Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his Answer of 26 February 2021 to Question 153362, if he will make an assessment of the relative economic effect of re-opening (a) Adult Gaming Centres in Step 3 and (b) Licensed Betting Offices in Step 2 of the covid-19 roadmap.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government has designed the roadmap for reopening premises following careful consideration of the evidence and scientific advice. The roadmap strikes a balance between mitigating the social, health and economic impacts of closures and the need to avoid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections. It also takes account of the cumulative impact of easing restrictions and the need to assess the impact at each step. Under the current roadmap, all non-essential retail will open at Step 2, not before 12 April. Indoor entertainment and indoor leisure will open at Step 3, not before 17 May.
As the business of Adult Gaming Centres consists entirely of customers playing machines within the premises, they are considered to be entertainment and will open at Step 3. The customers of Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) may enter the premises, place a bet and leave with a betting slip, a transaction more similar to purchasing goods in a shop. While LBOs will be permitted to open at Step 2, they will be subject to a number of additional restrictions as set out in the previous Tier 3 guidance. These include showing no live sport or racing and having no chairs, as well as early closure. Under normal circumstances LBOs are limited to offering a maximum of four gaming machines and only two may be made available under these restrictions.
In recognition of the impact of requiring some businesses to remain closed for a longer period, the Chancellor announced an enhanced package of support at the Budget, including Restart Grants of up to £18,000 per premises, specifically for those which must remain closed beyond Step 2.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date archives are able to reopen under the Government's roadmap for easing covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by John Whittingdale
It is our expectation that the reading rooms and study areas of archives in England will be able to reopen as part of step 2 of the Government’s roadmap to ease COVID-19 restrictions, in line with similar functions in libraries. The Devolved Administrations will publish their own plans. As laid out in the Government’s roadmap, step 2 will not commence until 12 April at the earliest.
Many archives provide a range of functions and services, for which they may need to refer to other areas of guidance on reopening; for example exhibition spaces should not reopen until Step 3 of the roadmap, in line with the museums and galleries guidance.
We recommend that archives consult the guidance relevant to their functions. The National Archives will provide further detail to the archives sector relating to archives when regulations are published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether adult gaming centres are planned to re-open alongside non-essential retail once covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Prime Minister announced on Monday 22 February that indoor entertainment venues, which will include Adult Gaming Centres, will open at Step 3 of the roadmap, not before 17 May. The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, while preserving the health and safety of the country.
At next week’s Budget the Chancellor will set out the next phase in our economic support package to reflect the steps set out in the Prime Minister’s roadmap to easing restrictions, tailoring support for individuals and businesses to reflect the changing public health restrictions.
The government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be extremely challenging for businesses, including in the arcades sector. That is why we have introduced a number of unprecedented financial packages to help to ease pressures and help businesses navigate through this crisis, including extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, introducing £4.6 billion in lockdown grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and providing further discretionary funding for Local Authorities.
We are continuing to work with organisations in the land-based gambling sector to understand the impacts and how we may be able to support them. Currently, we estimate that up to 5% of adult gaming centres (AGCs) have ceased trading with roughly 10.1% of jobs lost in the past twelve months. This estimate is based on recent discussions with Bacta, the trade association for the arcades sector. We know that there are also significant job losses across the land-based gambling sector from discussions with the Betting and Gaming Council and the Bingo Association.
As set out in response to question 149200 on 9 February, the government has published guidance to help businesses understand how to make workplaces Covid-secure and help tackle the spread of the virus. AGCs should follow the shops and branches guidance in addition to Bacta’s specific guidance for FECs and AGCs to ensure they can operate as safely as possible when they are open.
The shops and branches workplace guidance was intended as guidance for those businesses on how they could operate safely when the regulations permitted them to do so after the first national lockdown and beyond. It does not have a direct bearing on the timing for reopening of the businesses included in the guidance.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of adult gaming centres on (a) Government support during national covid-19 restrictions and (b) the potential re-opening of those centres.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Prime Minister announced on Monday 22 February that indoor entertainment venues, which will include Adult Gaming Centres, will open at Step 3 of the roadmap, not before 17 May. The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, while preserving the health and safety of the country.
At next week’s Budget the Chancellor will set out the next phase in our economic support package to reflect the steps set out in the Prime Minister’s roadmap to easing restrictions, tailoring support for individuals and businesses to reflect the changing public health restrictions.
The government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be extremely challenging for businesses, including in the arcades sector. That is why we have introduced a number of unprecedented financial packages to help to ease pressures and help businesses navigate through this crisis, including extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, introducing £4.6 billion in lockdown grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and providing further discretionary funding for Local Authorities.
We are continuing to work with organisations in the land-based gambling sector to understand the impacts and how we may be able to support them. Currently, we estimate that up to 5% of adult gaming centres (AGCs) have ceased trading with roughly 10.1% of jobs lost in the past twelve months. This estimate is based on recent discussions with Bacta, the trade association for the arcades sector. We know that there are also significant job losses across the land-based gambling sector from discussions with the Betting and Gaming Council and the Bingo Association.
As set out in response to question 149200 on 9 February, the government has published guidance to help businesses understand how to make workplaces Covid-secure and help tackle the spread of the virus. AGCs should follow the shops and branches guidance in addition to Bacta’s specific guidance for FECs and AGCs to ensure they can operate as safely as possible when they are open.
The shops and branches workplace guidance was intended as guidance for those businesses on how they could operate safely when the regulations permitted them to do so after the first national lockdown and beyond. It does not have a direct bearing on the timing for reopening of the businesses included in the guidance.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take to support the re-opening of adult gaming centres nationally once covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Prime Minister announced on Monday 22 February that indoor entertainment venues, which will include Adult Gaming Centres, will open at Step 3 of the roadmap, not before 17 May. The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, while preserving the health and safety of the country.
At next week’s Budget the Chancellor will set out the next phase in our economic support package to reflect the steps set out in the Prime Minister’s roadmap to easing restrictions, tailoring support for individuals and businesses to reflect the changing public health restrictions.
The government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be extremely challenging for businesses, including in the arcades sector. That is why we have introduced a number of unprecedented financial packages to help to ease pressures and help businesses navigate through this crisis, including extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, introducing £4.6 billion in lockdown grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and providing further discretionary funding for Local Authorities.
We are continuing to work with organisations in the land-based gambling sector to understand the impacts and how we may be able to support them. Currently, we estimate that up to 5% of adult gaming centres (AGCs) have ceased trading with roughly 10.1% of jobs lost in the past twelve months. This estimate is based on recent discussions with Bacta, the trade association for the arcades sector. We know that there are also significant job losses across the land-based gambling sector from discussions with the Betting and Gaming Council and the Bingo Association.
As set out in response to question 149200 on 9 February, the government has published guidance to help businesses understand how to make workplaces Covid-secure and help tackle the spread of the virus. AGCs should follow the shops and branches guidance in addition to Bacta’s specific guidance for FECs and AGCs to ensure they can operate as safely as possible when they are open.
The shops and branches workplace guidance was intended as guidance for those businesses on how they could operate safely when the regulations permitted them to do so after the first national lockdown and beyond. It does not have a direct bearing on the timing for reopening of the businesses included in the guidance.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many broadband cabinets are not enabled for fibre in Leeds North West constituency.
Answered by Matt Warman
According to Thinkbroadband the proportion of premises in Leeds North West with access to 'partial Fibre', or 'Full Fibre at any speed' is 98.92%. This is above the national average. This encompasses the technologies: FTTC, VDSL, G.fast, Cable, and FTTP. It should be noted that this refers to BT Openreach cabinets only. 100% of Virgin Media cabinets are fibre enabled as they provide at least Ultrafast speeds and up to Gigabit speeds.
As well as the above percentage coverage for Superfast speeds (at least 30 Megabits per second), Leeds North West is well served by Virgin Media and they have upgraded their network in Leeds to provide up to Gigabit Speeds. Mainly as a consequence of this, 73.50% of residents in the constituency can access Gigabit speeds (1,000 Megabits Per Second) and 77.11% can access Ultrafast speeds (100 Megabits per second).
You can get the latest statistics for your constituency here https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/E14000780
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support he plans to provide to local football pyramid clubs below tier 6 that have experienced reduced income from parent club fees.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity providers and facilities are at the heart of our communities, and play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.
Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund has provided £210m directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. The £300m Sports Winter Survival Package also aims to protect the immediate futures of major spectator sports in England over the winter period.
Furthermore, on Tuesday 5 January, the Chancellor announced £4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are eligible to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000.
We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the covid-19 transmission risk posed by gaming machines in (a) adult gaming centres, (b) pubs and (c) licensed betting offices.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.
Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.
Unfortunately we know that the virus spreads readily in indoor environments where members of different households and/or support bubbles spend time together. These restrictions do not single out Adult Gaming Centres but apply to a wide range of settings where the risk of transmission is high.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether an impact assessment has been carried out on the inclusion of adult gaming centres in the covid-19 hospitality curfew.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.
Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.
Unfortunately we know that the virus spreads readily in indoor environments where members of different households and/or support bubbles spend time together. These restrictions do not single out Adult Gaming Centres but apply to a wide range of settings where the risk of transmission is high.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North 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 carried out a site-based covid-19 risk assessment of adult gaming centres.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.
Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.
Unfortunately we know that the virus spreads readily in indoor environments where members of different households and/or support bubbles spend time together. These restrictions do not single out Adult Gaming Centres but apply to a wide range of settings where the risk of transmission is high.