Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure public awareness of the availability of the Priority Services Register, including among owner occupiers; and what requirements they have placed on energy suppliers to ensure that households registered with a Priority Services Register have safe gas and electricity supplies in their homes.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Condition 26 of Ofgem’s gas and electricity supply licence conditions requires suppliers to identify consumers who are eligible for the Priority Service Register and offer to add any, or all, of the Minimum Details to the Priority Services Register during interactions. Condition 29 of Ofgem’s gas supply licence conditions requires suppliers to provide a gas safety check free of charge to vulnerable consumers. Further details on support available for those on the Priority Service Register can be found on the Ofgem website.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they are reviewing the business case for the sale of Channel 4 prior to the conclusions of their review of public service broadcasting.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that the public service broadcasting system can continue to meet the needs of UK audiences, now and in the future.
The principal conclusions of the public service broadcasting review were outlined in our broadcasting white paper, Up Next – the Government’s vision for the broadcasting sector, which was published in April this year. The white paper set out that Channel 4 – along with all broadcasters – is facing challenges to its future success and sustainability. This is due to the rapidly evolving media landscape, including unprecedented competition for viewers, programmes and talent from overseas as well as new, rapidly growing streaming platforms.
Channel 4 is a great UK success story. In a rapidly changing media landscape, the Government wants it to thrive in the long term while maintaining its distinctiveness. The Secretary of State is reviewing the business case for a sale of Channel 4 and will set out more detail in due course. In doing so, she will be able to draw on the conclusions of the strategic review as set out in the White Paper.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to their review of the Gambling Act 2005, which ran from 8 December 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Gambling Act Review was launched with the publication of a wide-ranging Call for Evidence, which closed in March 2021 and received over 16,000 responses. We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve community groups in the delivery of Project Gigabit in East Sussex.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of Project Gigabit, His Majesty’s Government is investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections.
The Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. It enables households and businesses to club together to increase the total subsidy of a project to cover most or all of the costs for installation to eligible areas.
Vouchers are a key tool in incentivising and encouraging suppliers to connect some of the hardest-to-reach premises in the UK. Community groups across East Sussex have played a vital role in the delivery of voucher projects to date, and will continue to do so.
So far, more than 500 premises in the county have claimed and received payment for a voucher, with more than 700 additional premises awaiting connection for a combined value of over £2.3 million.
We have also sought information from communities as part of our Public Review process in preparation for the Project Gigabit regional supplier procurement for East Sussex. Alongside the Open Market Reviews, these processes enable us to determine where build is likely and where Government subsidy through Project Gigabit is required.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rollout of Project Gigabit in East Sussex.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In March 2021 we launched Project Gigabit, our £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK. Project Gigabit’s objective is to level up the UK by giving hard-to-reach areas access to gigabit-capable internet speeds and, coupled with commercial gigabit delivery, ensuring almost all of the UK has access to gigabit-capable internet as soon as possible.
Our Project Gigabit procurements are prioritising delivery to rural, hard-to-reach premises and to those with the lowest broadband speeds and we have made excellent progress in preparation for the regional supplier procurement covering East Sussex. Following early market engagement in the region, BDUK has recently taken the decision to accelerate the delivery of the Project Gigabit procurement covering East Sussex to align with the procurements in West Sussex and Kent.
This decision was taken following early market engagement activity, where suppliers indicated a strong interest in combining a cross-boundary project across the three counties of East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent.
This is good news for constituents in East Sussex and further details on the revised procurement timetable for East Sussex will be announced in due course.
Alongside our Project Gigabit procurements, we are investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. East Sussex has made excellent use of the scheme so far, with more than 500 premises in the region having claimed and received payment for a voucher, with more than 700 additional premises awaiting connection for a combined value of over £2.3 million.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take in response to the recommendations set out in the ‘Prevention of Future Deaths Report’ issued after the inquest of Jack Ritchie, published on 7 March.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In May 2022, the Government published its response to the Coroner's Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Jack Ritchie. A copy of the Government’s response is attached.
This confirmed the Government’s commitment to addressing gambling-related harms and prioritising gambling as a public health issue. We will improve the awareness and understanding of gambling-related harms amongst healthcare professions as well as expanding and improving specialist treatment services available for people with a gambling addiction. We have also committed to assess current gambling regulation through the Review of the Gambling Act 2005.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to (1) increase awareness, and (2) introduce training, for (a) police, (b) probation, and (c) prison, staff on the issues faced by individuals who commit crime due to gambling-related harms.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to increasing awareness of the hidden harms of problem gambling and training our prison and probation officers. This equips them with the skills and confidence to help identify, support and signpost individuals into the most appropriate interventions both in custody and on release.
The activities and training services available to improve staff awareness regarding gambling related harms are detailed below.
Within the Probation Service, practitioners have access to an evidence based effective practice resource which was published in 2021. This provides a summary of key evidence, including the harms caused by gambling, signs that gambling is causing a problem, ideas on how to work with individuals who gamble and reflective questions to support practice discussions.
To increase awareness, the launch of this guidance was supported by an online event in November 2021 to understand more about the prevalence and effects of gambling in criminal justice and look at how prison and probation services can respond. The recording of the event remains available for staff to access. The event involved speakers from the Prisoner Education tTrust, the Howard League for Penal Reform, Epic Restart Foundation and Gam Care along with colleagues from within HMPPS.
Further work is currently underway to create a package of materials for probation staff to use with this specific cohort. This is expected to be available from October 2022. I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL1110 for further information.
HMPPS has an online learning platform which hosts a variety of training that all prison and probation staff can access. On this platform there is a package called ‘Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ where the aim is for the learner to gain an understanding about the occurrence and effects of gambling in the criminal justice system.
The police also offer a six-hour training course "on understanding and spotting early signs of gambling addictions", which was launched in September 2021 and is available to all police officers.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for cases involving crime associated with gambling-related harms.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have no plans to review the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for cases involving crime associated with gambling-related harms.
The Gambling Commission will continue to advise on the practical application of primary and secondary legislation to prevent gambling harm, and will continue to work with the Home Office and the rest of government to implement the Economic Crime Plan, the National Strategic Assessment and the Suspicious Activity Reports Transformation programme.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the recommendations in the report by the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms Police awareness and practice regarding gambling related harms, published in June, what steps they will take to ensure police officers are able to identify crimes and harms beyond traditional high-level fraud and theft.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has acknowledged the importance for police and others to be able to recognise the signs early when dealing with somebody with a gambling addiction who is going through criminal justice process so that the best support is offered.
The NPCC is currently gathering best practice from forces on early screening of gambling addicts, ensuring the right offer of support is in place, and signposting where people can seek further help.
The Government will continue to work closely with them to understand and consider their findings.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report from the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms Police awareness and practice regarding gambling related harms, published in June; and in particular, the finding that there is a lack of awareness among police forces about the links between crime and gambling harms.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has acknowledged the importance for police and others to be able to recognise the signs early when dealing with somebody with a gambling addiction who is going through the criminal justice process, to ensure the best support is offered. Policing is collaborating with both the public and private sectors to improve the understanding of officers and staff of the signs to look out for.
In September 2021, a Level 2 Ofqual course, funded by the Gambling Commission, was developed and launched in collaboration with a number of experts from Gambling Health Alliance, Beacon Gambling Trust, Unite the Union and Addiction Recovery Agency. This course provides better knowledge for those working in the criminal justice system as well as those within the gambling industry, on understanding and spotting early signs of gambling addictions. This course is the first step in improving the understanding of those working within the criminal justice system, who will come across addicts in their role, using a First Aid approach to addressing and supporting those experiencing gambling-related harms.
The NPCC is currently gathering best practice from police forces on early screening of gambling addicts, ensuring the right offer of support is in place, and signposting where people can seek further help. The Government will continue to work closely with them to understand their findings and consider next steps.