Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost to the public purse was of supporting the (a) Youth Parliament, (b) Youth Select Committee and (c) Make Your Mark Programme since their inception.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.
An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.
Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide funding to continue the operation of the Youth Parliament.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.
An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.
Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Youth Parliament on the involvement of younger people in politics.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.
An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.
Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the British Youth Council on the political literacy of young people.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.
An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.
Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help ensure that the British Youth Council remains active.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.
An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.
Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to ban vaping brands from promoting their products through (a) sponsorship and (b) other means to children.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 18 July 2023 to Question 193917.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the economic contribution of the magazine publishing sector to the economy.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government greatly values the UK’s publishing sector, of which magazine publishers form a key part. The sector is a UK success story and a significant soft power asset.
Specialist publishing remains an integral part of the media industry, worth £3.74 billion to the UK economy, employing around 55,000 people. The Government recognises the role that specialist interest publications play within the UK’s media ecosystem, and the demand for the specialist insights they provide, with more than 40 million adults in the UK reading a magazine every month.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to include content about age-restricted products including e-cigarettes in designation of content that is harmful to children in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Damian Collins
The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children. All services in scope will need to do far more to protect children from illegal content and activity, including illegal content about age-restricted products. Services will have to remove and limit the spread of illegal content and take steps to prevent similar material from appearing.
Services likely to be accessed by children will also have to take steps to protect them from content and activity that falls below the criminal threshold but presents a significant risk of harm to children. The government will set out in secondary legislation categories of priority harmful content.
For content to be designated as priority harmful content, it will have to meet the Bill’s threshold for harm and be content of a kind which presents a material risk of significant harm to an appreciable number of children or adults in the UK. On July 7 2022 the government published an indicative list of content that it considers reaches this threshold and is minded to designate as priority harmful content.
This may not be an exhaustive list and we are continuing to engage extensively with stakeholders, parliamentarians and Ofcom ahead of designating the categories. In addition to the priority harms, companies will also be required to protect children from any other content and activity on their service which risks causing significant harm to an appreciable number of children.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Public Health England’s research and analysis entitled Gambling-related harms evidence review, updated on 30 September 2021, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) social effects on people and communities of the National Lottery’s shift towards online-based games and away from traditional draw-based games.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department and the Gambling Commission as the independent regulator share three statutory duties in relation to the National Lottery - to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, that the interests of every participant are protected, and - subject to those duties - that returns to good causes are maximised. The National Lottery is regulated under a separate framework from commercial gambling, with additional requirements regarding the protection of players.
'Instants games’ have been part of the National Lottery portfolio for the majority of the time since the National Lottery was launched in 1994. Scratchcards were introduced in 1995 and online Interactive Instant Win Games in 2003. A broad portfolio ensures the National Lottery continues to appeal to a wide range of people and can provide substantial contributions for good causes every week.
All games, including instants games, are licensed by the Gambling Commission. In determining whether to licence games, the Commission will consider the potential impact on players and the player protection mechanisms which are in place to protect players from harm.
The current National Lottery operator has a range of online player protection tools for players (for example self-exclusion tools, spend and play limits, and the option to set lower limits) and has developed an online algorithm for identifying at risk and problem play which alerts players to help encourage healthy play habits.
Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered. Problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% while the figure for Scratchcards was 1.4%.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential harms to people and communities of the National Lottery’s shift towards online-based games and away from traditional draw-based games; and whether her Department holds information on the potential causal link between people using the National Lottery mobile app and using other forms of mobile gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department and the Gambling Commission as the independent regulator share three statutory duties in relation to the National Lottery - to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, that the interests of every participant are protected, and - subject to those duties - that returns to good causes are maximised. The National Lottery is regulated under a separate framework from commercial gambling, with additional requirements regarding the protection of players.
'Instants games’ have been part of the National Lottery portfolio for the majority of the time since the National Lottery was launched in 1994. Scratchcards were introduced in 1995 and online Interactive Instant Win Games in 2003. A broad portfolio ensures the National Lottery continues to appeal to a wide range of people and can provide substantial contributions for good causes every week.
All games, including instants games, are licensed by the Gambling Commission. In determining whether to licence games, the Commission will consider the potential impact on players and the player protection mechanisms which are in place to protect players from harm.
The current National Lottery operator has a range of online player protection tools for players (for example self-exclusion tools, spend and play limits, and the option to set lower limits) and has developed an online algorithm for identifying at risk and problem play which alerts players to help encourage healthy play habits.
Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered. Problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% while the figure for Scratchcards was 1.4%.