My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his earlier engagement on the issues represented by this amendment and for outlining why
the Government will not accept it. It was rather fuller, I am glad to say, than the embarrassingly short set of reasons set out, as he almost admitted himself.
The noble Lords, Lord Northbrook and Lord Cromwell, and the noble Earls, Lord Lytton and Lord Devon, have very cogently explained why they believe—as we do on these Benches—that an independent review of the Electronic Communications Code is needed to get our telecoms legislation to the right place. Indeed, the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell of Beeston, said on Report that
“the case for Parliament imposing this independent review is compelling.”—[Official Report, 12/10/22; col. 834.]
I absolutely agree. We have heard powerfully today why there is such a strong view that this Bill is unfairly skewed against site owners, many of which are small societies and clubs. We must get the balance right for the Electronic Communications Code between operator and landowner and ensure that it is fit for purpose in delivering broadband and 5G rollout targets.
These targets have changed markedly over time. There has been a continual shifting of the Government’s gigabit target, which it seems has now shifted from over 99% to 85% of premises by 2025. There is a continuing rural/urban divide, and real problems with latency in rural areas.
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Both the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, in his brief tenure as the noble Lord’s predecessor and successor, and the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, have asserted that everything is starting to settle following the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, promised to make the evidence available as soon as possible, but such evidence as we have heard to today, as has been received, is highly questionable; the source, Speed Up Britain, is actually the operators themselves, as the noble Earl, Lord Devon, has said. The fact of increasing numbers of renewals does not show that the market is necessarily operating properly, when the objective of the Bill after all is to bring forward new sites and thereby increase rollout.
The CEBR report referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Northbrook, was commissioned by Protect & Connect, but was researched independently, unlike the research for Speed Up Britain. It points to far higher rent reductions than those of 63% cited by the Government, and a much wider market impact, as well as a reduction in the pace of rollout. The Government have not properly explained why they reject the evidence of the CEBR report.
As regards litigation, I believe that the Minister has indeed read the recent article in the Times headlined “Telecoms cases swamp tribunals”, which starts off:
“Fears are growing that land tribunals are being inundated by a rising tide of telecommunications cases since ministers amended rules to boost the country’s drive towards faster broadband.”
That seems to be stronger evidence of problems with the post-2017 ECC than anything the Government have produced. How does the Minister see the number of cases being reduced as a result of this Bill? The lack of official, proper evidence strongly underpins the arguments for an independent review.
The noble Lords, Lord Kamall and Lord Parkinson, have also asserted that the amendment overlooks the substantial review and reporting mechanisms that are already in place. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, today mentioned Ofcom, BDUK and the DCMS, but what specific review of the operation of the Electronic Communications Code will be in place regarding the KPIs—key performance indicators—to actually deliver the Government’s strategy? The Minister has promised rolling workshops and he tried to explain what they were designed to achieve. As for a “pilot communications framework”, I am not sure I quite understand what that is designed to achieve. The key issue is whether the Government will look at how the market is functioning and whether the workshops will be designed to make sure that changes are made so that the market does function properly.
The Minister also prayed in aid the very newly created national connectivity alliance. He gave some warm words about the interests of landowners, and I hope that it is a fully representative body, but surely best practice guidelines, which have no enforcement mechanism, are not going to cut it either in ensuring how the Electronic Communications Code operates in light of the amendments made by this Bill. Will the national connectivity alliance specifically be asked to report on the functioning of the market? That is an extremely important aspect.
This is in the context of the Government continually failing to hit targets on broadband connectivity and digital deployment. I am sorry to say that their reluctance to agree to a review of this nature is just another example of their unwillingness to be scrutinised. I hope that the Minister can give us a better answer, but so far it has been extremely disappointing.