Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the Gambling Commission has sufficient resources to implement the proposals in the Gambling White Paper.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble online without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. The Gambling White Paper outlines a range of proportionate measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm.
The Government is working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure it has the necessary resources to regulate the industry effectively, as set out in our review of the Gambling Act. Further detailed consultations on a number of the measures set out in the Review will ensure we have a clear understanding of any new requirements that will be placed on the Commission and we will work with it to understand what changes may be needed.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's planned timetable is for concluding its assessment of building financial education and capability as an additional aspect to the financial inclusion cause in the Dormant Assets Scheme.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Dormant Assets Scheme has unlocked £145 million to support financial inclusion initiatives in England to date and earlier this year, the government announced that £76 million of dormant assets funding would be allocated to support those struggling with the cost of living. This includes £45 million for financial inclusion initiatives like the provision of no-interest loans to vulnerable people.
Following the consultation on the English portion of dormant assets funding, the Government is continuing to explore how financial education and capability can be supported in the future.
The government aims to publish a statement of intent in due course to announce the proportions of funding this government intends to allocate to the four causes, including financial inclusion and capability.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is takings to include (a) financial education and (b) capability in the allocation of the dormant assets identified by the Dormant Assets Act 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Dormant Assets Scheme has unlocked £145 million to support financial inclusion initiatives in England to date and earlier this year, the government announced that £76 million of dormant assets funding would be allocated to support those struggling with the cost of living. This includes £45 million for financial inclusion initiatives like the provision of no-interest loans to vulnerable people.
Following the consultation on the English portion of dormant assets funding, the Government is continuing to explore how financial education and capability can be supported in the future.
The government aims to publish a statement of intent in due course to announce the proportions of funding this government intends to allocate to the four causes, including financial inclusion and capability.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will set out a timeline for the Online Safety Bill; and whether that timeline will allow for the outcomes of the Government’s public consultation on banning conversion therapy practices to inform the Bill.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill by Parliament is underway, and we expect the Joint Committee to report with their recommendations by 10 December.
The Bill remains a priority for DCMS and the Home Office, and we will introduce the Bill as soon as possible after we have considered the recommendations made by the Joint Committee.
The conversion therapy consultation is open until 10 December. The government will then publish its response to the consultation in the new year. Legislation to ban conversion therapy is being prepared for Spring 2022.
The government is considering how best to tackle the promotion of conversion therapy online through the Online Safety Bill and associated work.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support LGBTQ+ inclusion in British sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion, which is at the heart of our strategy ‘Sporting Future’. Our aim is to help the sport sector be more inclusive and welcoming to its spectators, participants and workforce, including LGBTQ+ people.
Sport England, our arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, launched their new ten year strategy Uniting the Movement (UoM) in January 2021. As part of that, they held a number of focus groups and interviews to ensure LGBTQ+ people are given as many opportunities and as much support to get active as people with other protected characteristics. These efforts include a combination of research, insight, and funding for specific LGBTQ+ projects and organisations. The Sport England’s Active Lives Survey also captures data on LGBTQ+ people’s physical activity levels biannually.
Additionally, as part of the forthcoming update for the Code of Sport Governance, sports receiving the most funding will be required to agree a diversity and inclusion action plan with Sport England and UK Sport, which will be published and updated annually. This will further support LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport across the nation.
We will continue to work closely with our arm’s length bodies, sports national governing bodies, and sector partners, to ensure inclusion for LGBTQ+ people is present at grassroots sport all the way through to elite sport.