Gambling: Early Mortality

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Tuesday 20th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I mentioned in response to an earlier question, that is one of the issues that will be considered as part of the review of the Gambling Act. I can update the House that there has been an increased donation this year to GambleAware from the industry of £19 million, up from £10 million last year, and next year’s donation is forecast to be £26 million.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that Dr Muggleton stressed that the report could not say whether the association between gambling and any negative effect, including increased mortality, was causal? As a result, does she agree that in government DCMS should continue to focus on the most vulnerable through advertising and the location of betting shops in impoverished neighbourhoods rather than make policies drawn on direct causal links which the research does not conclude?

Video-sharing Platforms: BBFC Ratings

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I would be happy to discuss the matter that the noble Baroness raises with the relevant platforms and the Video Standards Council. We encourage online store fronts to follow the BBFC best practice for labelling online apps, which includes signing up to the international age rating coalition system.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Esports. Does the Minister agree that in protecting children’s rights, the views of gamers, children and teachers should be taken into account when considering a combination of age labelling, filters and parental controls, and that tools such as URI which provide age ratings for UGC available via online video-sharing platform services are exceptionally helpful in this context?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My noble friend is right that the views of children, gamers and teachers are important. Under the video-sharing platform regime, UK-established platforms will be required to take appropriate measures to protect all their users from illegal content and minors from harmful content. Those measures could include a combination of age labelling, filters, parental controls and technical tools.

Television Licence Evasion

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Baroness covers a number of points. On her first point, I absolutely sympathise with the issue she raises, although we have to recognise that the BBC is independent in the way that it enforces and collects the licence fee, and that levels of evasion are the lowest in Europe.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, as so often, the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, is right. I am glad that the Minister agrees that a criminal sanction, including cases of imprisonment for TV licence evasion, is disproportionate. Does she agree that it is regrettable that we live in an age where some 91 people have been given custodial sentences for failing to pay fines in respect of the non- payment of TV licences in recent years, and that a change to a civil penalty system should take place now, rather than wait until the licence fee review is completed?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The figures that my noble friend refers to—the 91 people receiving a custodial sentence—are for the period 2015-18, and those numbers have declined significantly in recent years. In relation to a civil sanction, it needs to be sufficiently robust to underpin the legal requirement to hold a TV licence, and, as I mentioned, it might result in higher financial penalties. We are keeping this matter open for further review.

Audiovisual Media Services (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Friday 27th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register, particularly as an adviser to Station12, with its interests in content production.

These debates on EU exit regulations are important in their own right, but this one is all the more important because of the wide statutory and regulatory work that is under consideration in this fast-moving technology space, as noted by the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett. I welcome the regulations for what they are—confirmation that the European standard of regulation continues to apply after the end of the transition period—but what I am hoping for today is government recognition that, with technological advancement, with some countries banning some of the platforms, with online harm already a major and growing issue, and with serious crimes occurring, it is really important that the Minister and the Government provide us with absolute confirmation that the new legislation will not be sometime early in 2021 but as early as possible, for all the reasons given by the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett. I hope that consultation will take place with consumer and business groups, that it will be extensive and that, in the words of the Minister in another place, the Government intend to bring forward “a pioneering UK regime”, which will be necessary.

I fully appreciate that these new rules ensure that platforms falling within UK jurisdiction have appropriate systems and processes in place to protect the public, but what will be the consequences of Ofcom licences no longer being recognised to regulate video-sharing platform services in non-ECTT member states when licences issued by non-ECTT member states will no longer be recognised in the UK? In practice, the largest VSPs work outside the UK’s regulatory scope and it is critical, in the context of sexual online threats, that the National Crime Agency will continue to co-ordinate activities closely with colleagues abroad to help the regulators with misinformation warnings and action against criminals. This is an international problem and one that, like Covid-19, pays scant regard to national boundaries. International co-operation, as well as effective domestic law, are essential components of success.

EU broadcast law has recently undergone a sea change, as the Minister said, principally as a result of the revised AVMSD, which has been transposed into UK law by the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations, including the brand-new regime for VSP services. Am I correct in my understanding that, in terms of the end of the transition period, this instrument, at Regulation 4(2), together with recent Ofcom guidance, clarifies that a VSPS will fall under UK jurisdiction where

“it has the required connection with the United Kingdom”—

a somewhat imprecise phrase which could benefit from clarification by the Minister today? In the meantime, I very much welcome these regulations.

Sport Sector: Financial Support

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Moynihan (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I very much welcome this Statement as an important rescue package, for that is exactly what it is. I note that £250 million of the £300 million is in the form of loans. When can we expect the terms of the loans and details of the repayment holidays to be finalised, rather than the final deals themselves? I hope that the Minister will commit to a comprehensive review of all Covid-related support for sport by the end of March, when this package ends, because long into 2021 the impact of Covid-19 will still be delivering a hammer-blow to the decimated income statements of both winter and summer sports across the United Kingdom.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. We will publish the application process and wider conditions for loans in the winter survival package in the next few weeks, but the principle behind the loans is that they should be affordable in terms of both the interest rate and the repayment period. In relation to a review of sport, I am not aware of a formal review of the sort that my noble friend suggests, but I stress that the team in DCMS is working extremely closely with all sports to get as thorough and comprehensive as possible an understanding of the situation and how we can relaunch stronger in the new year.

Covid-19: Support for Entertainment and Music Industry Freelancers

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Monday 9th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am happy to share the detail of that information in a letter to the House and put a copy in the Library. We are working very hard. We have already disbursed over £500 million to 2,000 organisations as part of the Culture Recovery Fund. As I mentioned, that includes specific pots for music venues and cinemas, and we were pleased to announce additional funding for heritage and arts organisations just this weekend.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. Will the Government consider extending the film and television production restart fund beyond the end of February? Weather-wise, this is when the industry tends to pick up, so freelancers could finally see the light of day at the end of a very long tunnel.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I said, the Government are keeping all options under review. We have not yet committed all of the Culture Recovery Fund and are looking at the best ways to disburse it in full. We are optimistic that the £500 million scheme that we announced to support film and TV production will have an important impact on the sector, particularly as we have been able to secure an exemption for film and TV production during this lockdown.

Professional and Amateur Sport: Government Support

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Thursday 1st October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Moynihan (Con) [V]]

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, said, national football league clubs still have no idea what their settlement is, and they are being asked to start the season in good faith. At the same time, Premiership rugby clubs have been pushed to the brink by the implications of Covid and are now being driven to bankruptcy by a lack of gate receipts; none is profitable. Does the Minister agree that Premiership-level clubs are in the bracket of what the Government call “the greatest need”, and that spectator sport as a whole faces a daily fight for survival, which requires action now to allow a limited number of supporters back safely in order for it to survive and support its fan base and their communities?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government are very keen to support all sports, for the reasons that we have already summarised, in terms of both their specific sporting contribution and their wider community contribution. Clearly rugby plays an important part and is very central in particular communities. We are going through this in detail with each of the governing bodies, looking at the needs of their specific sports, and will respond as quickly and as effectively as we can.

Gambling Legislation

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I thank the right reverend Prelate for his questions. Actually, there were fewer people using online slots and casinos in June than in March, so there are some counterintuitive trends in the gambling market. With regard to the Gambling Commission and its powers and resources, we are considering proposals for an uplift in the fees that it collects from industry. In relation to recent stories about redundancies at the commission, it is always reviewing ways to become more agile and responsive.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, the DCMS in its sport integrity review called for legislative action on the issue of match fixing. Will the Minister look to amend Section 42 on cheating in the now very much outdated Gambling Act 2005, so as to bring the UK in line with international best practice by introducing specific match-fixing legislation?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I know that my noble friend has worked very hard on this important issue. I cannot comment on the specifics, but I can reassure him that we are absolutely committed to ensuring that the review of the Act results in making it fit for purpose in a digital age.

Data Protection: Age-appropriate Design Code

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

There is no intention to water down the code. Its content is the responsibility of the Information Commissioner, who has engaged widely to develop the code, with a call for evidence and a full public consultation.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, is my noble friend the Minister able to tell the House the results of the consultation process with the industry on possible ways to implement age verification online?

[Baroness Barran]

We believe that our online harms proposals will deliver a much higher level of protection for children, as is absolutely appropriate. We expect companies to use a proportionate range of tools, including age-assurance and age-verification technologies, to prevent children accessing inappropriate behaviour, whether that be via a website or social media.

Covid-19: Sports

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

The noble Lord makes an extremely good point about communication and making sure that children hear about the opportunities available for them, so I will take that point back. I also draw his attention to the recent announcement that the Community Emergency Fund has been increased from £20 million to £35 million; that supports just the sorts of organisations to which he refers.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

I welcome Sport England’s excellent set of initiatives. However, does the Minister agree that waiting until the forthcoming spending review—potentially this autumn—to learn about UK Sport funding for teams for Tokyo’s Olympics next year is too long a period of uncertainty for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and that it casts further doubt and shadows over selection processes?

[Baroness Barran]

I understand my noble friend’s interest in getting clarity as quickly as possible. I can only reiterate that officials and Ministers are working very closely with all those involved to make sure that we have the strongest possible case to put on their behalf at the spending review.