Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the sale of Chelsea Football Club; and whether the Government will consult on that sale with (a) Ukrainian and (b) other international civil society groups.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
On 24 May the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issued a licence to Chelsea Football Club to allow the sale of Chelsea FC PLC. We have worked in coordination with international partners to ensure that relevant licences from other jurisdictions have also been issued.
The Club has now transferred ownership to the Boehly-Clearlake consortium. This means that the Club is no longer subject to sanctions.The proceeds are being held in a frozen account and any onward transfer requires a further Government licence to enable that to happen. Abramovich cannot access those funds without a Government licence.
Abramovich has made a number of public statements regarding his intention to transfer the proceeds to the victims of the war in Ukraine. We have agreed a Deed of Undertaking in which he commits the proceeds to a charity in a jurisdiction agreed by the Government for the purposes of helping victims of the war in Ukraine. Any future movement of the sale revenue will be assessed in line with sanctions obligations and the position outlined in the Deed.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 ensure that young listeners and viewers benefit from the Public Service Broadcasting Advisory Panel in the context of a children's media representative not being appointed to that panel.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Government is supportive of a modern system of public service broadcasting (PSB) that remains relevant and can continue to meet the needs of UK audiences of all ages in the future. That is why we are conducting a strategic review of PSB – to work out how best to achieve this in light of the challenges the sector is currently facing.
Advice from the Government’s expert PSB Advisory Panel is one element of that review, which draws on multiple sources including Ofcom’s latest review of PSB (‘Small Screen: Big Debate’), and reports from the Select Committees in both Houses of Parliament. Panel members have a wide range of experience and expertise in broadcasting and related industries, including children’s media.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to support children’s television industry after the closure of the Youth Audience Content Fund.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The UK Government is committed to ensuring that young listeners and viewers benefit from a modern system of public service broadcasting (PSB) that remains relevant and can continue to meet the needs of UK audiences in the future. That is why we are conducting a strategic review of PSB – drawing on the work of Ofcom, the Select Committees in both Houses of Parliament, and the government’s own expert PSB Advisory Panel – to work out how best to achieve this in light of the challenges the sector is currently facing.
The three-year pilot Young Audiences Content Fund was designed to test a new way of financing public service TV content. A full evaluation of the pilot Fund will take place following its conclusion to determine its impact on the children’s television industry and the provision and plurality of public service content for young audiences across the UK. The potential of further investment of public funding will be assessed against the Fund evaluation and alongside future public service broadcasting needs.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the forthcoming Online Safety Bill to legislate for what constitutes harmful but legal online content following engagement with stakeholders and civil society.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The forthcoming Online Safety Bill will require all companies in scope to assess the likelihood of children accessing their services, and to provide additional protections from harmful material for children, where appropriate. Companies providing high risk, high reach services will be required to take steps in respect of legal but harmful content and activity that is accessed by adults.
The government will set out priority categories of legal but harmful material for adults, and legal but harmful content and activity impacting children in secondary legislation.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to require an independent auditor to assess the steps taken by social media firms to tackle online harms as part of the forthcoming Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ofcom will be named as the independent regulator for online harms in the Online Safety Bill. Ofcom will be responsible for overseeing and enforcing companies’ compliance with the regulatory framework.
Ofcom will be given the powers to fulfil its new statutory duties and functions effectively, including the ability to gather information from companies to understand how they are tackling online harms. As part of this, Ofcom will have the power to require a company to undertake, and pay for, a skilled person report on specific issues of concern, for example where external technical expertise is needed.