making further announcements shortly. Thank you. Four out of five | :37:33. | :37:43. | |
tourist companies served by UK inbound, believe that staying in the | :37:44. | :37:46. | |
EU is important to business. UK inbound's Chief Executive Officer, | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
said, saying yes to staying in the EU sends a clear message that open | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
for business. Can the Secretary of State tell us why he is intent on | :37:56. | :38:01. | |
damaging our tourist industry, by campaigning for Britain to leave the | :38:02. | :38:05. | |
European Union, against the policy of his own Government? Well, I can | :38:06. | :38:12. | |
tell the honourable gentleman that whatever the decision about | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
written's future membership of the EU, we will remain open for tourists | :38:19. | :38:22. | |
to come and visit this country. Not just from the European Union, but | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
from across the world. We are already enjoying a steady increase | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
in the number of international visitors and I expect that to | :38:31. | :38:40. | |
continue. Fought fair is on historic England's at risk register, listed | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
as priority A. Built in 1861, it forms part of the region's distant | :38:45. | :38:50. | |
of naval and coastal history. What support any minister provided to | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
such heritage assets, at risk of rapid deterioration, particularly in | :38:55. | :38:58. | |
private ownership? Thank you. I am well aware of this site and it is | :38:59. | :39:04. | |
one of several which are testament to the important role in defending | :39:05. | :39:10. | |
our nation in the past. The purpose of the at risk register is to enable | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
historic England and other partners to target their support to those | :39:15. | :39:22. | |
sites in greatest need. Historic England is working with partners in | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
Hampshire to preserve the drastic history of Portsmouth Harbour. I am | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
sure the Secretary of State will have been as aggrieved as I was to | :39:34. | :39:37. | |
see the Royal Society of arts in South Tyneside, is one of the lowest | :39:38. | :39:44. | |
boroughs on the heritage index. He should know that South Tyneside has | :39:45. | :39:48. | |
a huge amount of history and culture to offer. I wondered if the | :39:49. | :39:51. | |
Secretary of State would consider accepting an invitation to come with | :39:52. | :39:56. | |
the RSA, to take part in our summer festival, explore our ancient Roman | :39:57. | :39:59. | |
site, or perhaps pull a rabbit out of the hat in her upcoming annual | :40:00. | :40:07. | |
magic show at Customs House? The honourable lady makes an | :40:08. | :40:13. | |
irresistible offer as to the attractions of South Tyneside. The | :40:14. | :40:16. | |
magic show sounds highly enticing. She is absolutely right to stress | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
the importance of heritage to South Tyneside and indeed across the | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
country. I hope that in due course, I will manage to accept this | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
invitation. My honourable friend is being assiduous in trying to visit | :40:30. | :40:32. | |
as many tourism and heritage destinations as possible. Can my | :40:33. | :40:40. | |
honourable friend Tullie House what steps are taken to ensure all | :40:41. | :40:43. | |
Government departments get behind the Government's excellent new sport | :40:44. | :40:47. | |
strategy, particularly in relation to outdoor recreation, with its | :40:48. | :40:50. | |
physical health benefits and benefits to the tourism, economy of | :40:51. | :40:54. | |
rural areas, in Macclesfield and far beyond? | :40:55. | :41:02. | |
He makes an excellent point. We are committed to working together across | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
government to make sure the new sporting future strategy promotes | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
opportunities for everyone, no matter where they are, to get | :41:11. | :41:20. | |
involved in sporting activities. We invest in many activities such as | :41:21. | :41:28. | |
canoeing, and we continue to work with other departments to make sure | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
this happens. Across the nations of the UK there are 4500 miles of road, | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
where there are no mobile phone coverage signals, according to a | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
recent RAC report, including 452 miles in the Highlands, no call or | :41:44. | :41:50. | |
text message could be made. Will he commit to take action to plug these | :41:51. | :41:56. | |
gaps in mobile coverage? I am pleased to tell him the emergency | :41:57. | :42:00. | |
services network proposals will see 300 new mobile masts being built. | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
The mobile infrastructure programme will see 75 miles being built, and | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
our changes to the licences of mobile providers requiring 90% | :42:11. | :42:14. | |
geographic coverage will also see improvements in mobile coverage. My | :42:15. | :42:20. | |
honourable friend the sports Minister will have seen yesterday | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
the suggestion from distinguished luminaries from the medical world, | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
including from places like the University of the Pacific, where | :42:31. | :42:32. | |
ever that may be, that the ban any form of tackling in rugby in | :42:33. | :42:36. | |
schools. I wondered if he agrees that it is time to stop | :42:37. | :42:39. | |
mollycoddling young people, and filed in all we can to make sure | :42:40. | :42:43. | |
sport is safe, let schools get on with teaching these sports and the | :42:44. | :42:48. | |
values they represent. He will be well aware that the government is | :42:49. | :42:55. | |
committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to get involved | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
in sport from a young age, provided it is available within a safe | :43:00. | :43:02. | |
environment. Department for Education is responsible for sport | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
in schools, but rugby and other sports always carry an element of | :43:08. | :43:12. | |
risk and we expect those supervising it to ensure the safety of all | :43:13. | :43:15. | |
participants. However he will be interested to know that as part of | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
our strategy on sport, a review of the duty of care will be carried | :43:21. | :43:33. | |
out, chaired by Baroness Cani Grey Thompson. Local authority budgets | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
are under extreme pressure, and occasionally isn't averaging | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
councils to get rid of... Can he ensure that will not include | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
paintings and artefacts in local authority museums? None of us want | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
to see a fire sale of our national heritage on the back of this | :43:55. | :43:56. | |
stumbling economic policy. I hope one treasure not liquidated is the | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
honourable gentleman, I hope he is not liquidated by the momentum | :44:02. | :44:04. | |
campaign in Stoke and he gets reselected. We are all praying for | :44:05. | :44:08. | |
him on this side. It is up to individual local authorities, but | :44:09. | :44:12. | |
they must adhere to the code of ethics of the museums Association, | :44:13. | :44:18. | |
and I take a dim view of local authorities getting rid of assets, | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
particularly when they have been left to them by prominent members of | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
the community. There have been numerous resignations from the board | :44:29. | :44:30. | |
of London 2017. Has he had the chance to discuss why this may be? | :44:31. | :44:36. | |
Does he have any concern about their working relationship with UK | :44:37. | :44:43. | |
athletics? This is a matter which we keep under review. Does not matter I | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
have recently had a chance to discuss, but I will look into this | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
further than discuss it with the appropriate authorities. To prevent | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
our pop charts being disproportionately dominated by acts | :44:59. | :45:01. | |
from Private schools and to prevent an all white BRIT Awards, which we | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
criticised last week, with the Minister consider starting a scheme | :45:06. | :45:11. | |
similar to the much missed music action zones which Labour created in | :45:12. | :45:14. | |
government, to encourage creativity and talent in music in non-classroom | :45:15. | :45:22. | |
context? I would say that this country produces some of the finest | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
music acts around the world, and a lot of the ones I go to did not go | :45:27. | :45:35. | |
to public school. I am looking forward to going to see Muse in the | :45:36. | :45:46. | |
coming months. I would like an opportunity to see everyone who has | :45:47. | :45:54. | |
talent. Would he join me in congratulating the former Olympic | :45:55. | :46:01. | |
cyclist Victoria Pendleton, after her first horse racing win | :46:02. | :46:05. | |
yesterday. When it comes to separate of the new levy, will he confirm | :46:06. | :46:08. | |
that it will be taken into account all the current strains of funding | :46:09. | :46:14. | |
that go into racing from bookmakers, such as picture rights? I join him | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
in congratulating Victoria Pendleton. I heard her talking about | :46:19. | :46:24. | |
her success this morning, and it shows how someone can achieve | :46:25. | :46:31. | |
greater accomplishment in a sport then go onto a second. Regarding | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
extension of the levy, the amount will be determined by an analysis | :46:37. | :46:42. | |
which we have commissioned into the funding and costs of racing, which | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
will take into account all sources of revenue, including media rights. | :46:48. | :46:54. | |
Why has his government bond from promising victims of press abuse | :46:55. | :46:57. | |
that part to the Levenson enquiry will happen to my cabin. -- lettuce | :46:58. | :47:06. | |
and enquiry. How many meetings have he had with newspaper proprietors | :47:07. | :47:13. | |
over the past year? We have always said that any decisions about | :47:14. | :47:27. | |
whether a second enquiry should take place would be discussed, and once | :47:28. | :47:32. | |
the criminal investigations are underway, we will come back to look | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
at this question. -- Leveson. Regarding meetings with newspaper | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
proprietors and victims, we regularly publish a record of all | :47:43. | :47:47. | |
those meetings, and I do have regular meetings with all of those, | :47:48. | :47:52. | |
and I am looking forward to having a further meeting to discuss these | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
matters in a few weeks' time with Hacked Off. Questions to the Leader | :47:58. | :48:10. | |
of the House. Question one. Thank you. The government is committed to | :48:11. | :48:15. | |
promoting public awareness of Parliament. Much has been achieved | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
and this important work must continue. The government welcomes | :48:21. | :48:24. | |
the new e-petition site, which | :48:25. | :48:26. |