Live Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Questions House of Commons

we have questions to the secretary

of spade -- state for culture media

and sport, Matt Hancock and his

ministers which will come up any

minute now.

Order, order. Questions to the

Secretary of State for digital

Order, order. Questions to the

Secretary of State for digital,

culture, media and sport. Alistair

Carmichael.

Secretary Matt Hancock.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I

have held discussions with the

Environment Secretary on reducing

plastics including at sports venues

and further work is ongoing as part

of our ongoing wider environmental

agenda.

Alistair Carmichael.

I think

the Secretary of State for that

answer, you go to any sporting venue

and see an enormous amount of single

use plastics. This is a place for

there is not only opportunity for

improving recycling but also raising

awareness. Though the Secretary of

State could team you to use his

office to that end?

I strongly

support the work the Environment

Secretary is doing on reducing

single use plastics, he was in

Scotland this weekend including

going to Pittodrie and I believe the

right honourable member is a

graduate of Aberdeen University and

sodium Barrowman secretary is

talking to then use about how they

can reduce plastic waste. Of course

the Olympics in 2012 in London was

an exemplar that there is clearly

more to do.

Thank you Mr Speaker. In

2012 as we just heard the country

said new high in Barry Mendel

standard is Hummer does my right

honourable friend agree it's vital

we continue to show Barrowman

leadership, not just sporting

leadership at other nature events

including the Commonwealth Games in

Birmingham in 2022?

Yes, Mr Speaker

I do, she is absolutely right. The

continuing improvement must be seen

and filed the Olympics and

Paralympics games in 2012 set a new

standard then we've got to make sure

these standards keep advancing and I

hope to see that as part of the

Commonwealth Games.

Stephen Timms.

Question two. Thank you very much. I

have held discussions with the

Chancellor of the Exchequer on the

issue of gambling and the government

consultation on the gambling review"

the 2nd of January and we are

considering the responses.

Stephen

Timms. While machines aren't

clinically structured by a

responsible come, it's in the

poorest communities where they

destroy hard-working families, they

are a magnet for crime, the longer

the proceeds of crime, they are a

tawdry and soulless high Street

outlets trading in decent shots away

and repel family shoppers. Both the

Secretary of State called time on

this ragged with its one and a half

early in a year welfare burden and

cup maximum stake to two pounds.

I

note this issue about fixed odds

betting terminals raise emotions in

the House and around the country and

we approach it properly. Especially

coming from him, widely respected

across the House and I think was a

member of the government at the time

when the expense and of these

terminals happened, I think it's a

telling statement.

It's not like the

right honourable member for East Ham

to give it an ill informed speech to

the House but that's what we heard.

I notice the Secretary of State did

not answer the question on the order

paper which was the cost to the

public of the reduction. Could he

give some indication for the cost to

the Exchequer would be, like a tax

receipts, what it might do in terms

of the increased unemployment

benefit with all the people put out

of work and the lack of business

rates? Could he told up those

amounts and tell us how much it

would cost to the government if they

went for a drastic reduction?

Impact

assessment on these terminals were

published alongside the government

consultation in October and all of

the consequences of any change in

this area and we are committed to

reducing the stake on these

terminals, all the consequences of

course will be worked through and

that's part of the work we are doing

right now to determine what is the

appropriate response.

The honourable

member for East Ham, I thank him for

his points, with the consultation

now complete its time to get on with

it. My colleagues have continually

called for a two pounds maximum, can

he confirm this will finally happen,

if not can he dub of these powers to

Scotland so we can take charge?

I

will confirm we will respond to the

consultation in due course and I

said in answer to the first

question, this raises high emotions

and we've seen a demonstration of

that today.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

We would like to send our best

wishes across the country to our

Winter Olympic Games Paralympic

athletes. With the gambling review

just two wicks away we need the

Secretary of State to ensure this

government takes action against

fixed odds betting is terminals. The

government has to intervene to stop

these machines ruining lives and

herring family apart. My honourable

friend is right, can the Secretary

of State today answer my simple

question? Will he today commit to

reducing the maximum terminal stakes

to two pounds a spin?

What I will do

is committed to reducing the maximum

terminal stake and responding to the

consultation in due course, in the

proper way and make sure we come to

the right answer on this question.

Question number three, Mr Speaker.

Minister of State.

With your

permission I will answer this

question number five. Our ambition

is for the UK to have better digital

connectivity for people live work

and travel very much including in

rural areas. Super-fast broadband is

now available to 95% of UK premises

and roll out will continue to cover

the majority of remaining premises.

By 2020 the universal service

obligation will give everyone the

legal right to high-speed broadband

at 10 megabits per second or faster.

I thank the Minister for her

response however in my rural

constituency of Copeland, around 33%

are still not covered by fast

Internet which is holding back our

villages and holding back families

and services. These can the Minister

tell me what is being done as soon

as possible to help these businesses

and communities?

We are doing a

great deal to help businesses and

people in role areas. My honourable

friend might like to campaign for

greater awareness of the access that

people in her constituency to have

because it is at 93% now but very

much the case with many other

constituencies, people are not

taking it up and I would urge

constituents in her rural areas for

the access is there for them to take

it up.

Thank you Mr Speaker. I had a

meeting of the larger employers in

my constituency last week and it

became clear one of the things they

feel is holding them back is the

lack of Mobile signal between

junctions ten and 11 of the M40. The

Minister work with me to improve

this?

Yes... I thank my honourable

friend for racing that problem. On

the M40 which I experience regularly

on my way to my constituency of

Stourbridge. The fact that present

coverage and UK motorways is made 7%

for telephone calls is of no comfort

to people travelling on the

stretcher she identifies and I will

work with her to bring about a

solution as swiftly as possible.

Chris Bryant. Can I urge the

Minister to be much more sceptical

about the figures given out by the

mobile phone companies and the

operators because in all honesty

when you look at our maps on the

ground, it's no fur near the figures

they boast.

Minister asked.

The

offer, connected nations report,

there is new measures that reflect

true consumer standards in there and

they are opening the 700 megahertz

spectrum bands which will be

suitable for wider area coverage. I

accept the point the honourable

gentleman makes and we are working

to get better consumer measures of

these matters.

Bearing in mind

follows an improvement over the

years, 63,000 Northern Ireland homes

and offices or 8% remain unable to

sign up for broadband speeds can the

Minister indicate what discussions

have taken place with the Department

of Enterprise trade and investment

in Northern Ireland for money agreed

for rural areas through the

confidence and supply agreement?

Northern Ireland's outdoor

geographic coverage is actually

better than the UK average but

directed nice indoor coverage is

poor in Northern Ireland compared to

the rest of the country and the new

reforms will help alongside our

desire to extend geographic mobile

coverage to 95% of the entire United

Kingdom.

Our 10 megabits enough?

My

honourable friend refers to the

universal service obligation which

will guarantee 10 megabits per

second. According to offer, that is

enough for multiple usage in the

home and also the downloading of

film and video.

Minister David

Hanson. Villagers in my constituency

are getting increasingly restricted

about the performance of open rage

in delivering broadband. Given the

government pledged years ago through

of common to deconstruct --

deconstruct open rage through BT

what progress is being made on that?

I would encourage the honourable

gentleman to remember BT and open

rage are no longer a monopoly and I

would draw his attention to the

announcement by top talk that they

are cutting the dividend and

connecting more than 3 million homes

as a result to full five, building

Britain's full five future.

Number

four, Mr Speaker.

Thank you very

much. As we have heard improving

digital connectivity is a priority

and we reformed mobile planning laws

in England to provide new rights,

for example to build taller masts to

improve coverage.

Part of my central London community

have the lowest mobile Internet data

broadband speeds, deeply troubling

my constituents trying to get the

latest hanky up from the Secretary

of State's own provider. Can the

Secretary of State include these in

the roll-out of superfast broadband

and will he support that Bob

Rotherhithe?

I will certainly look

at it. The areas are not all rural

that do not yet have superfast

broadband and there are issues to

access, especially to multi dwelling

access, and I will certainly look at

his bid for funding.

The broadband

network and coverage in some of the

Blackdown Hills is absolutely

appalling and I think the key to

getting both are combined. We have

got to get more done.

He is dead

right, Mr Speaker.

A recent witness

to the Scottish affairs committee

described the mobile infrastructure

project as a disaster. Can the

Minister tell us what the UK

Government is doing to address that?

We have a commitment to reach 90% of

the UK landmass with mobile coverage

by the end of last year. Ofcom are

assessing whether that has been met.

We now have a commitment to get it

out to 95%. We are doing this

through commercial roll-out,

largely, and there is no doubt that

mobile phone coverage is going up,

it's just a question of whether it

is going up fast enough.

Minister

Michael Ellis.

With your permission,

I will answer this question with

number 14. The Government's tourism

plan outlined how we support

terrorism internationally and

throughout the UK. The £43 million

discover England supports projects

throughout England and aims the

visitors to spread out beyond London

and visit Britain and visit England

work hard to promote the United

Kingdom as both a national and

international destination.

I am

grateful for that answer and I am

sure that no one in this chamber

will need persuading that Dorset is

a beautiful county, an excellent

place to live, work and visit, but

it is a significant journey from

London and the tourist attractions

there. What more can the Minister do

to ensure that Dorset and

constituencies like mine benefit

from the increasing tourist numbers.

It is a beautiful county and one of

the key aims of the fund is to

encourage visitors to explore all

over England and experience the

wealth of attractions that we offer.

There are many projects in rural and

coastal destinations including the

seafood coast and the south-west

coastal plan.

Patrick McLaughlin.

Bearing in mind what my honourable

friend has just said about Dorset,

can I also say that tourism is

incredibly important for the Peak

District and we get over 20 million

visitors each year. What is visit

England doing to support those

tourist attractions in those areas

to show what is available?

The Peak

District and our other national

parks are real jewels in our tourism

crown and we are working closely

with visit Britain and the great

campaign to draw attention to our

amazing countryside. I mentioned the

discover England project a moment

ago and I know that in the

Derbyshire area, they are supporting

projects based around our great

walking trails and England's

national parks.

As St Helens

celebrates as the -- its 150th

anniversary, I am sure many of you

would like to visitors this year,

but would you help us to use this

special year to show that when our

fantastic arts and culture

programmes, rugby league and horse

racing, historic sites and proud

industrial heritage, we are much

more than a place to pass by, we are

replaced to go to.

I agree it is

very much a place to go to and I

wish him very well with a 150th

anniversary.

The minister will know

that discover England do a wonderful

job and one of the best things they

could do is encourage people to

visit Northern Ireland. Given that

the question is about terrorism

across the United Kingdom, does he

recognise the unique attributes of

many parts of this United Kingdom

and would encourage people to go?

Indeed I do and Northern Ireland has

seen a great increase in attractions

with the game of brains attractions

there and be set there. There is

more to come. -- game of thrones

attractions.

The UK film industry is

worth £4 billion a year to the UK

economy and the Government is

committed to supporting the industry

and is consulting with stakeholders

to ensure the sector continues to

thrive after we leave the EU. The

Prime Minister has made clear that

where possible we will continue to

participate in EU programmes where

there is mutual benefit to the UK

and the EU as there is in the cake

-- in the case of creative Europe,

for example.

Blaenau Gwent makes us

-- had stunning scenery and it makes

us an ideal set for films and

filming. Well you guarantee our

continued progress in creative

Europe because it has been such a

success?

I agree that creative

Europe has been a success and that

Blaenau Gwent is a wonderful

occasion and has been used for many

broadcast opportunities. We are

indeed very committed to our role in

creative Europe, we recognise its

positivity and the Treasury has

offered to match all applications,

even most likely to need funding

post-Brexit. We can be optimistic

although of course during

negotiations there can be no

guarantees.

Amidst this tour of

Great Britain, can I remind people

that the County of Sutherland has

huge potential for tourism and

filming. Dunrobin Castle could do

for our area what Highclere did

without an abbey.

The honourable

gentleman makes a good case for

Dunrobin Castle and I'm sure people

will build a trial -- beta trial to

his constituency.

The United Kingdom

awaits the Minister and I'm sure she

looks forward to it with bated

breath.

The Government is deeply

committed to our museum sector. The

recently were published review of

museums in England looked in-depth

that museums and the challenges and

opportunities they face. The review

found a thriving sector supported by

over £800 million of annual and

funding from a variety of sources.

South East Cornwall has wonderful

heritage and fascinating museums

supported by amazing staff and

volunteers. More visitors are always

welcome, so will my honourable

friend encourage loans of national

importance to smaller museums such

as those in Liskeard and Saltash in

my constituency?

Mr Speaker, before

I do just that, can I take this

opportunity to congratulate my

honourable friend because I

understand she has just got engaged,

Mr Speaker, and she is to be

congratulated on that. I understand

that although her birthday this

week, their congratulations. To move

onto actually... Double

congratulations. It is Valentine's

Day next week as well, Mr Speaker.

To answer the question, National

museums have a strong track record

on this issue and last year the

national collection was lent out to

more than 1300 UK venues with

long-term loans and partnership

galleries to multi object

exhibitions to one-off star loans.

To helping carriage further loans,

arts Council has provided £3.6

million to regional museums to

improve their galleries to protect

and display exhibits.

I congratulate

the honourable lady and I say to

high engagement, birthday, and a

tribute from the honourable

gentleman! The honourable lady's cup

runneth over. It doesn't get any

better than this.

Small towns in the

borough of Kettering or have

excellent local heritage centres run

by volunteers. In small communities

going through rapid change, isn't it

more important than ever that we

encourage such heritage centres?

It

is absolutely important that we do

that and my honourable friend for

Kettering is a champion for his

constituency. He is absolutely right

about the importance of our

volunteers and the work they do to

encourage that.

Thank you very much.

We are committed to making the UK

the safest place in the world to be

online. In October, we published the

Internet safety strategy green paper

and on Tuesday the Prime Minister

confirmed we will bring forward the

social media code of practice and an

annual Internet transparency report

as proposed in the green paper and

we will publish able response in the

spring.

It is clear that teaching

Internet safety in schools will be a

crucial part of all that big of mint

is doing for the future. At the

moment, there are a huge number of

disparate endeavours from a range of

sources. It seems to me that they

are in some ways less than the sum

of their parts. I wonder if the

Government would consider backing a

body such as Internet batters to

really -- Internet matters to really

deliver gold standard education in

this.

Last Friday, I visited a

primary school in my own

constituency and saw a brilliant

present age in teaching eight to

11-year-olds had to be safe online.

There was a lot more to do in this

area so that young people grow up

resilient and able to use the

opportunities that the Internet

presents in a safe way. I pay

tribute to Internet matters for the

work that they do.

The Secretary of

State proposed in the Internet

safety strategy that there would be

specific method -- measures to

protect children and yet there was a

hopeless deficit of any specific

measures to protect children when it

came to the Other Place. It fell to

the noble Baroness Kidron to mention

that. Would be Secretary of State

agree that he will work

constructively with us to ensure

there are proper digital rights for

children, who are a third of users,

written onto the face of the bill

like the very good five rights bill

proposed by the noble Baroness and

supported by us?

It's an interesting

proposal. We supported the Baroness

Kidron amendment and I welcome it. I

think we have made some progress.

This issue is broader than just data

protection. We have got to get the

legislation right. That bill can

only cover data protection issues

which are not the whole part. Also,

if we end up in the bill giving the

impression that the generality of

measures don't apply to children

because we have specifics that do,

then that would be a backward step.

I am happy to speak to him further

and work on this because it's

clearly an area we need to make

progress on.

£1.7 billion of public

funding is being invested to deliver

superfast broadband across the UK

and a further 1.1 billion to support

the next generation of digital

infrastructure including Baiji

test-beds and trials and

infrastructure Challenge Fund. We

have also reformed Mobile planning

laws in England and reformed the

code, removing barriers to deploying

infrastructure.

Given the commitment

to deal directly with local

authorities in Scotland in the near

future over digital infrastructure,

would she agreed to meet with

myself, the local authority and more

importantly disrupted local

providers who may be able to give

answers to some of the problems that

face us?

We do need to reduce

obstacles and costs to the

commercial deployment of digital

infrastructure and that's what the

reforms of the code were about. The

Scottish Government has introduced

the first stage of its planning

reforms and I hope that they can

build on this and introduce reforms

for their designated areas, albeit

that they have fallen behind in

Wales and England and indeed

Northern Ireland. I do agree to meet

with the honourable gentleman and

his local authorities.

We take

problem gambling very seriously. We

consulted in the gambling review on

measures to strengthen protection

against problem gambling and we are

considering all of the responses.

I

am grateful for that response will

stop in addition to that, I have

been approached by concerned lone

workers working in betting shops on

high streets in Halifax. I have been

a number of serious sexual assaults

and attacks committed against those

workers. Can he tell me what he is

doing to improve the safety of those

lone working staff?

There is full

consideration of these issues in the

gambling review. It is very

important that all evidence is

brought to bear. It's something my

honourable friend the Minister for

sport and civil society, who

apologises for not being able to be

here, Mr Speaker, has been working

on very closely and I'm sure we

should take this evidence into

account.

This Government is making

great strides towards ending the

gender pay gap. That is in

broadcasting and across the rest of

the economy. The new legal at

Worrilow -- the new legal

requirement for companies above a

certain size to publish their gender

pay gap reinforces rules set out by

our former Secretary of State for

the BBC to publish details of salary

for those earning over £150,000 a

year which I hope she will agree has

been very revealing in terms of the

gender pay gap.

I thank the Minister for about

response although it's clear pay in

the BBC has not managed. It's a

system which has been advantageous

to men at the expense of women

suffered for the Minister do to

ensure transparency and fairness in

the future?

I very much agree with

the honourable lady's comments. But

I would draw her attention to the

fact that there is an independent

regulator, the Equality and Human

Rights Commission and I understand

they have already approached the BBC

following the many concerns raised

by journalists and broadcasters in

the Corporation. We do rely on the

BBC to set a lead in this matter and

I hope very much the EHRC will cold

them to account and real and lasting

change will be the result.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker, question number 15

please.

The games industry makes a

crucial economic and cultural

contribution to the UK market for

games in 2016 was the third largest

in the world. We are committed to

supporting the video games industry

to continue to be able to recruit

and retain top talent from the UK

and internationally and we are

working closely with the sector to

understand the impact on and

opportunities to the sector as we

prepare to leave the EU.

Thank you

Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for

the response, what representations

has the Minister made to the Home

Office in regarding the impact on

the tax sector on tightening of visa

regulations?

I can assure the

honourable gentleman that we have

asked the independent migration

advisory committee to advise on the

economic and social impact of the

exit from the EU. And we are also

speaking to the sector and its key

trade bodies such as UK ie as well

as individual businesses to make

sure that top talent continues to be

available to the sector.

Question

16, sir.

Always a pleasure to reach

the honourable gentleman. LAUGHTER

Channel Four do an amazing job and

we want to see them do even more to

reflect and provide for the country

as a whole and we are clear that

Channel Four must have a major

presence outside London and I'm

working with them to see that

happen.

Michael fabricant. The mayor

of the West Midlands has cross-party

support in the region to try and

attract the Channel Four

headquarters to somewhere in the

West Midlands, could my right

honourable friend outline in more

detail how he thinks and when he

thinks more importantly, Channel

Four will move?

Terrific! I know how

strongly my honourable friend feels

about this and I have seen the

campaigning with verve by the mayor

of the West Midlands for Channel

Four to move there. Our argument is

that Channel Four needs to do more

outside of London and I can

certainly see the argument for it

moving its headquarters.

And you, Mr

Speaker. I'm sure the Secretary of

State will want to congratulate us

stuck on being designated UNESCO

city of film, another good reason

why Channel Four should choose to

relocate there but the sea agree

with me for ever Channel Four

relocates its about commissioning

and making sure there is a regional

spread of commissioning services

across the country?

Yes, of course,

it's about, a lot of this is about

where the broadcast reduction is

commissioned but the location of the

commissioners will undoubtedly help

determine some of that.

Topical

questions, David Hanson.

Number one,

Mr Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr

Speaker. The... It's a pleasure to

take my first oral question as a

Secretary of State digital digital,

culture, media and sport, but make

things in life worth living. We

focus on the digital future, rowing

the nation's cultural life, backing

a free media that for the modern age

and supporting sport and with that

in mind I'm sure the entire house

will want to join me in wishing good

luck to Team GB at the Winter and

Paralympics in Jung Chang and I'm

sure our Olympic athletes will do us

proud and we wish them all the very

best of British.

David Hanson.

I

join the Secretary of State in that

wish but I hope Mr Speaker you don't

mind if I ask the question I asked

earlier because it was not answered

so could the Secretary of State or

Minister answered the simply, when

does he expect the split tween BT

and open reach to occur?

Last year

off, agreed with BT and the outlines

of the legal separation and the work

to ensure that happens is ongoing.

The deadline set by off, was April

this year and the action is for BT

to take with the regulator?

Sheryll

Murray? I give very much, Mr

Speaker, my cup doffed runneth over

today, a topical question as well! I

welcome the progress the government

is making an super-fast broadband

could my right honourable friend

assure me the remaining 17% of

premises in my constituency that do

not have access to fibre broadband

will do so as soon as possible?

We

are all very happy for my honourable

friend. Progress has continued to

bring superfast broadband to

Cornwall, coverage is now 91% in

terms of access, a further 3% of

premises in Cornwall will be covered

why December 2019 through the

current broadband contract between

Cornwall Council and BT and I draw

her attention also to the rights of

her constituents under the universal

service obligation.

Today the front

bench will have to be brief because

there is heavy pressure on time and

I am trying to accommodate

colleagues.

What action does the

Secretary of State think should be

taken against an apt that reaches

key provisions of the Data

Protection Act and the privacy of

electronic communications regulator

and is not GBP our compliance?

I

think all apps should be compliant

with the lot and I and alighted to

save the Matt Hancock apt is!

Exactly because the Appiah am

talking about doesn't does belong to

him it's named after him and the

general public need protecting Mr

Speaker from their privacy being

invaded by Matt Hancock, there are

personal information being shared

with third parties by Matt Hancock

and their private photos being

accessed by Matt Hancock. Will he

ensure Matt Hancock complies fully

with data protection regulations and

explains why he thinks of the people

should abide by their legal

obligations with regard to data

protection if Matt Hancock doesn't?

I must say I'm very surprised the

Secretary of State did not call his

Apple Hancock Disraeli!

Very good,

Mr Speaker. Of course the Apple

complies but I think we should use

digital communications Mr Speaker to

communicate with her constituents in

all the modern forms and I'm frankly

delighted by the response the app

has had, far bigger than I could

have possibly imagined and I look

forward to the Munich heading with

my constituents over Matt Hancock

for many years to come! -- to

communicating with my constituents.

I congratulate the government on

passing the 95% target for broadband

but what message can my right

honourable friend give 2/2000

households in my constituency unable

to receive 10 megabits per second

and particularly over 10% of

households in the village of Purley

who cannot receive two megabits?

Mr

Speaker, the message I can give him

is the cavalry is coming, this has

has legislated so that everybody

shall be able to get 10 megabits per

second as an absolute minimum by

2020 and by honourable friend the

Minister is driving secondary

legislation through necessary to

make that happen.

Mr Speaker, or be

city is the single biggest event

double cause of cancer after

smoking. -- obesity. In my health

board area 26% of 4-5 -year-olds are

overweight or obese, junk food

advertising is the key driver, can

the Minister tell us what assessment

the government has made of the

financial impact of the 2007 of,

advertising stretch and is on

children's forecasters?

The

honourable member makes a very

important point, of course making

sure we have a healthy and buoyant

advertising market is important in

the UK but it is absolutely critical

that we do what we can to reduce the

amount of obesity in the nation.

This is a matter of which I've had

discussions with the Secretary of

State for health and very happy to

talk to him in more detail.

The

stress Speaker footsteps as a

department taking along with the

Department for Education to improve

access for sport during school hours

but also outside of them for our

young people given the health and

well-being benefits that flow from

that?

There is a huge amount of work

on going, we've managed through the

sugar tax to double the amount of

funding going into school sports, I

pay tribute to the work the Minister

for Sport has done, she cannot be

here because she is flying to the

Winter Olympics and I am sure she is

happy to work with the honourable

member to see what more we can do.

Mr Speaker, the gambling industry

renewal makes 13 billion a year but

gambling where is only able to raise

a 6p, come on, Minister, we have to

do better.

I will take that as

another consideration in the

gambling regulations which we are

considering now.

To many users of

the android app have read Matt

Hancock has stopped. Can the

Secretary of State reassures that

for all the fun we have had this is

a meaningful attempt to get in touch

with constituents and as the owner

of the social network you will

continue to press on?

I can assure

my friend I have not stopped and I

won't stop communicating with my

constituents come about is all

about.

Mr Speaker, is the Minister

of where of the recent estimate why

the CBR research that there are

121,000 FOBTE users that could be

classed as problem gamblers and age

suppers and average annual loss and

welfare of nearly £10,000.

I pay

tribute to the work she has done as

chair of the committee on FOBTEs and

I know she has raised this

repeatedly and I look forward to

working with her on this issue.

As

to Speaker, the secretary Secretary

of State will no climbing will be a

new sport and I have a local group

encouraging young kids to get

involved but what can the government

do across the UK to ensure we have

enough facilities and coaches for

this sport?

Climbing is a cracking

new sport, in fact, I went climbing

as we celebrated funding some of the

athletes including the world

champion female climber who is

British and am looking and is hoping

to compete and is looking forward to

competing in the Olympics.

95%

broadband target, the UK underfunded

the Scottish Government, when it

comes to 4G coverage England has 60%

land mass coverage and Scotland has

only 17%, what is the government

doing to make up this double

deficit?

We have increased mobile

phone coverage in Scotland more as a

percentage than elsewhere in the UK.

When it comes to the fixed

broadband, I want take this from the

SNP. We gave the SNP £20 billion

over three years ago and they

haven't yet spent that so everybody

in Scotland, every single person who

does not have super-fast broadband

knows they could have got it if the

SNP had got on with it instead of

worrying about independence.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker. On a similar topic

the Scottish Government report found

in 2012 over half of my constituency

and Angus did not proceed 3G

service, six years on I don't feel

enough regress has been made but can

my right honourable friend assures

me more is being done to ensure

constituents are not aimed at

behind?

She is absolutely right, the

roll-out of mobile phone coverage

needs to go further, we've made good

progress but there is a lot more

needs to be done