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Written Question
Football: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to ensure that football clubs donate a proportion of their profits to help ex-professional football players suffering Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy with their health and social care.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. I welcome work by the football industry to protect players from harm and provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. One example of this is the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Football Brain Health Fund, supported by the Premier League and announced in September 2023, which aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.

The Government has no plans to legislate in this area, but will continue to liaise with the football authorities about their work to protect players and provide support, including funding initiatives.

The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport, outlining the steps the Government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.


Written Question
Football: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the football industry on (a) the scale of and (b) tackling Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy suffered by ex-professional football players.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. I welcome work by the football industry to protect players from harm and provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. One example of this is the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Football Brain Health Fund, supported by the Premier League and announced in September 2023, which aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.

The Government has no plans to legislate in this area, but will continue to liaise with the football authorities about their work to protect players and provide support, including funding initiatives.

The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport, outlining the steps the Government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.


Written Question
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the public appointments for which her Department is responsible are (a) women and (b) people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As of 31 March 2023, 43% of DCMS regulated appointment roles were held by women and 12% were held by individuals from an ethnic minority background.


Written Question
Tickets: Touting
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to work with (a) artists, (b) event organizers and (c) primary ticketing platforms to tackle ticket touting.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting fair and transparent ticket pricing and tackling unacceptable behaviour in this market.

We have strengthened the law in relation to ticketing information requirements and have introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed. We also support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority.

We engage with a range of key organisations and individuals operating in the ticketing sector to ensure a fair and transparent system. This includes STAR (the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry in the UK), the Competition and Markets Authority, Fanfair Alliance (the campaigning body against industrial scale online ticket touting), membership bodies representing all parts of the music sector including artists and event organisers, and, where appropriate, primary and secondary ticketing businesses.

Ultimately, ticket pricing strategies are a matter for event organisers and ticketing platforms. We carry out ongoing monitoring of the legislative landscape in the ticketing market and in the light of technological, enforcement and other market developments, but agree with the recommendation in the Competition and Markets Authority’s 2021 report on secondary ticketing that there should not be a ban on the uncapped secondary ticket market.


Written Question
Gambling: Artificial Intelligence
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the risks posed by the use of artificial intelligence in the gambling industry, particularly (1) problem gambling, (2) addiction, and (3) mental health issues.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Gambling Commission, Great Britain’s statutory regulator, continues to monitor industry developments in artificial intelligence, informed by the expertise of its Digital Advisory Panel. This includes the exploration and consideration of the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning by gambling operators, and engagement with the industry better to understand their uses of AI. The Gambling Commission will continue to increase its capacity and capability to deploy data science in its regulation through the formation of a new Data Innovation Hub.

All gambling operators which provide gambling services to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission, and must comply with its codes of practice. The social responsibility code requires them to have and to put into effect policies and procedures to promote socially responsible gambling. These should reduce the risk of, and seek to identify those struggling with, problem gambling. The Gambling Commission has the power to remove an operating licence where a gambling business is deploying AI in a manner that undermines the statutory licensing objectives and duties.


Written Question
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will promote social fragmentation rather than social cohesion.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

HM Government aims to use the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to create a discussion about the role that living heritage of all sorts plays in the identity, pride and cohesion of all parts of the UK. To support this, we are taking an inclusive approach to the ratification and seeking to ensure as many people and groups as possible can be involved, which has included launching a public consultation on details of the ratification.


Written Question
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage: Ulster Scots Language
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what steps they will take to ensure that they discharge their obligations under that convention in relation to the Ulster Scots community in a manner that is consistent with the recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority of the United Kingdom under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

HM Government is taking an inclusive approach to the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage across the whole UK. We want to engage with everyone, including the Ulster Scots community, and to provide the conditions to allow everyone to express, preserve, and develop their culture and identity within the UK’s implementation of the framework of the 2003 Convention.


Written Question
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what is their reason for not proposing a threshold of longevity for recognition of a cultural practice.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

HM Government has taken on board guidance from UNESCO which defines Intangible Cultural Heritage as ‘traditional, contemporary, and living at the same time’. In line with this, we want to ensure that newer practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be recognised as well as more long-standing ones.


Written Question
Football: Governing Bodies
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the Football Governance Bill.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This Government is committed to introducing a new independent regulator for English football, to protect and promote the sustainability of English football for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.

The Government is working at pace to establish an Independent Football Regulator on a statutory footing as soon as parliamentary time allows.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the email correspondence of 1 November 2023 from the hon. Member for Sefton Central.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay responded to this correspondence on 14 March 2024. The Department apologises for the delay in responding.