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Written Question
Swimming Pools: Grants
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) applications were submitted to and (b) grants were awarded during the first phase of the swimming pool support fund.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Phase I of the Swimming Pool Support Fund was oversubscribed, with the Government receiving applications from 221 Local Authorities, on behalf of 630 facilities. After assessment against a range of criteria to target pools most at risk of closure, awards were made to 103 Local Authorities, covering 196 facilities. The full list of awards made can be found on the Sport England website here.

An additional £40 million of capital funding will be provided in Phase II, which will support local authorities to make their facilities more energy efficient and reduce future operating costs. Applications were open to local authorities from 7 September to 16 October, and are now being assessed. Awards for this phase of the fund will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Media: Economic Situation
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of (a) local and (b) regional news outlets on the impact of the economic situation on (i) those organisations and (ii) their employees.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government understands that people across the UK are worried about the rising cost of living and are seeing their disposable incomes decrease as they spend more on the essentials. In May, we announced over £15 billion of additional cost of living support, targeted at those with the greatest need. As a result, millions of vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of support this financial year, with the vast majority of households receiving at least £550. This package builds on the over £22 billion previously announced, meaning government support for the cost of living now totals over £37 billion this year, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.

With regard to energy costs, while the majority of UK non-domestic customers are on fixed price energy deals, some are not. Businesses did not benefit from the Ofgem price cap and there was a risk that some would fall through the gap, unable to fix their energy price and unable to access the kind of support we are making available to households. A new 6-month scheme for businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including charities and public sector organisations like schools) will be offered support as is being provided for consumers. After this initial 6 month scheme, the government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. There will be a review in 3 months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support. Further details will be published shortly.

In addition to timely, temporary and targeted support, the government is also committed to tackling the root cause of the cost of living challenge – high inflation. Through independent monetary policy, responsible management of the public finances and supply-side reforms, we will combat high inflation and reduce it over time.

More specifically in relation to local and regional news outlets, the government is committed to supporting local newspapers as vital pillars of our communities. We are in regular contact with news organisations to understand the financial pressures they face and we have taken action to support them. Our plans for a pro-competition regime for digital markets will, among many other things, help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and online platforms. We have also delivered a £2 million pilot innovation fund, zero rated VAT on e-newspapers, extended business rates relief on local newspaper office space, and published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. In addition, the BBC Charter Mid Term Review will evaluate how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to the local news sector. We will continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.


Written Question
Local Press: Government Assistance
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support journalists at local newspapers, in the context of rising inflation.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government understands that people across the UK are worried about the rising cost of living and are seeing their disposable incomes decrease as they spend more on the essentials. In May, we announced over £15 billion of additional cost of living support, targeted at those with the greatest need. As a result, millions of vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of support this financial year, with the vast majority of households receiving at least £550. This package builds on the over £22 billion previously announced, meaning government support for the cost of living now totals over £37 billion this year, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.

With regard to energy costs, while the majority of UK non-domestic customers are on fixed price energy deals, some are not. Businesses did not benefit from the Ofgem price cap and there was a risk that some would fall through the gap, unable to fix their energy price and unable to access the kind of support we are making available to households. A new 6-month scheme for businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including charities and public sector organisations like schools) will be offered support as is being provided for consumers. After this initial 6 month scheme, the government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. There will be a review in 3 months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support. Further details will be published shortly.

In addition to timely, temporary and targeted support, the government is also committed to tackling the root cause of the cost of living challenge – high inflation. Through independent monetary policy, responsible management of the public finances and supply-side reforms, we will combat high inflation and reduce it over time.

More specifically in relation to local and regional news outlets, the government is committed to supporting local newspapers as vital pillars of our communities. We are in regular contact with news organisations to understand the financial pressures they face and we have taken action to support them. Our plans for a pro-competition regime for digital markets will, among many other things, help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and online platforms. We have also delivered a £2 million pilot innovation fund, zero rated VAT on e-newspapers, extended business rates relief on local newspaper office space, and published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. In addition, the BBC Charter Mid Term Review will evaluate how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to the local news sector. We will continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.


Written Question
Algae: North Sea
Wednesday 6th July 2022

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has requested that the Natural History Museum to collect from specific incidences of algal blooms in the North Sea as part of its AlgaeVision database in (a) September 2021,(b) October 2021, (c) February 2022 and (d) April 2022.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

DCMS-sponsored museums operate at arm’s length from the Government. The specifics of projects are therefore operational matters for museums to decide independently.

The Natural History Museum has not been asked by the Government to collect any samples of algal blooms in the North Sea, nor would they have the required equipment to do so.

DCMS understands that the Algaevision project is a database and virtual collection of images of freshwater and terrestrial algae collected in Britain and Ireland. The project’s aim is to digitise the current algae species already in the Natural History Museum’s algae collection. Identifying the cause of crustacean deaths is outside the scope of the museum’s work and would be better directed to one of the marine monitoring research groups within the UK, such as the Scottish Association for Marine Science.


Written Question
Internet: Children
Tuesday 8th June 2021

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Landmark laws to protect children and stop abuse online published, published on 12 May 2021, what his timetable is for launching the consultation on online advertising and online fraud.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

My department continues to work closely with other government departments, including the Home Office as the government department responsible for tackling fraud, to develop a coherent approach to online advertising that supports competition and protects consumers.

We are working with industry, regulators and consumer groups to understand the specific harms that are being linked to advertising, including online fraud and scams.

Following a call for evidence in 2020, the Online Advertising Programme will launch a public consultation later this year to examine how best to strengthen standards around the placement and content of online advertising, and to ensure they can be effectively enforced.

More information about the Programme can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-advertising-call-for-evidence/online-advertising-call-for-evidence


Written Question
Sports: Tickets
Thursday 3rd October 2019

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

What recent assessment she has made of the effect on spectators of ticket touting for sporting events.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving sports fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price.

We have strengthened legislation in this area, and support the work of the enforcement agencies in going after those who seek to flout the law.

Through the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill we are also seeking to ban unauthorised touting of tickets for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.


Written Question
Exercise: Older People
Tuesday 16th October 2018

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has in place to encourage (a) over-55s to become fitness instructors and coaches (b) other aspects of diversity in the physical activity sector workforce.

Answered by Tracey Crouch

An inclusive and professional sport and physical activity workforce is a vital part of the sport and physical activity strategies of both government and the national sport council, Sport England.

Sport England published its workforce strategy ‘Working in an Active Nation’ on 12 September 2018 after a widespread sector consultation. The strategy sets out the intention to support the sport and physical activity workforce to become more customer focused and to increase its recognition as a professional sector.

Sport England has developed a series of strategic approaches and key actions that will help achieve the strategy’s objectives. This includes engaging with both traditional and new partners across the sector to improve the diversity and inclusion of the workforce at all levels.


Written Question
Travel: Single People
Tuesday 11th September 2018

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an equality assessment of the single person’s travel supplement.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Office of Fair Trading have examined the question of single person supplements and concluded that wherever there is a reasonable economic case for such charges, decisions should be primarily a matter for the industry.


Written Question
Ticketmaster: Data Protection
Monday 23rd July 2018

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to Answer of 10 July 2018 to Question 160146 on Ticketmaster, how many consumers were affected by Ticketmaster's recent data breach.

Answered by Margot James

Ticketmaster have released details about the data incident which stated that 5% of its global customer base had been affected and those affected have been contacted by the company with details on how to reset passwords. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued advice to customers of Ticketmaster which includes guidance on changing passwords which is freely available on the NCSC website. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is in regular contact with Ticketmaster, and their investigation into this matter is ongoing. The ICO will provide further detail on the incident on conclusion of their investigation.


Written Question
Ticketmaster: Data Protection
Monday 23rd July 2018

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2018 to Question 160146 on Ticketmaster, what progress has been made on the investigation into Ticketmaster's recent data breach.

Answered by Margot James

The National Crime Agency’s criminal investigation is ongoing. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has concluded a number of investigative strands to help Ticketmaster remediate and mitigate the compromise, and have since released relevant advice and guidance to the NCSC website: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/statement-ticketmaster-cyber-incident