Government confirms departure of Digital Britain minister

Carter leaves in the summer

The government has confirmed reports that communications minister Lord Stephen Carter is to depart his post in the summer.

Carter is due to unveil his Digital Britain report next week, but will step down once the implementation plan for its recommendations is completed.

A joint statement from the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and Culture Media and Sport to which Carter reported said: “The Prime Minister appointed Stephen Carter as communications minister with the specific task of commissioning and producing the Digital Britain report and its follow-up recommendations. This was agreed at the time.

“Lord Carter will present his report to Cabinet on Tuesday before it is published later next week. He will then put in place a detailed implementation plan before the summer recess. We can confirm that he will step down at summer recess with the completion of his work, as originally intended and with the full agreement of the Prime Minister.”

The highly anticipated Digital Britain report could be one of the most important technology roadmaps ever published by government. The document will plot the UK's future path for all things digital, covering everything from next-generation optical-fibre networks, universal service commitment (USC) for broadband and public service broadcasting to mobile network spectrum allocation, the future of digital radio and protection of digitally created content.

An interim report, which was published in January, was criticised for being too consumer oriented. The USC of "up to 2Mbit/s" was seen by many as short changing the country in comparison with other nations such as Japan which have much more ambitious plans for super-fast bandwidth of 100Mbit/s and above.

Carter’s departure leaves the government’s ministerial responsibilities for IT and communications in disarray. Former minister for digital engagement Tom Watson stepped down in the latest Cabinet reshuffle last week and has yet to be replaced.

Despite numerous statements from Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson in recent months affirming the importance of technology to the UK’s economic recovery, both of the two most important ministerial portfolios for the sector are about to be empty and up for grabs.