Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 is taking to tackle the grey market in gambling; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Jurisdictions in which there are not clear rules about the legality of gambling, particularly online gambling, are often referred to as grey markets. There is no grey market in Great Britain, where operators are forbidden by law from providing gambling facilities to British consumers unless they are licensed by the Gambling Commission and abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people. Any operator offering facilities to gamble without the appropriate licence from the Gambling Commission is committing an offence under the Gambling Act 2005.
Ministers and officials engage regularly with stakeholders and details of ministerial meetings are available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905167/DCMS_Ministerial_meetings__1st_January_to_31st_March_2020.csv/preview
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 the Gambling Commission on the effect of the grey market in gambling on the gambling industry.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Jurisdictions in which there are not clear rules about the legality of gambling, particularly online gambling, are often referred to as grey markets. There is no grey market in Great Britain, where operators are forbidden by law from providing gambling facilities to British consumers unless they are licensed by the Gambling Commission and abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people. Any operator offering facilities to gamble without the appropriate licence from the Gambling Commission is committing an offence under the Gambling Act 2005.
Ministers and officials engage regularly with stakeholders and details of ministerial meetings are available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905167/DCMS_Ministerial_meetings__1st_January_to_31st_March_2020.csv/preview
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the recommendations made by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in its Fourteenth Report of Session 2017-19 entitled Garden design and tourism, HC 2002.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We submitted our full response to the Select Committee on October 1st 2019. This was published on October 10th 2019.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the recommendations made by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in its Fourteenth Report of Session 2017-19 entitled Garden design and tourism, HC 2002.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister for the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what safeguards are in place to protect volunteers employed in the charity sector from workplace bullying and harassment.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government expects charities to take robust action against any bullying and harassment relating to employees or volunteers.
Charity employees have some protection in law under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 from detrimental treatment or victimisation from their employer if, in the public interest, they report concerns about serious wrongdoing at their charity to the Charity Commission, provided that the concerns they report meet the conditions in the Act for a ’protected disclosure’. There are other mechanisms for volunteers to report such concerns to the Charity Commission, although they are not covered by the Act.
Government, regulators and the charity sector are working together to reaffirm the importance of safeguarding as a governance priority for charities, and to agree and commit to actions jointly and individually to strengthen the safeguarding capability and capacity of charities working across the UK. The Charity Commission has already announced a suite of measures to help ensure charities learn the wider lessons from recent safeguarding cases revelations involving Oxfam and other charities, and to strengthen protection from harm for charity beneficiaries, employees and volunteers. This includes a review of its whistleblowing processes and guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether non-payment of the television licence for solely accessing the BBC iPlayer will be treated as a criminal or civil offence.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003 provides that a person who installs or uses a television receiver without being authorised by a licence is guilty of a criminal offence. As of 1 September 2016, this includes watching BBC on-demand services such as the iPlayer.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what date he expects the review of BBC Charter renewal to commence.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I am currently considering a range of options for reviewing the BBC's Royal Charter and will make an announcement in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assistance his Department gives to community groups who wish to take over the running of museums and tourist attractions.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
DCMS does not give direct assistance to community groups who wish to take over the running of museums and tourist attractions. However advice may be sought through bodies including Arts Council England and the Association of Independent Museums, alongside local Destination Organisations. My Department will liaise with the Department for Communities and Local Government, Cabinet Office and the Big Lottery Fund to see where further community support might be appropriate.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that superfast broadband is available in remote areas of the UK.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
A new £10 million competitive fund opened on 21 March to market test innovative solutions to deliver superfast broadband services to the most difficult to reach remaining areas of the UK.
The pilot projects will explore how to reach these areas; and we'll use learning from the pilots to inform future government investment decisions