Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of local councils in preserving heritage; and what plans they have to meet with the Local Government Association and the National Trust to discuss a strategy for the future of local heritage assets.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local government bears great responsibility for the care and conservation of the historic environment. Local planning authorities make many of the decisions regarding change to heritage assets, informed by information they curate on historic environment records (HERs). They have powers to address heritage at risk and are often owners of some of the most important heritage assets in their area.
Together with Historic England, our statutory advisors on the historic environment, we keep in close contact with relevant partners on these issues. In particular, the Heritage Council, which includes the National Trust, is chaired by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism and regularly attended by Ministers from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. This provides the opportunity to ensure that issues such as local stewardship of the historic environment are properly considered. Should this be a theme for a future meeting of the Council the Local Government Association and other relevant stakeholders will be invited to attend.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential health benefits of an active lifestyle; what plans they have to invest in sports and leisure infrastructure; and what steps they are taking to ensure that people benefit from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regular exercise has been shown to treat, manage and prevent a number of physical and mental health conditions. An assessment of the health benefits along with the recommended levels of physical activity are set out in Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers’ report which were updated in September 2019.
On investment in sports and leisure infrastructure, the Government's Sporting Future strategy highlighted the significant role that facilities play in helping people to get more active. To support this, Government through Sport England, is already investing up to £125m from 2017 to 2021 to improve sports facilities across England.
Last year, the Government also announced significant new funding for grassroots football facilities - an additional £550m, linked to our bid for the UK and Ireland to host the 2030 World Cup.
Improving health and wellbeing is a legacy ambition for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This will include how we maximise the impact of the new sporting facilities being delivered for the Games, such as the redevelopment of athletics facilities at Alexander Stadium, creation of a brand new aquatics centre in Sandwell and the addition of new cycle lanes across the city.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the (1) Local Government Association, and (2) local government, about the role of councils in the upcoming Festival of Britain.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
DCMS has asked the Organising Committee for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, under the leadership of its Chief Creative Officer, to develop plans for the Festival. The Organising Committee will lead on any discussions with local government.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what formal consultation they have undertaken with councils as part of their Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review to understand the best option for delivering rural connectivity in (1) coastal, (2) largely rural, and (3) mainly rural, areas.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government set out its long term national strategy for full fibre connectivity in the Future telecoms Infrastructure review, following a public Call for Evidence, extensive engagement with stakeholders and experts, and evidence from a range of other sources, including external analysis.
The Review committed to an ‘Outside In’ approach to deployment, to support areas which are likely to require additional funding - we expect these to be mostly in rural and remote areas. We are trialling different delivery models in these areas through BDUK’s Superfast Programme and the recently launched Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme and will continue our engagement with Local Authorities throughout the duration of these Programmes.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities on plans to hold a festival of innovation and creativity in 2022.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We are in the early stages of planning the Festival. Any formal discussions with local authorities will be conducted by the appropriate delivery body in due course.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Statement by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 17 May (HL Deb, cols 772–84) on gaming machines, when the reduction in the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals will come into force.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government published its response to the consultation on changes to gaming machines and social responsibility measures on 17 May. The Government will engage with the gambling industry to ensure they are given sufficient time to implement and complete the technological changes for the reduction in maximum stake for Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals. The Government will deliver the reduction in stake through secondary legislation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic and social costs of providing welfare and support services as a result of the high stakes being gambled on fixed-odds betting terminals.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Measuring the cost of problem gambling is a complicated task. The study by The Institute of Public Policy Research “Cards on the Table”, published in December 2016, estimated that the cost to the Government associated with problem gamblers ranged between £260m and £1.16bn. This reflects an estimate of the costs of public services for those individuals, but it does not capture the wider impact of problem gambling and gambling-related harm to the UK economy. The attached report can be found here: https://about.gambleaware.org/media/1367/cards-on-the-table_dec16.pdf
Building on this analysis, a report produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which I attach, (published January 2018 and found here: http://www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CEBR-Report-final-Jan-2018.pdf) provided estimates of the cost to government of problem gambling specifically related to B2 gaming machines. This analysis estimates that problem gamblers linked to B2 machines could be associated with an excess fiscal cost in the region of £210 million and in welfare terms, the population of B2 problem gamblers could be imposing a cost of £1.5 billion on themselves, their families and their wider social networks.
GambleAware is commissioning research to improve the understanding of gambling-related harm which should lead to a set of metrics which we can use to measure the impact of gambling-related harm on a wider scale. We continue to take problem gambling and gambling-related harm seriously and welcome developments to better understand this issue.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cultural and educational value of the sport of dart playing.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Government's strategy Sporting Future is clear that everyone should have the opportunity to engage in sport and physical activity and to enjoy the benefits that this brings.
Many sports, including darts, have a huge potential to deliver a range of positive outcomes including physical and mental wellbeing as well as individual and community development.
The most recently published Active Lives survey shows that 8,800 people in England regularly play darts.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to market English tourist destinations in 2018.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
VisitBritain and VisitEngland promote England both domestically and abroad. In 2018, they have two main campaigns: “Join The World, Discover the UK” (in partnership with VisitScotland and VisitWales) promoting the UK domestically and “I Travel For”, a global campaign promoting English destinations.
Ongoing work includes the English Gateways partnership with regional airports, a partnership with Expedia featuring English destinations, promoting England through English Tourism Week and supporting the Great Exhibition of the North.
The three year £40m Discover England Fund is also developing a range of products promoting English destinations to markets abroad. Projects include support for the South West Coastal Path (in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) and the Coastal Pass (which runs along the East Coast of England).
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of problem gambling among vulnerable groups, including (1) those with mental health issues, (2) those with substance abuse addictions, and (3) the homeless.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Gambling Commission tracks the prevalence of problem gambling rates through its quarterly survey as well as the NHS Health Surveys. The Gambling Commission surveys can be found at:
The 2015 NHS Health Survey can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-survey-for-england-health-survey-for-england-2015
Both reports are attached to this question.
The NHS Health Surveys capture information on problem gambling and co-morbidities such as alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use, as well as physical and mental health conditions. However, due to the relatively small numbers of problem gamblers captured in surveys, demonstrating statistically significant correlations to other health and social issues is difficult.
The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) and GambleAware are leading work to measure gambling-related harm more effectively. This will involve exploring existing data, including around correlations with health and social issues, in more detail. In addition, GambleAware commissioned research by IPPR into the cost of public services provided to problem gamblers, including on health and housing costs which reported in December 2016. The attached report can be found at:
https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/cards-on-the-table