Thank you, Mr Speaker. I hope the House will bear with me, as I fear I may be losing my voice. Some people may be happy about that, but I will attempt to get through as best I can.
This Government are determined to ensure that everyone has access to the skills, support and confidence they need to take part in a modern digital society, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances. This is a hugely important issue in my hon. Friend’s constituency, which I believe has one of the lowest levels—if not the lowest level—of broadband coverage in the country. Building Digital UK recently signed a £157 million contract to deliver broadband across the Western Isles, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency. He is determined to make sure this happens as an urgent priority, as am I.
I welcome the Secretary of State and her friendly-faced team to their posts. I also welcome the millions going into Project Gigabit. However, that money is finding its way into Openreach’s coffers but not to the end of the road in the Western Isles. I have many constituents, including two in my own village of Swordale, who have built their homes and have all the utilities except broadband. The cabinet is just a couple of hundred metres away, but why should Openreach throw the switch? It has made millions from installation down the spine of the islands, but it is not going the last few yards. Can the Secretary of State press Openreach to go those last few yards and look at the physical infrastructure access costs that other providers have to pay for legacies like copper wiring and wooden poles from another era?
I thank my hon. Friend for his passion about this issue. He should come in and talk to Ministers, officials and Building Digital UK to set out what he thinks needs to happen, because we are only going to get this right if we work with people on the ground. The Western Isles contract will provide cover for 65,000 new premises across the area, including 8,000 in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We have to do this—we have to push further and faster—and I am sure my hon. Friend will make it happen on the ground.
On behalf of my party, I welcome the Secretary of State to her place.
On the other side of the highlands in the royal burgh of Cromarty—it is an adjacent seat, Mr Speaker—we have an appalling situation. I have in my constituency an old lady with a heart condition who had no means of communication whatsoever for days on end. Will the Secretary of State have a word in the right ear to sort out this desperate situation?
If the hon. Gentleman sends us the details, we will make that issue a top priority. As we build the country of the future through jobs, growth and transforming public services, we cannot deliver for everybody in every part of the country unless they have the broadband coverage they need. Three of the seven new contracts that BDUK has signed this year are in Scotland, with funding of—I believe—£287 million. We want value for money, and the hon. Gentleman wants to deliver for his constituents. Together, we will make it happen.
10. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in reducing children’s exposure to harmful online content.
New Technologies in the Workplace
Technology Companies: Accountability
Topical Questions
Prime Minister
Engagements
20 of 128 shown
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Liz Kendall)
LabourLeicester West
Protecting children from harmful content online is a top priority for this Government and for me personally, because it is a deeply concerning issue for parents and children across the country. Since implementing the Online Safety Act this summer, 6,000 sites have taken action to stop children seeing harmful content online, but I will be paying close attention to what is working and will not hesitate to go further if necessary. Indeed, on Monday I added self-harm material to the list of priority offences in the Act, so if companies do not take down content that promotes self-harm or actively stop it appearing, they will face enforcement action. I hope this shows the House my determination to take all necessary steps on this issue.
It is so gratifying to see a Watfordian at the Dispatch Box. In my constituency of Watford, parents and families are rightly pleased with the protections being afforded to children and vulnerable people through the Online Safety Act 2023. We would not allow a child to get into a car and drive down the road, to go into an off-licence and buy tobacco or alcohol products, or to go into an adult entertainment establishment, so does the Secretary of State agree that children and vulnerable people need protections in the virtual world, just as they do in the physical one?
I absolutely agree, and that is why I am determined to do everything necessary to remove illegal content and to protect children from online harms. Many years ago, when I was a member of the Science and Technology Committee, as part of a report we were doing, I spoke to children in secondary and primary schools in my constituency to see what they felt were the benefits and difficulties of being online. It is an issue I have been concerned about for many years. I am determined to take action, not just for the fabulous people of Watford, but for children and young people right across the country.
I also welcome my right hon. Friend to her place. Does she agree that Reform’s reckless plans to scrap the Online Safety Act would fail a generation of young people, including all the parents and children in my constituency of Kensington and Bayswater who have joined my local campaign to protect children online?
Yes. If Reform Members are so concerned about the Online Safety Act, why are they not here in the Chamber asking me questions about it? Reform wants to scrap the Act, which would mean ripping up protections that crack down on revenge porn, violent misogynistic content, and posts encouraging self-harm or suicide. I commend my hon. Friend on his campaign. Families in his constituency want action, and that is what we intend to take. Finally, we are putting child safety first by taking down illegal content, taming toxic algorithms and making age-inappropriate content harder to access. We will go further if we need to.
I welcome the new Secretary of State to her position. Will she look at the downloading of virtual private networks, which allow people to get content from all over the world? Many VPNs are based overseas. Once they are downloaded, parents have no control whatsoever if their children are then accessing immoral and illegal content.
In the few days that I have been in post, a number of MPs and other organisations have already raised this issue with me. I will always be driven by evidence. I want to protect people’s rights to privacy, but I want to make sure that nothing is done that will put people at risk. If the hon. Member has evidence and wants to send that to me, I am more than happy to look at it, because I want to take the action required.
I have been contacted by many constituents worried about the implementation of the Act. For example, Emily, who is home-schooled and has ME, struggles to access things that help with her learning and her rural isolation. Alexander says that he has accessed gambling sites, but cannot access suicide prevention content. As we mark World Suicide Prevention Day, how can we make sure that the Act is a little more nuanced?