Written questions by MacDonald.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the number of households that will lose the ability to make emergency calls during a power cut following the switch to digital landlines.

The Government is committed to ensuring any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers. No household should be left without means to contact emergency services in the event of a power cut following the PSTN migration.In December 2023 and November 2024, major communication providers signed and agreed the safeguards in the PSTN Charter and Non-Voluntary Migrations Checklist, including providing vulnerable customers with free battery back-up devices for power cuts. Ofcom General Conditions state that these devices should last for a minimum of one hour, but in practice many providers issue units that provide 4-7 hours of battery life.In December 2023, Ofcom launched a public Call for Input on the power back-up at mobile access sites. Ofcom published an update on this work in February 2025, confirming they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures that mobile operators should put in place.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 76225 on Mobile Phones: Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the number of not-spot areas in (a) Inverness, Skye, and West Ross-shire constituency with (b) the rest of the UK.

The regulator, Ofcom, publishes data that allows for this comparison to be drawn. In Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring Update, published on 8 May 2025, it is reported that approximately 24% of the constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire has no 4G geographic coverage from any mobile network operator (MNO). This compares to approximately 4% of the UK landmass not having any 4G geographic coverage from any MNO. Similarly, while around 20% of premises in the constituency lack 5G coverage outside from any MNO, approximately 4% of UK premises lack 5G coverage outside from any MNO.A further update to this data is expected to be published later this year, providing the latest mobile network coverage data, including at a national and Westminster Constituency level.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households with copper-based broadband connections only in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

Using Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update data published by Ofcom, we estimate that of the 52,930 residential properties in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency, approximately 18,540 households (35%) are reliant on copper-based broadband connections, and 34,390 households have access to full fibre broadband. Most of these premises may also have recourse to connectivity through fixed wireless access.These figures are accurate as of January 2025. The figure for copper-based connections includes broadband delivered by mixed technologies such as fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) as well as solely copper-based technologies such as ADSL.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of premises without access to gigabit-capable broadband in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

Through its Open Market Review (OMR) process, Building Digital UK identifies premises in England and Wales with no gigabit network infrastructure and where none is likely to be developed within the next three years. This information is routinely published on the GOV.UK website. In Scotland, this process is carried out by the Scottish Government, who will hold the most up to date information on the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.Additionally, the independent website ThinkBroadband.com publishes its own information on broadband coverage at a constituency level. It reports that 67.6% of premises in the hon. Member’s constituency can access a gigabit-capable connection.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the number of mobile phone not-spots in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring Update (8 May 2025), approximately 24% of the constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire has no 4G geographic coverage from any mobile network operator (MNO), and similarly around 20% of premises lack 5G coverage outside.The government is working closely with the MNOs on improving mobile coverage right across the UK, including in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire. We recently upgraded and activated a Home Office mast near Kyle of Lochalsh for the Shared Rural Network and there will be further coverage improvements to come from that programme.Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the introduction of digital identity systems on people who are digitally excluded.

The Government is committed to making the state more efficient and easier to interact with through harnessing technology. We want to learn from countries who have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens.We are looking at whether a new digital ID could help tackle illegal immigration, transform public services, and bring benefits to people’s everyday lives. This includes ensuring that services are always accessible to all those entitled to them, via digital and non-digital routes.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that access to public services does not depend exclusively on the use of digital identity systems.

GOV.UK One Login is being developed by Government Digital Service (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), as the ‘front door’ for accessing government services online. Our aim is to make it as simple and inclusive as possible for individuals, while protecting them and the government from the risks of fraud.Inclusion is at the heart of GOV.UK One Login - we provide several ways for individuals to verify their identity, including in person at the Post Office. While we expect it to become the primary method for accessing online government services, departments will continue to provide offline alternatives for those who prefer or are unable to use digital channels.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of introducing digital identity systems on people living in (a) Inverness, (b) Skye and West Ross-shire constituency and (c) other rural areas with limited digital connectivity.

The Government is committed to making the state more efficient and easier to interact with through harnessing technology. We want to learn from countries who have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens.We are looking at whether a new digital ID could help tackle illegal immigration, transform public services, and bring benefits to people’s everyday lives. This includes ensuring that services are always accessible to all those entitled to them, via digital and non-digital routes.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of digital identity systems on data security.

The Government is committed to making the state more efficient and easier to interact with through harnessing technology. We want to learn from countries who have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens.We are looking at whether a new digital ID could help tackle illegal immigration, transform public services, and bring benefits to people’s everyday lives. This includes ensuring that services are always accessible to all those entitled to them, via digital and non-digital routes.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on digital identity systems.

The Government is committed to making the state more efficient and easier to interact with through harnessing technology. We want to learn from countries who have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens.We are looking at whether a new digital ID could help tackle illegal immigration, transform public services, and bring benefits to people’s everyday lives. This includes ensuring that services are always accessible to all those entitled to them, via digital and non-digital routes.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve enforcement where employers (a) delay and (b) withhold data in response to subject access requests.

The ICO can and does take action against organisations, as a result of people’s complaints about their right of access to personal data. Information about the ICO’s enforcement action is available at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/.A requester may also apply for a court order requiring an organisation to comply with a subject access request or to seek compensation. It is a matter for the court to decide, in each particular case, what action to take.The ICO is currently consulting on changes to how it handles complaints, with a view to improving data protection compliance. The consultation closes on 31 October: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/ico-and-stakeholder-consultations/2025/08/ico-consultation-on-draft-changes-to-how-we-handle-data-protection-complaints/.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has had discussions with the private sector on the use of digital identity for accessing financial services.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them. OfDIA has engaged with organisations who are interested in adopting digital identity technology, including those within the financial services sector.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on cross-government plans for digital identity systems.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services (DVS) across the UK economy for those who want to use them.OfDIA regularly engages with cross-government colleagues regarding DVS, including seeking feedback on the Government’s standards for digital identity and work to remove regulatory barriers to adoption in different use cases where these exist. OfDIA also facilitates technical working groups for cross-government collaboration.GOV.UK One Login is the government’s sign-in and identity verification solution, for accessing central government services. All major government departments have committed to onboarding their services to GOV.UK One Login, and are actively developing delivery plans. They are supported by an Onboarding and Engagement team to enable technical service teams to onboard their services smoothly.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impacts of introducing mandatory digital identity systems in the UK on (a) privacy and (b) civil liberties.

The Government has no plans to introduce a mandatory digital identity system.

Innovation and Technology, if he will publish a full list of approved masts included in the Shared Rural Network programme.

The locations of proposed government-funded Total Not Spot masts can be found at https://srn.org.uk/about/srn-tns-site-locations/,however this is due to be updated soon, as we now expect the objectives for this part of the programme to be met with far fewer masts. We are currently in the final stages of following the necessary processes with the mobile network operators to approve the details before they can be shared publicly. Details of the Home Office masts that will be upgraded for the Shared Rural Network are not publicly available as not all Home Office masts will be viable for the programme, but my officials will write to you with details of the sites that will be upgraded in your constituency.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that creative industries and their intellectual property rights are (a) protected and (b) strengthened, in the context of increasing use of Artificial Intelligence.

The Government’s consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (AI) closed on 25th February.This consultation sought views on a range of approaches to clarify copyright law for both the creative industries and AI innovators. The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.