Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their role in monitoring the effectiveness of systems and processes relating to spending money from dormant bank accounts belonging to members of the public.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Big Lottery Fund is named in the Act as the distributor of dormant account money for meeting expenditure that has a social or environmental purpose in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each devolved administration makes decisions on how these funds are used.
In England, all monies so far made available from dormant bank accounts have been allocated to Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment wholesaler. The Government established Big Society Trust to provide oversight of Big Society Capital and to ensure that this funding is spent effectively. In the devolved administrations, Big Lottery Fund plays this monitoring role.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 29 November 2018 (HL11578, HL11579, HL11580, and HL11581), whether it is HM Treasury’s responsibility to monitor the use of funds from dormant bank accounts belonging to members of the public; and if not, whose responsibility it is.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Big Lottery Fund is named in the Act as the distributor of dormant account money for meeting expenditure that has a social or environmental purpose in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each devolved administration makes decisions on how these funds are used.
In England, all monies so far made available from dormant bank accounts have been allocated to Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment wholesaler. The Government established Big Society Trust to provide oversight of Big Society Capital and to ensure that this funding is spent effectively. In the devolved administrations, Big Lottery Fund plays this monitoring role.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the level of demand for social investment funds, and (2) the amount those funds supply.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are many independent social investment funds across the UK offering a broad range of products and services to civil society and private sector organisations. Social investment funds which operate independently are regulated by the relevant regulatory bodies, and subject to their own due diligence processes.
The government has made no assessment of the demand for social investment funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 29 November 2018 (HL11578, HL11579, HL11580, and HL11581), why they have made no assessment across those varied funds.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are many independent social investment funds across the UK offering a broad range of products and services to civil society and private sector organisations. Social investment funds which operate independently are regulated by the relevant regulatory bodies, and subject to their own due diligence processes.
The government has made no assessment of the demand for social investment funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they measure how much money from social investment funds is spent on the poorest communities; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are a large number of social investment funds being delivered by many organisations in the financial services and philanthropic sectors. The government has made no such assessment across these varied funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) benefits of social investment funds, and (2) evidence that the monies invested in them are used efficiently and effectively.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are a large number of social investment funds being delivered by many organisations in the financial services and philanthropic sectors. The government has made no such assessment across these varied funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of (1) the effectiveness of the administrative processes employed by social investment funds, and (2) how they compare to the processes used by high street banks.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are a large number of social investment funds being delivered by many organisations in the financial services and philanthropic sectors. The government has made no such assessment across these varied funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the interest rates charged by social investment funds compared to those charged by high street banks.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are a large number of social investment funds being delivered by many organisations in the financial services and philanthropic sectors. The government has made no such assessment across these varied funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have done about the public understanding of and support for the General Data Protection Regulation requirements.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for promoting public understanding of the General Data Protection Regulation rights and rules. The ICO's Your Data Matters campaign is a long-term campaign to help the public understand their data rights.
The government published research on the benefits arising from personal data rights under the Regulation, including the public's privacy preferences. This research, which I attach, is available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/635701/PersonalDataRights_LE_-_for_Data_Protection_Bill__1_.pdf
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have done to check that organisations that have complied with the General Data Protection Regulation requirements understand the implications of what they have committed themselves to.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Accountability is one of the data protection principles - it makes organisations responsible for complying with the General Data Protection Regulation and states that organisations must be able to demonstrate their compliance. Accountability obligations are ongoing. Organisations must review and, where necessary, update the measures which they put in place to comply with Data Protection law.
More information on data protection principles can be found on the ICO’s website www.ico.org.uk