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Petitions

Volume 638: debated on Monday 19 March 2018

Petitions

Monday 19 March 2018

Observations

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Mount Oswlad Estate

The petition of residents of Mount Oswald Estate in Durham,

Declares that the new development, built by David Wilson Homes, where there are residents who lack any form of acceptable broadband service; further that the estate’s phone lines are currently connected to a cabinet over 2km away, resulting in a typical broadband speed of 0-3 Mbps, well below the standard broadband speed of 17 Mbps; further that this is well below the broadband service that should be expected in a new-build development with a city-centre postcode; further that with the development of several hundred new homes immediately adjacent to the Mount Oswald Estate the broadband speeds are likely to deteriorate further without any action.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to make provision for the installation of a new fibre-enabled cabinet in the immediate vicinity of the Mount Oswald Estate to ensure a future-proof service for all current and future residents of the estate.

And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods , Official Report, 6 February 2018; Vol. 635, c. 1464.]

[P002109]

Observations from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Matt Hancock):

The Government understand that a resolution has been reached between the developer, David Wilson Homes (DWH), and Openreach whereby broadband will be upgraded at Mount Oswald Estate. This upgrade will deliver Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) and will be completed within the next 12 months.

Furthermore, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is actively working to improving new build connectivity across the country. We strengthened building regulations to introduce a requirement, from January 2017, for all new buildings and major renovations to include in-building physical infrastructure to support connections to superfast broadband. We are working with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to discuss what more can be done to ensure future-proofed connectivity is supported in their plans to reform the housing market.

In February 2016 the Government brokered a deal between Openreach and the Home Builders Federation (HBF) so that all new developments with over 250 homes would be offered superfast broadband for free, or as part of a co-funded initiative. In November 2016, Openreach announced that this would be lowered to all new developments with more than 30 homes. Currently, 99.2% of new developments with over 30 homes, and 83.2% of all new build development plots, are contracted for FTTP.

Virgin Media and GTC (another broadband infra- structure provider) subsequently also signed similar agreements with the HBF, including offering free site assessments to ensure new developments get the right connectivity in place at an early stage. This gives developers more options to ensure future-proofed connectivity at these sites and that the needs of customers are met.

To complement these agreements the Government and HBF have been working with developers to increase awareness of the benefits of digital connectivity, and the increasing expectations homeowners have for high quality broadband as standard in their homes, and we continue to engage with providers and HBF to ensure the agreements are working to deliver well-connected new developments.

There remain some developments which were built or were past planning stage before these agreements were in place. Openreach are currently looking at sites built in recent years, or are currently in progress, to explore if they can be upgraded either through Openreach investment, with a developer contribution, or through their Community Fibre Partnership Scheme.

Treasury

Public Sector Workers

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that public sector services such as the NHS are running out of people resources and good will; further that the years of frozen pay, followed by a 1% pay rise-reluctantly given by this Government three years ago and initially tied with restrictions, is an insult; further that there is a rise of public sector workers having to turn to foodbanks due to the Government’s policies; and further that many are leaving their jobs as they cannot afford to live on their pay.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to recognise the worth of public sector workers and recognise the financial losses that have been incurred.

And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sandy Martin , Official Report, 26 February 2018; Vol. 636, c. 11-12P.]

[P002115]

Observations from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss):

The Government thank the hon. Member for Ipswich (Sandy Martin) for his petition and recognise the concerns of his constituents expressed within over levels of public sector pay.

Public sector workers deserve to have fulfilling jobs that are fairly rewarded. At the Budget, the Government reconfirmed the announcement from September to move away from the across the board one percent public sector pay policy, towards a more flexible approach on pay.

Whilst in place however, the one percent pay policy did not mean that public sector workers did not see any increase in their salaries. In 2016 over 50% of nurses and NHS staff had an average increase of over 3%, and teachers’ average pay increased by 3.9% in 2015-16 and 4.6% in 2016-17, including increases in promotions and responsibility allowances.

The petition makes a specific reference to the NHS, the Government recognise that in the NHS there are unique pressures this year: there are more operations than ever and more people going to A&E than ever. That is why the Chancellor has committed to fund pay awards for Agenda for Change staff (nurses, midwives and paramedics), as part of a wider NHS funding commitment, that are agreed as part of a deal with the unions. As a result, there is the opportunity, through the Health Secretary’s discussions with the Unions, to agree a pay deal to deliver productivity improvements and higher pay awards for NHS staff.

We still need to deal with our country’s debts to ensure we have a strong economy to enable us to invest in our public services. This means that we will continue to take a balanced approach to public spending.

The Government will consider each specific workforce to ensure pay is set so that we can continue to both attract and hold on to the excellent staff that support our world- leading public services.

Before we make final decisions on pay awards for 2018-19, we are seeking the views of the independent pay review bodies, which will consider the evidence on how we ensure we attract and retain the very best people within our public services, like giving people more flexibility over their working hours.

The independent pay review bodies will report in spring and summer 2018, at which point we will consider their recommendations and announce public sector pay awards for each of those workforces.