Alex Davies-Jones Portrait

Alex Davies-Jones

Labour - Pontypridd

First elected: 12th December 2019

Shadow Minister (Tech and Digital Economy)

(since September 2023)

Shadow Minister (Tech, Gambling and the Digital Economy)
4th Dec 2021 - 5th Sep 2023
Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
4th Dec 2021 - 5th Sep 2023
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
7th Jun 2023 - 11th Jul 2023
Electronic Trade Documents Bill [HL]
14th Jun 2023 - 19th Jun 2023
Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees Bill
8th Mar 2023 - 15th Mar 2023
Firearms Bill
8th Mar 2023 - 15th Mar 2023
Child Support (Enforcement) Bill
22nd Feb 2023 - 1st Mar 2023
Online Safety (Re-committed Clauses and Schedules) Bill
7th Dec 2022 - 15th Dec 2022
Online Safety Bill
18th May 2022 - 28th Jun 2022
Culture, Media and Sport Committee
11th May 2020 - 7th Mar 2022
Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on Online Harms and Disinformation
11th May 2020 - 7th Mar 2022
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on Online Harms and Disinformation
11th May 2020 - 7th Mar 2022
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
11th May 2020 - 7th Mar 2022
Women and Equalities Committee
2nd Mar 2020 - 8th Feb 2022
Glue Traps (Offences) Bill
12th Jan 2022 - 19th Jan 2022
Dormant Assets Bill [HL]
15th Dec 2021 - 11th Jan 2022
Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) Bill
15th Dec 2021 - 5th Jan 2022
Shadow Minister (Northern Ireland)
26th Feb 2021 - 4th Dec 2021
Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill
28th Jun 2021 - 6th Jul 2021


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Alex Davies-Jones has voted in 833 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Alex Davies-Jones Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Chris Philp (Conservative)
Minister of State (Home Office)
(139 debate interactions)
Paul Scully (Conservative)
(78 debate interactions)
Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party)
Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
(49 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Home Office
(47 debate contributions)
Department for Business and Trade
(39 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Alex Davies-Jones's debates

Pontypridd Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petition Debates Contributed

As Parliament considers the Bill of Rights, the Government must reconsider including abortion rights in this Bill. Rights to abortion must be specifically protected in this legislation, especially as the Government has refused to rule out leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

Call an immediate general election so that the people can decide who should lead us through the unprecedented crises threatening the UK.

The Government’s modernising vehicle standards proposal suggested new offences for tampering with a system, part or component of a vehicle intended or adapted to be used on a road. This could have a hugely detrimental impact on the UK motorsport and custom aftermarket industry.

Ensuring statutory adoption pay is available to a self-employed parent in the same way that maternity allowance is available for self-employed new mums would promote an equal and fair society inclusive of all routes to parenthood.

Make it a legal requirement when opening a new social media account, to provide a verified form of ID. Where the account belongs to a person under the age of 18 verify the account with the ID of a parent/guardian, to prevent anonymised harmful activity, providing traceability if an offence occurs.

Given how many animals are sold online, we want Government to introduce regulation of all websites where animals are sold. Websites should be required to verify the identity of all sellers, and for young animals for sale pictures with their parents be posted with all listings.

Current legislation allows for public use of fireworks 16 hours a day, every day, making it impossible for vulnerable groups to take precautions against the distress they can cause. Better enforcement of existing law is insufficient; limiting their sale & use to licensed displays only is necessary.

Endometriosis and PCOS are two gynaecological conditions which both affect 10% of women worldwide, but both are, in terms of research and funding, incredibly under prioritised. This petition is calling for more funding, to enable for new, extensive and thorough research into female health issues.

We have the second most expensive childcare system in the world. A full time place costs, on average, £14,000 per year, making it completely unaffordable for many families. Parents are forced to leave their jobs or work fewer hours, which has a negative impact on the economy and on child poverty.

Cervical screening needs to be every year.

This is because women are dying, mothers, wives, daughters, granddaughters and sisters are dying.

Bring in a law which enforces professional football clubs to have at least 51% fan ownership similar to how the Bundesliga operates this rule.

The Government should use the recently established fan led review of football to introduce an Independent Football Regulator in England to put fans back at the heart of our national game. This should happen by December 2021.

Now that we have left the EU, the UK has the ability to finally stop the importation of Shark Fins. They had previously stated that 'Whilst in the EU, it is not possible to unilaterally ban the import of shark fins into the UK.'

Plenty of dogs from UK breeders & rescues need homes. Transporting young pups long distances is often stressful, before being sold for ridiculous prices to unsuspecting dog-lovers. Government must adjust current laws, ban this unethical activity on welfare grounds & protect these poor animals ASAP.

Leading veterinary and welfare bodies are concerned by the alarming rise in ear-cropped dogs in the UK. Ear cropping is illegal in the UK and an unnecessary, painful mutilation with no welfare benefit. The practice involves cutting off part of the ear flap, often without anaesthesia or pain relief.

Every year more and more people, animals and wildlife get hurt by fireworks. It’s time something was fine to stop this. There are enough organised firework groups around for us to still enjoy fireworks safely so please help me stop the needless sale of them to the public!

I would like the government to review and increase the pay for healthcare workers to recognise the work that they do.

To revoke the Immigration Health Surcharge increases for overseas NHS staff. The latest budget shows an increase of £220 a year for an overseas worker to live and work in the UK, at a time when the NHS, and UK economy, relies heavily on them.

We would like the government to support and regard social care: financially, publicly and systematically on an equal par as NHS. We would like parliament to debate how to support social care during COVID-19 and beyond so that it automatically has the same access to operational and financial support.

Give NHS workers who are EU and other Nationals automatic UK citizenship if they stay and risk their own lives looking after the British people during the COVID crisis.

EU law recognises animals as sentient beings, aware of their feelings and emotions. Animals are at risk of losing these vital legal protections, post-Brexit. We want a BetterDealForAnimals: a law that creates a duty for all Ministers in the UK to fully regard animal welfare in policy making.


Latest EDMs signed by Alex Davies-Jones

16th May 2022
Alex Davies-Jones signed this EDM on Tuesday 17th May 2022

Registration of deaths after a public inquiry

Tabled by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
That this House notes the urgent need to amend legislation to allow grieving families the choice to register the death of a loved one after a public inquiry; highlights the heart-breaking case of Liam Curry and Chloe Rutherford from South Shields who were tragically murdered in the Manchester Arena terror …
37 signatures
(Most recent: 7 Dec 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 28
Plaid Cymru: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 2
Independent: 2
Scottish National Party: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
Liberal Democrat: 1
20th May 2021
Alex Davies-Jones signed this EDM on Monday 24th May 2021

Fire and rehire

Tabled by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
That this House notes with alarm the growing number of employers who are dismissing and re-engaging staff on worse pay and terms and conditions, a practice commonly known as fire and rehire; agrees with the Government that such tactics represent an unacceptable abuse of power by rogue bosses, many of …
50 signatures
(Most recent: 21 Oct 2021)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 35
Independent: 5
Plaid Cymru: 3
Alba Party: 2
Liberal Democrat: 2
Alliance: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
Green Party: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
View All Alex Davies-Jones's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Alex Davies-Jones, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


1 Urgent Question tabled by Alex Davies-Jones

3 Adjournment Debates led by Alex Davies-Jones

Tuesday 28th February 2023
Thursday 19th January 2023
Wednesday 16th September 2020

1 Bill introduced by Alex Davies-Jones


A Bill to require providers of in vitro fertilisation to publish information annually about the number of NHS-funded IVF cycles they carry out and about their provision of certain additional treatments in connection with in vitro fertilisation; to require such providers to publish a report about their provision of NHS-funded IVF treatment in certain circumstances; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Wednesday 18th January 2023
(Read Debate)

Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
1 Other Department Questions
24th Mar 2021
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when her Department plans to publish a response to the Government’s consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace, which closed on 2 October 2019.

The Government consultation on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace focussed on ensuring that laws to protect people from harassment at work are operating effectively.

We have considered the responses received and listened carefully to the experiences shared through this consultation. We will be setting out the Government’s response shortly.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
1st Jul 2021
What steps he is taking to increase the number of prosecutions relating to domestic violence.

This Government has introduced the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

Coordinated multi-agency action and supporting victims are key components of the CPS’s ambitious programme of work published in January, which will help narrow the disparity between reporting and criminal justice outcomes.

The CPS recently hosted a virtual domestic abuse conference with the police and the courts, sharing best practice and innovation.

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
8th Jan 2021
To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions since 2010 the CPS has decided that a prosecution for rape is not in the public interest where the perpetrator has confessed.

The Crown Prosecution Service (‘CPS’) collects data showing the outcome of charging decisions, including cases flagged as rape where a decision not to prosecute was taken for public interest reasons. However, the CPS has no central record of the number of cases or suspects where a confession to the offence of rape (or any other offence) has been admitted. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

The table below therefore shows the number of rape-flagged suspects where a no prosecution decision for public interest reasons was the outcome. The proportion of decisions where no further action is taken due to public interest reasons is fewer than 2% of all decisions. However, data on cases in which a confession has been admitted is not available.

No Prosecution - Public Interest

2010-2011

128

2011-2012

88

2012-2013

91

2013-2014

98

2014-2015

93

2015-2016

109

2016-2017

84

2017-2018

65

2018-2019

60

2019-2020

51

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

5th Oct 2020
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions made by the Crown Prosecution Service involved domestic abuse between individuals in a same-sex female relationship, in each year since 2010.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects finalised prosecutions data showing the sex of defendants for cases flagged as involving domestic abuse. Some, more limited, information is also available showing the identified relationship between defendant and complainant and whether the relationship is between people of the same or different sex.

The table below shows the number of defendants prosecuted for domestic abuse where a relationship was identified as same sex (partner, ex-partner, spouse/civil partner or former spouse/civil partner), during each of the last ten years. It also highlights the number of defendants where the relationship has been recorded. This data is limited, which results in the number of defendants with an identified relationship being under-recorded.

Female Defendants

Male Defendants

% of Relationships Recorded

2010-2011

28

56

16.7%

2011-2012

45

77

30.0%

2012-2013

54

84

47.7%

2013-2014

80

97

52.7%

2014-2015

127

129

55.4%

2015-2016

160

186

55.6%

2016-2017

136

141

52.4%

2017-2018

108

130

48.7%

2018-2019

88

137

48.9%

2019-2020

84

144

56.4%

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

While the CPS does not collate prosecutions data by county, data is available showing the number of prosecutions in each of the regional Areas of the CPS. The tables below provide the same information as the table above, broken down for each CPS Area.

Female Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

4

2

5

7

8

14

15

14

5

10

East Midlands

0

1

4

5

9

8

10

2

4

8

Eastern

3

2

6

5

5

12

9

5

1

7

London North

1

3

5

4

2

13

14

15

5

3

London South

3

5

0

4

7

15

6

13

7

11

Merseyside & Cheshire

1

2

1

5

7

10

17

6

12

2

North East

4

3

1

4

4

5

9

3

6

5

North West

1

12

9

13

29

17

15

8

14

12

South East

0

1

7

5

10

8

6

7

8

4

South West

0

2

2

6

12

5

5

7

1

1

Thames and Chiltern

2

3

2

3

7

8

4

5

1

2

Wessex

2

2

3

6

3

6

4

5

7

3

West Midlands

5

5

5

5

9

26

10

10

10

9

Yorkshire & Humberside

2

2

4

8

15

13

12

8

7

7

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Male Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

1

4

11

8

4

14

12

2

7

14

East Midlands

1

1

2

7

10

14

10

8

2

9

Eastern

2

5

5

8

8

12

5

5

9

21

London North

1

8

8

13

10

19

11

9

15

12

London South

8

13

7

6

13

18

20

18

15

13

Merseyside & Cheshire

4

2

6

3

6

11

6

5

8

5

North East

9

3

0

4

11

9

6

5

3

7

North West

12

21

12

11

25

25

10

17

18

15

South East

5

2

7

5

9

6

11

9

16

3

South West

1

3

2

9

10

11

5

8

3

5

Thames and Chiltern

5

4

3

2

7

10

8

9

2

9

Wessex

1

5

8

3

4

6

6

5

14

9

West Midlands

5

4

6

10

8

13

17

13

14

6

Yorkshire & Humberside

1

2

7

8

4

18

14

17

11

16

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

5th Oct 2020
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions made by the Crown Prosecution Service involved domestic abuse between individuals in a same-sex male relationship, in each year since 2010.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects finalised prosecutions data showing the sex of defendants for cases flagged as involving domestic abuse. Some, more limited, information is also available showing the identified relationship between defendant and complainant and whether the relationship is between people of the same or different sex.

The table below shows the number of defendants prosecuted for domestic abuse where a relationship was identified as same sex (partner, ex-partner, spouse/civil partner or former spouse/civil partner), during each of the last ten years. It also highlights the number of defendants where the relationship has been recorded. This data is limited, which results in the number of defendants with an identified relationship being under-recorded.

Female Defendants

Male Defendants

% of Relationships Recorded

2010-2011

28

56

16.7%

2011-2012

45

77

30.0%

2012-2013

54

84

47.7%

2013-2014

80

97

52.7%

2014-2015

127

129

55.4%

2015-2016

160

186

55.6%

2016-2017

136

141

52.4%

2017-2018

108

130

48.7%

2018-2019

88

137

48.9%

2019-2020

84

144

56.4%

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

While the CPS does not collate prosecutions data by county, data is available showing the number of prosecutions in each of the regional Areas of the CPS. The tables below provide the same information as the table above, broken down for each CPS Area.

Female Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

4

2

5

7

8

14

15

14

5

10

East Midlands

0

1

4

5

9

8

10

2

4

8

Eastern

3

2

6

5

5

12

9

5

1

7

London North

1

3

5

4

2

13

14

15

5

3

London South

3

5

0

4

7

15

6

13

7

11

Merseyside & Cheshire

1

2

1

5

7

10

17

6

12

2

North East

4

3

1

4

4

5

9

3

6

5

North West

1

12

9

13

29

17

15

8

14

12

South East

0

1

7

5

10

8

6

7

8

4

South West

0

2

2

6

12

5

5

7

1

1

Thames and Chiltern

2

3

2

3

7

8

4

5

1

2

Wessex

2

2

3

6

3

6

4

5

7

3

West Midlands

5

5

5

5

9

26

10

10

10

9

Yorkshire & Humberside

2

2

4

8

15

13

12

8

7

7

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Male Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

1

4

11

8

4

14

12

2

7

14

East Midlands

1

1

2

7

10

14

10

8

2

9

Eastern

2

5

5

8

8

12

5

5

9

21

London North

1

8

8

13

10

19

11

9

15

12

London South

8

13

7

6

13

18

20

18

15

13

Merseyside & Cheshire

4

2

6

3

6

11

6

5

8

5

North East

9

3

0

4

11

9

6

5

3

7

North West

12

21

12

11

25

25

10

17

18

15

South East

5

2

7

5

9

6

11

9

16

3

South West

1

3

2

9

10

11

5

8

3

5

Thames and Chiltern

5

4

3

2

7

10

8

9

2

9

Wessex

1

5

8

3

4

6

6

5

14

9

West Midlands

5

4

6

10

8

13

17

13

14

6

Yorkshire & Humberside

1

2

7

8

4

18

14

17

11

16

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

5th Oct 2020
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions made by the Crown Prosecution Service involved domestic abuse between individuals in same-sex relationships, by (a) gender and (b) county in England and Wales, in each year since 2010.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects finalised prosecutions data showing the sex of defendants for cases flagged as involving domestic abuse. Some, more limited, information is also available showing the identified relationship between defendant and complainant and whether the relationship is between people of the same or different sex.

The table below shows the number of defendants prosecuted for domestic abuse where a relationship was identified as same sex (partner, ex-partner, spouse/civil partner or former spouse/civil partner), during each of the last ten years. It also highlights the number of defendants where the relationship has been recorded. This data is limited, which results in the number of defendants with an identified relationship being under-recorded.

Female Defendants

Male Defendants

% of Relationships Recorded

2010-2011

28

56

16.7%

2011-2012

45

77

30.0%

2012-2013

54

84

47.7%

2013-2014

80

97

52.7%

2014-2015

127

129

55.4%

2015-2016

160

186

55.6%

2016-2017

136

141

52.4%

2017-2018

108

130

48.7%

2018-2019

88

137

48.9%

2019-2020

84

144

56.4%

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

While the CPS does not collate prosecutions data by county, data is available showing the number of prosecutions in each of the regional Areas of the CPS. The tables below provide the same information as the table above, broken down for each CPS Area.

Female Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

4

2

5

7

8

14

15

14

5

10

East Midlands

0

1

4

5

9

8

10

2

4

8

Eastern

3

2

6

5

5

12

9

5

1

7

London North

1

3

5

4

2

13

14

15

5

3

London South

3

5

0

4

7

15

6

13

7

11

Merseyside & Cheshire

1

2

1

5

7

10

17

6

12

2

North East

4

3

1

4

4

5

9

3

6

5

North West

1

12

9

13

29

17

15

8

14

12

South East

0

1

7

5

10

8

6

7

8

4

South West

0

2

2

6

12

5

5

7

1

1

Thames and Chiltern

2

3

2

3

7

8

4

5

1

2

Wessex

2

2

3

6

3

6

4

5

7

3

West Midlands

5

5

5

5

9

26

10

10

10

9

Yorkshire & Humberside

2

2

4

8

15

13

12

8

7

7

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Male Defendants

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

Cymru Wales

1

4

11

8

4

14

12

2

7

14

East Midlands

1

1

2

7

10

14

10

8

2

9

Eastern

2

5

5

8

8

12

5

5

9

21

London North

1

8

8

13

10

19

11

9

15

12

London South

8

13

7

6

13

18

20

18

15

13

Merseyside & Cheshire

4

2

6

3

6

11

6

5

8

5

North East

9

3

0

4

11

9

6

5

3

7

North West

12

21

12

11

25

25

10

17

18

15

South East

5

2

7

5

9

6

11

9

16

3

South West

1

3

2

9

10

11

5

8

3

5

Thames and Chiltern

5

4

3

2

7

10

8

9

2

9

Wessex

1

5

8

3

4

6

6

5

14

9

West Midlands

5

4

6

10

8

13

17

13

14

6

Yorkshire & Humberside

1

2

7

8

4

18

14

17

11

16

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

11th Nov 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings have taken place between (a) Cabinet members and (b) other Ministers and social media network, Parler, since December 2019.

There have been no meetings between Cabinet Office ministers and Parler.

Full details of all departments’ ministerial meetings are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK.

8th Nov 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Cabinet Secretary was informed by the Rt hon. Member for North East Somerset of the shares in Yandex Ltd held by Somerset Capital Management LLP while he held his positions as (a) Leader of the House and (b) Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities; and whether an assessment was made of whether this could have constituted a conflict of interest.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend the member for Northampton North on 14 March 2022 (UIN 122754) and to the Annual Report of the Independent Adviser on Ministers Interests, together with the List of Ministers Interests, which were published on 31 May 2022.

8th Nov 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) members of the Cabinet and (b) other Ministers have been involved in discussions on the content of (i) the Online Safety Bill and (ii) the National Security Bill since 24 July 2019.

Both the Online Safety Bill led by DCMS and the National Security Bill led by the Home Office include measures that touch on policy areas covered by a range of government departments. As such, Ministers from across government have been involved in their development from initial policy discussions to introduction to Parliament over several years. In line with normal process, both of these Bills come under Cabinet collective agreement.

6th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths have been attributed to nitrous oxide use in each year since 2010.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

19th Feb 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value of contracts awarded to PA Consulting in 2020 was to help the Government’s response to covid-19.

As has been the case under successive administrations, details of meetings with external contractors are not usually disclosed. Details of ministers' meetings with external organisations and individuals are published on gov.uk periodically.


Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
2nd Feb 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value of service credits applied to the contracts awarded for consultancy spend across all Government Departments since 1 March 2020.

This Government recognises that outsourcing is an important component in a “mixed economy” of public service provision and that the private sector has played a crucial role in the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including in relation to the development and procurement of the Government’s world-leading vaccine programme. Under the terms of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, departments and other public authorities are able to use various applicable procedures. Public authorities across the United Kingdom including the devolved administrations and local authorities have made use of direct awards - this includes Leeds City Council. Similar approaches were adopted by many other countries, including Japan, Finland and New Zealand. It is unrealistic to suggest that the government ought to have run a full public procurement competition for PPE and other critical contracts at the height of the pandemic. The minimum number of days a competitive award could take place under the current rules is 25 days. This would have hugely slowed down the buying of vital PPE supplies.

Further to the Outsourcing Playbook, available on gov.uk, and as has been the case under successive administrations, public sector contracting authorities are responsible for their own commercial decisions, such as the award and monitoring of contracts. Regarding cyber security, details of the Cyber Essentials scheme is available on gov.uk. The requested information on service credits is not held centrally.

I note that the Hon Member has not yet replied to the letter by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 20 November 2020. As a courtesy, I will ensure that a further copy of the letter is sent to her office to ensure she has a chance to reply to the points raised.

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
30th Oct 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions Ministers of devolved Governments have been invited to meetings of the EU Exit Operations Cabinet Committee to discuss preparedness for the end of the transition period (a) from 1 February to 31 August 2020 and (b) since 1 September 2020.

The letter from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to Michael Russell MSP on 27 October, available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letters-from-the-chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster-to-jeremy-miles-ms-and-michael-russell-msp includes detail of the extensive joint working with the devolved administrations.

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
19th Oct 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the EU Exit Operations Cabinet Committee met to discuss preparedness for the end of the transition period (a) from 1 February and 31 August 2020 and (b) since 1 September 2020.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally disclosed.

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
13th Oct 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many fatalities have been recorded in hospitals in England for injuries related to firework displays in each year since 2010.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

5th Jun 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria his Department will use to determine the success of the Geospatial Commission’s National Underground Asset Register trials in London and the North East, announced in April 2019.

Details of the work of the Geospatial Commission are available on their blog page, which includes information on the National Underground Asset Register Pilots.

The UK does not have a comprehensive map of underground utilities which increases the likelihood of dangerous utility strikes (especially for emergency works) and results in significant costs to utility companies, their operators and the wider economy. Any decision to proceed with creating a national register would be announced in the usual way, including invitations to tender for relevant work. Interim findings from the pilots will be published in due course.

5th Jun 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that the National Underground Asset Register developed by the Geospatial Commission will not affect the financial sustainability of private business that map underground assets and support utility strike avoidance.

Details of the work of the Geospatial Commission are available on their blog page, which includes information on the National Underground Asset Register Pilots.

The UK does not have a comprehensive map of underground utilities which increases the likelihood of dangerous utility strikes (especially for emergency works) and results in significant costs to utility companies, their operators and the wider economy. Any decision to proceed with creating a national register would be announced in the usual way, including invitations to tender for relevant work. Interim findings from the pilots will be published in due course.

5th Jun 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Geospatial Commission plans to publish (a) the full findings of its trial to develop a National Underground Asset Register and (b) the business case and timeframe for the development of that service.

Details of the work of the Geospatial Commission are available on their blog page, which includes information on the National Underground Asset Register Pilots.

The UK does not have a comprehensive map of underground utilities which increases the likelihood of dangerous utility strikes (especially for emergency works) and results in significant costs to utility companies, their operators and the wider economy. Any decision to proceed with creating a national register would be announced in the usual way, including invitations to tender for relevant work. Interim findings from the pilots will be published in due course.

8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Permanent Secretary of his Department was informed by his predecessor the Rt hon. Member for North East Somerset of the stake held in Yandex Ltd by Somerset Capital Management LLP on taking up his post on 6 September 2022; and whether an assessment was made of whether this could have constituted a conflict of interest.

My Rt Hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset declared his interests to the Permanent Secretary soon after his appointment as Secretary of State, in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to her today by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Horsham to Question 82488 for further detail on the ministerial conflicts of interest process.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
10th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the £20 million of funding, announced on 27 May to support early career researchers, can be accessed.

Like many sections of the economy, medical research charities have been hit hard by COVID-19. This funding to support early career researchers will help to protect the pipeline of research superstars who will have a fantastic impact, and improve patient lives, in the future. We will announce further details about the way in which this funding will be distributed by UKRI on behalf of BEIS and DHSC in due course.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
10th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the £20m within his Department's Research and Development Budget Allocation announced on 27 May 2021 is planned to be used to support early career researchers.

Like many sections of the economy, medical research charities have been hit hard by COVID-19. This funding to support early career researchers will help to protect the pipeline of research superstars who will have a fantastic impact, and improve patient lives, in the future. We will announce further details about the way in which this funding will be distributed by UKRI on behalf of BEIS and DHSC in due course.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
24th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Government’s response to the Pregnancy and maternity discrimination consultation published in July 2019, what progress the Government has made on establishing a taskforce on that matter.

The Government remains committed to bringing together a broad set of key stakeholders to look at what improvements can be made to address pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace.

We are finalising plans and will be setting up the first meeting shortly.

25th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of covid-19 vaccine distribution deliveries that have been (a) delayed and (b) cancelled as a result of procurement issues in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has procured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and 100 million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines.

The UK was the first country in the world to start a vaccination programme using these vaccines. Due to our swift and decisive action there has been a regular and steady supply of vaccine doses arriving into the UK since early December 2020.

As of 27 January 2021, over 7.1 million people across the UK have been vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine. We continue to work to meet our target of vaccinating all four priority groups by 15 February. The UK COVID-19 Vaccines Delivery Plan sets out how the Government will work with the NHS, devolved administrations, local councils, and the Armed Forces to deliver the largest vaccination programme in British history.

Vaccines are a precious resource in very high demand across the world; therefore, for security reasons it is not possible to provide detail about the size of our supplies and exact detail about deliveries.

17th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has provided to small businesses on data use and collection in relation to the coronavirus test and trace system.
3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the (a) staffing, (b) touring and (c) community work of the Welsh National Opera.

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the amount of transition funding offered by Arts Council England’s to the Welsh National Opera.

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the Welsh National Opera; and if she will make a statement.

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the Welsh National Opera.

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Arts Council England on the potential impact of the reduction in funding on the Welsh National Opera.

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

31st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to raise the charity lottery annual sales limit.

The society lottery annual sales limit was last increased as part of a wider package of reforms in 2020. These were reviewed 12 months after they were implemented, and the results of the review were published in March 2022. It concluded that it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the changes, especially during a time when the effect of the Covid pandemic made any evaluation more difficult, and that more data on annual growth of the sector was required before considering any further changes. My officials will continue working with the Gambling Commission, as part of its regulatory role, to keep the sector under review.

5th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of reports about content or user accounts made to social media providers by Government units established to tackle disinformation resulted in action being taken by the social media providers in the last 12 months.

The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. The Counter Disinformation Unit team, based in DCMS, works to understand the scope, scale and reach of disinformation and works with a range of partners, including social media platforms, to tackle it.

The primary purpose of the team is not to spot every instance of disinformation across all social media platforms, but rather to understand overall trends and coordinated attempts to artificially manipulate the information environment. When the Unit does identify particular pieces of harmful content which may violate platforms’ terms of service these are referred to the relevant platform for consideration, who in turn decide what action to take.

As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to publicly provide details of content reported to platforms as doing so would give malign actors insight into our capabilities.

5th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times Government teams tackling disinformation have reported content or user accounts to social media providers in the past 12 months.

The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. The Counter Disinformation Unit team, based in DCMS, works to understand the scope, scale and reach of disinformation and works with a range of partners, including social media platforms, to tackle it.

The primary purpose of the team is not to spot every instance of disinformation across all social media platforms, but rather to understand overall trends and coordinated attempts to artificially manipulate the information environment. When the Unit does identify particular pieces of harmful content which may violate platforms’ terms of service these are referred to the relevant platform for consideration, who in turn decide what action to take.

As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to publicly provide details of content reported to platforms as doing so would give malign actors insight into our capabilities.

21st Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the increase in the annual sales limit for society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million, if she will publish a breakdown of the distribution of overall returns to good causes across (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

The annual sales limit for society lotteries was increased from £10 million to £50 million in July 2020.

We published a review of the impact of these and other changes to society lottery sales and prize limits in March 2022 (link). Early indicators are positive, for example the increase in the annual sales limit has allowed some multiple licensed operators who previously had annual sales in excess of £10 million, to take advantage of the new limit to restructure and become single licence holders, and use the cost savings in doing so to increase good cause returns. The review concluded that it is too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the changes, especially during a time that the effect of the Covid pandemic made any evaluation more difficult, given changes in consumer behaviour over this period which may have had a distorting effect. We want to see more data on annual growth of the sector to fully measure their impact. Since the review, the Gambling Commission has published further data which shows that the large society lottery sector is continuing to grow.

The Gambling Commission does not collect data on the location of beneficiaries of grant funding. Society lotteries are a helpful way of permitting non-commercial societies to fundraise for good causes. Funds raised by society lotteries are distributed within the stated purposes of that society, and it is for each operator to determine where the money raised is distributed. Larger lotteries may support local, national or international charities, but many others exist solely to support their own work, such as hospice lotteries.

Legislation regarding society lotteries in Northern Ireland is determined by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

21st Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the increase in the annual sales limit for society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million on money returned to good causes.

The annual sales limit for society lotteries was increased from £10 million to £50 million in July 2020.

We published a review of the impact of these and other changes to society lottery sales and prize limits in March 2022 (link). Early indicators are positive, for example the increase in the annual sales limit has allowed some multiple licensed operators who previously had annual sales in excess of £10 million, to take advantage of the new limit to restructure and become single licence holders, and use the cost savings in doing so to increase good cause returns. The review concluded that it is too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the changes, especially during a time that the effect of the Covid pandemic made any evaluation more difficult, given changes in consumer behaviour over this period which may have had a distorting effect. We want to see more data on annual growth of the sector to fully measure their impact. Since the review, the Gambling Commission has published further data which shows that the large society lottery sector is continuing to grow.

The Gambling Commission does not collect data on the location of beneficiaries of grant funding. Society lotteries are a helpful way of permitting non-commercial societies to fundraise for good causes. Funds raised by society lotteries are distributed within the stated purposes of that society, and it is for each operator to determine where the money raised is distributed. Larger lotteries may support local, national or international charities, but many others exist solely to support their own work, such as hospice lotteries.

Legislation regarding society lotteries in Northern Ireland is determined by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

25th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of UK sanctions relating to Russia on the Gambling Commission's decision to award Allwyn Entertainment as the preferred operator to run the National Lottery from 2024; and if she will make a statement.

The competition to award the licence to operate the 4th National Lottery licence (4NL) is run by the Gambling Commission. The National Lottery Act 1993 stipulates that the Commission can only grant a licence to operate the National Lottery if it is satisfied that the proposed licensee is a fit and proper person. In this context, the Commission carried out appropriate vetting checks on all the applicants to the 4NL competition and is now carrying out further vetting checks on Allwyn as the Commission’s preferred applicant to operate 4NL. The Commission does not have any plans at present to list the names of those individuals subject to vetting checks.

The Gambling Commission has taken steps to assure itself that no applicant to the 4NL competition is or is likely to be impacted by the sanctioning of entities and individuals listed in the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
25th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2022 to Question 147120, if she will publish the names of the Qualifying Direct Shareholders at Allwyn who are currently undergoing BPSS checks.

The competition to award the licence to operate the 4th National Lottery licence (4NL) is run by the Gambling Commission. The National Lottery Act 1993 stipulates that the Commission can only grant a licence to operate the National Lottery if it is satisfied that the proposed licensee is a fit and proper person. In this context, the Commission carried out appropriate vetting checks on all the applicants to the 4NL competition and is now carrying out further vetting checks on Allwyn as the Commission’s preferred applicant to operate 4NL. The Commission does not have any plans at present to list the names of those individuals subject to vetting checks.

The Gambling Commission has taken steps to assure itself that no applicant to the 4NL competition is or is likely to be impacted by the sanctioning of entities and individuals listed in the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many unsuccessful applications for funding for grassroots football facilities her Department received from football clubs in Wales.

The UK Government has invested £1.3m to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across Wales this year. The 17 funded projects include grass and artificial grass pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and other infrastructure to make a real difference to communities across Wales. The Government has committed another £205m to multi-use grassroots facilities UK-wide between 2022 and 2025. Further investment into Welsh grassroots sport will be set out later in 2022, so that even more clubs and communities can benefit from access to high-quality pitches and facilities.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) distributed this year’s investment on behalf of DCMS, inviting and assessing over 300 expressions of interest before awarding funding to the 17 successful projects. Projects were selected using a range of criteria - including their ability to deliver improved access for women and girls, disabled players and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as part of the government’s ambition to level up access to facilities across the UK. At least 30% of the projects will benefit a sport other than football and at least 50% of the investment is being delivered in the most deprived areas of Wales, based on their Indices of Multiple Deprivation Ranking. Projects were also assessed on their deliverability and capacity to start work as soon as possible.

The Welsh Government and Sport Wales were represented on the advisory panel, which the FAW assembled to support their decision making. I have also met with my Ministerial counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the programme.

Projects across ten local authority areas in Wales have received a share of this year’ funding. Details of all projects are available on GOV.UK.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria her Department used when determining the recent allocation of funding for grassroots football facilities in Wales.

The UK Government has invested £1.3m to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across Wales this year. The 17 funded projects include grass and artificial grass pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and other infrastructure to make a real difference to communities across Wales. The Government has committed another £205m to multi-use grassroots facilities UK-wide between 2022 and 2025. Further investment into Welsh grassroots sport will be set out later in 2022, so that even more clubs and communities can benefit from access to high-quality pitches and facilities.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) distributed this year’s investment on behalf of DCMS, inviting and assessing over 300 expressions of interest before awarding funding to the 17 successful projects. Projects were selected using a range of criteria - including their ability to deliver improved access for women and girls, disabled players and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as part of the government’s ambition to level up access to facilities across the UK. At least 30% of the projects will benefit a sport other than football and at least 50% of the investment is being delivered in the most deprived areas of Wales, based on their Indices of Multiple Deprivation Ranking. Projects were also assessed on their deliverability and capacity to start work as soon as possible.

The Welsh Government and Sport Wales were represented on the advisory panel, which the FAW assembled to support their decision making. I have also met with my Ministerial counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the programme.

Projects across ten local authority areas in Wales have received a share of this year’ funding. Details of all projects are available on GOV.UK.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s recent investment in 17 grassroots football facilities in Wales, what steps were taken to consult with the relevant Minister in Welsh Government on the allocation of this funding.

The UK Government has invested £1.3m to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across Wales this year. The 17 funded projects include grass and artificial grass pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and other infrastructure to make a real difference to communities across Wales. The Government has committed another £205m to multi-use grassroots facilities UK-wide between 2022 and 2025. Further investment into Welsh grassroots sport will be set out later in 2022, so that even more clubs and communities can benefit from access to high-quality pitches and facilities.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) distributed this year’s investment on behalf of DCMS, inviting and assessing over 300 expressions of interest before awarding funding to the 17 successful projects. Projects were selected using a range of criteria - including their ability to deliver improved access for women and girls, disabled players and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as part of the government’s ambition to level up access to facilities across the UK. At least 30% of the projects will benefit a sport other than football and at least 50% of the investment is being delivered in the most deprived areas of Wales, based on their Indices of Multiple Deprivation Ranking. Projects were also assessed on their deliverability and capacity to start work as soon as possible.

The Welsh Government and Sport Wales were represented on the advisory panel, which the FAW assembled to support their decision making. I have also met with my Ministerial counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the programme.

Projects across ten local authority areas in Wales have received a share of this year’ funding. Details of all projects are available on GOV.UK.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the geographical spread of successful applications for the recently announced UK Government funding for grassroots football facilities in Wales.

The UK Government has invested £1.3m to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across Wales this year. The 17 funded projects include grass and artificial grass pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and other infrastructure to make a real difference to communities across Wales. The Government has committed another £205m to multi-use grassroots facilities UK-wide between 2022 and 2025. Further investment into Welsh grassroots sport will be set out later in 2022, so that even more clubs and communities can benefit from access to high-quality pitches and facilities.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) distributed this year’s investment on behalf of DCMS, inviting and assessing over 300 expressions of interest before awarding funding to the 17 successful projects. Projects were selected using a range of criteria - including their ability to deliver improved access for women and girls, disabled players and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as part of the government’s ambition to level up access to facilities across the UK. At least 30% of the projects will benefit a sport other than football and at least 50% of the investment is being delivered in the most deprived areas of Wales, based on their Indices of Multiple Deprivation Ranking. Projects were also assessed on their deliverability and capacity to start work as soon as possible.

The Welsh Government and Sport Wales were represented on the advisory panel, which the FAW assembled to support their decision making. I have also met with my Ministerial counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the programme.

Projects across ten local authority areas in Wales have received a share of this year’ funding. Details of all projects are available on GOV.UK.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the (a) dates, (b) meeting minutes and (c) attendees of all meetings that Ministers and officials in her Department have attended in the last 12 months with the preferred National Lottery provider, Allwyn.

DCMS offered official-level meetings to all final-stage applicants to the 4th National Lottery licence competition to give an overview of the government's vision for the Gambling and National Lottery sectors. On 23 November 2020, DCMS's Director for Sport, Gambling and Ceremonials and Deputy Director for Gambling and Lotteries met representatives of Sazka (now Allwyn Entertainment Ltd). Ministers did not meet with Allwyn in respect of the competition to operate the 4th National Lottery licence.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Gambling Commission took to vet national lottery license applicants during the national lottery license application process, including whether they communicated with and sought assurances from UK and other financial regulators, and UK and other security and police services.

The competition to operate the 4th National Lottery licence is run by the Gambling Commission. In accordance with the relevant legislation, the decision to appoint Allwyn as the preferred bidder was made by the Commission’s Board. DCMS and Ministers have not been involved in the decision making process, nor have they discussed or corresponded with the Commission about who the licence should be awarded to.

We do not have any plans to publish correspondence between the Department and the Gambling Commission.

It is the Gambling Commission’s responsibility to regulate the National Lottery and appoint a licensee that will operate the National Lottery with all due propriety. To satisfy this duty, fit and proper checks were carried out during the competition and will be maintained throughout the transition and licence term. These checks consider the identity, integrity, criminality and financial integrity of those operating or benefitting from the National Lottery (or applying to do so) and include enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Where an individual was based overseas, checks were carried out against information provided by the relevant police report. In addition, the Commission reviewed the funding structures for all applicants, including Allwyn, and is satisfied that no sanctioned entities are involved in funding the proposed licensee.

Standard vetting checks (BPSS level - Baseline Personnel Security Standard) are being carried out by UK Security Vetting on key people connected with the preferred applicant’s proposal. These include Qualifying Direct Shareholders, which is any person that holds at least 5% interest in the Licensee. This vetting process has already started and is expected to take 8 – 10 weeks to complete. Full details of what is included in a BPSS level check is outlined on the UKSV website.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date the provisional new organisation to take over the National Lottery, Allwyn, will begin the UK secure vetting process; how long that process will take; and whether that process includes discussions with UK and foreign security and police services.

The competition to operate the 4th National Lottery licence is run by the Gambling Commission. In accordance with the relevant legislation, the decision to appoint Allwyn as the preferred bidder was made by the Commission’s Board. DCMS and Ministers have not been involved in the decision making process, nor have they discussed or corresponded with the Commission about who the licence should be awarded to.

We do not have any plans to publish correspondence between the Department and the Gambling Commission.

It is the Gambling Commission’s responsibility to regulate the National Lottery and appoint a licensee that will operate the National Lottery with all due propriety. To satisfy this duty, fit and proper checks were carried out during the competition and will be maintained throughout the transition and licence term. These checks consider the identity, integrity, criminality and financial integrity of those operating or benefitting from the National Lottery (or applying to do so) and include enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Where an individual was based overseas, checks were carried out against information provided by the relevant police report. In addition, the Commission reviewed the funding structures for all applicants, including Allwyn, and is satisfied that no sanctioned entities are involved in funding the proposed licensee.

Standard vetting checks (BPSS level - Baseline Personnel Security Standard) are being carried out by UK Security Vetting on key people connected with the preferred applicant’s proposal. These include Qualifying Direct Shareholders, which is any person that holds at least 5% interest in the Licensee. This vetting process has already started and is expected to take 8 – 10 weeks to complete. Full details of what is included in a BPSS level check is outlined on the UKSV website.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the enquiries her Department are making to ensure that the preferred organisation to run the next National Lottery licence, Allwyn, do not have financial, or political ties to the current Russian regime.

The competition to operate the 4th National Lottery licence is run by the Gambling Commission. In accordance with the relevant legislation, the decision to appoint Allwyn as the preferred bidder was made by the Commission’s Board. DCMS and Ministers have not been involved in the decision making process, nor have they discussed or corresponded with the Commission about who the licence should be awarded to.

We do not have any plans to publish correspondence between the Department and the Gambling Commission.

It is the Gambling Commission’s responsibility to regulate the National Lottery and appoint a licensee that will operate the National Lottery with all due propriety. To satisfy this duty, fit and proper checks were carried out during the competition and will be maintained throughout the transition and licence term. These checks consider the identity, integrity, criminality and financial integrity of those operating or benefitting from the National Lottery (or applying to do so) and include enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Where an individual was based overseas, checks were carried out against information provided by the relevant police report. In addition, the Commission reviewed the funding structures for all applicants, including Allwyn, and is satisfied that no sanctioned entities are involved in funding the proposed licensee.

Standard vetting checks (BPSS level - Baseline Personnel Security Standard) are being carried out by UK Security Vetting on key people connected with the preferred applicant’s proposal. These include Qualifying Direct Shareholders, which is any person that holds at least 5% interest in the Licensee. This vetting process has already started and is expected to take 8 – 10 weeks to complete. Full details of what is included in a BPSS level check is outlined on the UKSV website.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish her Department's correspondence with the Gambling Commission with reference to their decision to appoint Allwyn, a company with reported links to the Russian regime, as the preferred organisation to run the next licence for the National Lottery.

The competition to operate the 4th National Lottery licence is run by the Gambling Commission. In accordance with the relevant legislation, the decision to appoint Allwyn as the preferred bidder was made by the Commission’s Board. DCMS and Ministers have not been involved in the decision making process, nor have they discussed or corresponded with the Commission about who the licence should be awarded to.

We do not have any plans to publish correspondence between the Department and the Gambling Commission.

It is the Gambling Commission’s responsibility to regulate the National Lottery and appoint a licensee that will operate the National Lottery with all due propriety. To satisfy this duty, fit and proper checks were carried out during the competition and will be maintained throughout the transition and licence term. These checks consider the identity, integrity, criminality and financial integrity of those operating or benefitting from the National Lottery (or applying to do so) and include enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Where an individual was based overseas, checks were carried out against information provided by the relevant police report. In addition, the Commission reviewed the funding structures for all applicants, including Allwyn, and is satisfied that no sanctioned entities are involved in funding the proposed licensee.

Standard vetting checks (BPSS level - Baseline Personnel Security Standard) are being carried out by UK Security Vetting on key people connected with the preferred applicant’s proposal. These include Qualifying Direct Shareholders, which is any person that holds at least 5% interest in the Licensee. This vetting process has already started and is expected to take 8 – 10 weeks to complete. Full details of what is included in a BPSS level check is outlined on the UKSV website.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
4th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of (a) projected funds raised for good causes by the National Lottery and (b) actual funds raised by that organisation in the last bid period.

The Gambling Commission provides DCMS and the Lottery Distributing Bodies with good cause forecasts updated on a six-monthly basis to assist them with their grant planning. The forecast is presented as a range, with low, high and central scenarios. The modelling approach is regularly refined to ensure the forecasts remain as accurate as possible. We do not publish this information given commercial sensitivities.

Actual good cause returns are published in the National Lottery Distribution Fund Annual Report and Accounts and can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
3rd Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what protections have been put in place by the National Lottery operator to prevent under-18 year olds from playing National Lottery games online, since the new minimum age restrictions for the playing of such games online came into force in April 2021.

The age to play the National Lottery changed from 16 to 18 years on 22 April 2021.

Digital players are subject to online Experian age-verification checks when registering for an account. Therefore, anyone under-18 will be prevented from opening an account with the National Lottery. Existing 16 and 17 year olds accounts were closed at the appropriate point and no under 18s were able to continue playing online.

In retail, in the months leading up to the change and continuing since, there was a range of communications from the National Lottery operator to retailers to ensure the new age limits are adhered to, consisting of retail visits, phone calls, training videos and other written information. The operator continues to be required to undertake test purchase activity, to establish whether sales have been or are being made or are likely to be made by retailers to purchasers under the age of 18, with a pass rate above 90% being achieved in the first few months of tests relating to the new age limits. This is a similar level of compliance to that achieved when the age limit was 16.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)