Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many public libraries have closed since 2010; what action they have taken to ensure that all the services previously provided by those public libraries are provided by other organisations; and what assessment they have made of the national research project conducted by SERIO to explore the service effectiveness and sustainability of community-managed libraries in England the results of which were published on 5 September 2017.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport monitors proposed changes to library service provision throughout England, but does not hold complete figures on the number of public libraries closed from 2010 to date.
Local authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, and it is for individual local authorities to decide how best to provide a public library service that meets local needs within available resources. However, DCMS works with the Libraries Taskforce and local and central government to promote good practice and innovation to sustain and improve library services in England.
In 2017, DCMS and the Libraries Taskforce commissioned research by SERIO about how community managed libraries in England operate, and lessons that can be learnt and shared about their effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. Following consideration of the report and its recommendations, DCMS and the Libraries Taskforce has improved and strengthened information and guidance on community managed libraries. For example, updating the Taskforce’s Community Managed Libraries toolkit for those running or considering establishing community libraries. DCMS and the Libraries Taskforce has also worked with partners to help community managed libraries to set up a peer network, to build closer links and to share learning and support between themselves.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to Ofcom regulating the social media platform YouTube in the same way as licensed media broadcasters.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The remit of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is set out in the Communications Act 2003. It has wide-ranging powers across broadcasting, telecoms and post.
Government favours a self-regulatory, multi-stakeholder approach to the internet, and seeks to work collaboratively with key partners.
We are considering a range of options to counter internet harms as part of Internet Safety Strategy, published on 11 October. We recently held a consultation exercise on the measures in the Strategy, which included questions on a social media code of practice, annual social media transparency reports and a social media levy. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat the online practice of "catfishing"; and whether they intend to make it a criminal offence.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Catfishing is one of the online harms which we are considering as part of our Internet Safety Strategy. The Strategy, which was published on 11 October, considers ways in which we can ensure Britain is the safest place in the world to be online.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the Ofcom report Children and Parents: media use and attitudes, what steps they intend to take to address the issue of underage social media use.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We expect social media firms to have robust processes in place around the use of their sites by children and to act promptly against any activity that does not comply with their policies.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are taking, or are planning to take, to stop the rise in malicious communications via social media.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We are currently consulting on introducing a social media code of practice as part of the Internet Safety Strategy which was published on 11 October.
As laid out in the Digital Economy Act 2017, the code will seek to ensure that providers offer adequate online safety policies, introduce minimum standards and metrics and ensure regular review and monitoring. Government will continue to consult with stakeholders in the tech industry on the details of the code of practice before its introduction in 2018.
More broadly, the Government published the Hate Crime Action Plan in July 2016 to drive forward action to tackle hate crime. This action includes the recent announcement of the creation of a national online hate crime hub.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have met social media providers to discuss how to combat the spread of fake news online; and what their policy is for addressing the issue.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We are currently considering the implications of the dissemination of fake news on social media sites.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many additional cybersecurity experts they estimate are needed to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy, (2) what priority is being given to the education and training of cybersecurity experts, and (3) what is being done to encourage young people to study computer sciences at university and to recruit them to the cybersecurity industry.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 -2020 outlines the government’s ambition to deliver a self-sustaining pipeline of talent providing the skills to meet our national needs across the public and private sectors.
Ensuring the UK has the cyber security experts it needs is a key government priority and much work was done to improve required skills at every level of education under the first 2011 - 2015 National Cyber Security Strategy. However ambitious new initiatives are still needed and being prioritised under the new strategy. This includes a national schools programme to provide intensive after-school training and mentoring; establishing cyber apprenticeships in critical sectors; and a re-training programme to attract and support people to transition into cyber security mid-career. To identify additional actions we will also develop a self-standing cyber skills strategy that will build on our existing work
In universities we have ensured cyber security is an integral part of all computer science degrees accredited by the Institution of Engineering & Technology and British Computer Society. GCHQ have also established a certification programme, certifying nearly 20 courses to date, that will help students identify high-quality course to undertake in order to pursue a cyber security career
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many public libraries have closed since 2010; how many are currently under threat of closure; and what action they are taking to ensure that public libraries are maintained as a statutory service and to promote improvement of the public library service.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport monitors closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. The Department does not maintain detail on the number of public libraries under review by local authorities, but based on desk research we estimate that from January 2010 to January 2016 approximately 110 static public libraries in England closed completely.
Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities and it is a matter for local authorities to determine how best to provide a comprehensive and efficient public library service to their local community, within available resources.
My Department, together with the Local Government Association, has set up a Leadership for Libraries Taskforce to help public libraries in England build on good practice and add value for the communities they serve. The Taskforce is currently consulting on the attached document at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-2021 which sets out the ambition for public libraries in the future. Furthermore, thanks to Government funding, free Wi-Fi is available to 99% of public libraries in England.