Written questions by Savage.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Government has made of the public safety risks associated with the migration from analogue landlines to Digital Voice in rural areas with poor mobile coverage and frequent prolonged power outages.

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK, including in rural areas. Communications providers are under legal obligations to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency services, including 999 and 112, and to take appropriate and proportionate steps to identify risks to network resilience and mitigate service disruption.In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers (including those with poor mobile coverage) to ensure access to emergency services go beyond one hour in a power outage. Many communication providers have gone further, providing battery back-ups of 4–7 hours.In March 2026, the Government and industry agreed a new Fixed Telecoms Charter to extend these safeguards to all future fixed telecoms modernisation programmes.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media companies respond promptly and transparently to reports of harmful content, particularly where such content involves users under the age of 16.

The Online Safety Act establishes Ofcom as the independent regulator for online safety with powers to sanction in-scope services who do not comply with their duties, including user redress, child safety and age assurance.Duties on content reporting and complaints procedures require services to enable users to report illegal content, report any breach of a service’s own terms and conditions, and require a service to take appropriate action in response to such complaints.Ofcom has Government’s full backing to use all the powers given to it by Parliament in the exercise of its regulatory responsibilities.

Innovation and Technology, what measures are in place to ensure compliance by social media platforms with safety duties under the Online Safety Act 2023, particularly in relation to the protection of younger users.

The Online Safety Act (the Act) requires services, including social media, to protect children from illegal, harmful and age-inappropriate content.Both the Act’s illegal duties and child safety duties are now in force, with Ofcom having substantial enforcement powers including the ability to issue fines of up to £18 million or 10% of platforms’ qualifying worldwide revenue. Since the duties came into force, Ofcom has opened several enforcement investigations against platforms suspected of failing to meet their obligations. Recent actions include investigations into major pornography providers, file-sharing services for measures to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material, and online forums linked to harassment and suicide promotion.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of online safety and content moderation standards on social media platforms, including Snapchat and TikTok, particularly in relation to violent content.

The Online Safety Act requires companies to tackle illegal content, including content inciting violence. They must also protect children from certain forms of legal violent content, including content depicting or encouraging serious violence. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to ensure platforms comply with these duties.My department is working with Ofcom and the Home Office to monitor how often violent and illegal content is encountered across all major social media platforms, and the impact this has on users, especially children. We are keeping our online safety regime under constant review and we will act where evidence shows further intervention is necessary.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) indoor and (b) outdoor mobile coverage in Hullavington, Wiltshire.

Ofcom does not publish mobile coverage data aggregated to specific villages in their Connected Nations reports and data releases. However, your constituents who live or work in Hullavington can access the improved coverage checker, ‘Map Your Mobile’, on the Ofcom website to get information on likely indoor and outdoor mobile coverage at their address.Accurate coverage data being available is crucial to understanding where coverage issues remain and to supporting consumers to make informed decisions about which network offers the best service in their area.All communities should rightly expect to have the connectivity they need to participate in the modern digital economy. This is why it is the government’s ambition that all populated areas should have access to higher quality mobile coverage by 2030.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is considering requiring mobile network operators to provide indoor coverage data alongside outdoor coverage maps to ensure that service availability more accurately reflects the experience of rural communities.

Each of the main UK mobile network operators already provide indoor coverage data in their mobile coverage checkers which are available on their public facing websites.In addition, Ofcom launched their improved mobile coverage checker, ‘Map Your Mobile, on 26 June 2025, which now better reflects people’s lived experience of mobile connectivity, both indoors and outdoors.Indoor aggregated coverage figures for 4G connectivity are also provided in the Connected Nations data releases, published by Ofcom twice a year.

Innovation and Technology, what guidance her Department has issued to internet service providers on fulfilling their licence obligation to ensure access to 999 calls from within the home in communities where mobile not spots exist.

According to Ofcom, 88% of UK premises have 4G indoor mobile coverage from all four mobile network operators, with almost 100% having coverage from at least one operator. However, we know that there is a range of local factors, such as building construction, which can affect user experience. Ofcom also provides advice on potential options that could improve mobile coverage indoors on its public facing website via the link here. DSIT has not provided guidance to internet service providers regarding their obligations, as that is for the regulator Ofcom to consider. Ofcom sets the regulatory conditions for communications providers through their General Conditions of Entitlement, which requires communication providers to ensure continuous access to emergency services via 999 and 112. In 2018, Ofcom published guidance on how all communications providers should meet this duty, including in relation to customers who are dependent on a landline and may not be able to get a mobile signal.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that households in areas with poor indoor mobile coverage have reliable access to the emergency services by 2027.

According to Ofcom, 88% of UK premises have 4G indoor mobile coverage from all four mobile network operators, with almost 100% having coverage from at least one operator. However, we know that there is a range of local factors, such as building construction, which can affect user experience. Ofcom also provides advice on potential options that could improve mobile coverage indoors on its public facing website via the link here. DSIT has not provided guidance to internet service providers regarding their obligations, as that is for the regulator Ofcom to consider. Ofcom sets the regulatory conditions for communications providers through their General Conditions of Entitlement, which requires communication providers to ensure continuous access to emergency services via 999 and 112. In 2018, Ofcom published guidance on how all communications providers should meet this duty, including in relation to customers who are dependent on a landline and may not be able to get a mobile signal.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps with (a) Ofcom, (b) mobile network operators and (c) local authorities to explore community-level infrastructure solutions to improve mobile coverage in rural villages in (i) Wiltshire and (ii) Gloucestershire.

Government encourages digital teams and planners within local authorities to work with Mobile Networlk Operators (MNOs) to improve rural coverage. We are also aware that many local authorities have carried out mobile coverage measurement surveys of their own to help inform them of mobile connectivity gaps.Ensuring there is high quality mobile coverage right across the UK remains a priority for the Government, including in rural communities. However, it is for the market to determine how to deploy infrastructure to effectively achieve this ambition.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to introduce digital identity cards.

The Government has announced plans for a new national digital identity credential to be available to UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over. This will make it easier for people to securely access the services they are entitled to, where they want to, while also helping to prevent illegal working and deter illegal migration. Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks using the new digital ID by the end of this parliament.We recognise the importance of both cybersecurity and privacy. We will consult and engage on the practical operation of the scheme, and the data structures underpinning it, as it is developed. The data for the digital ID scheme will be federated, as doing so is good practice for things like this. That means most data will stay where it is already safely stored, such as in HM Passport Office or other government departments, and only joined up if and when needed.Following the Machinery of Government changes of 23/10/2025 policy responsibility now sits with the Cabinet Office.