Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the progress of the strengthening political participation phase two aid project in Bangladesh.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The last annual review of the Strengthening Political Participation phase 2 (SPP2) Programme was carried out in April 2018. In the first year the project scored an ‘A’ and all programme components were under implementation. The annual review is published on DFID’s web portal and contains recommendations on how to maximise the impact of the programme in an election year. The next review is due by April 2019.
Diplomatic engagement also supports SPP2 goals and activities pushing for inclusive and peaceful elections in Bangladesh and increased tolerance for open debate and dialogue. DFID is still confident that the SPP2 Programme provides critical support to democratic governance in the country and is more relevant than ever in an election year.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the recommendations in the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board’s report on children, young people and gambling: a case for action; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board are expert advisers to the Gambling Commission on safer gambling and gambling-related harm. Government welcomes the RGSB’s report on children and young people and the Commission’s response. Protecting children and other vulnerable people from harm was a key objective of our Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Review, which was published in May. Our Review, which was informed by advice from the RGSB and Commission, set out measures to increase existing protections around gaming machines, online gambling and gambling advertising. The Committees of Advertising Practice will publish further guidance on protecting children and young people later this year and additional research has been commissioned on the impact of marketing and advertising on them.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislation to ensure that gambling websites introduce stronger third-party age verification checks for users.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Gambling Commission has strong powers requiring licensees to have policies and procedures designed to prevent underage gambling.
Under existing requirements, operators have a period of 72 hours to carry out age-verification. However, as set out in the Government response to the Consultation on proposed changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures on 17th May, the Gambling Commission intends to bring forward proposals to remove the current 72 hour window for age-verification checks. This would mean that age-verification must be completed before a customer is able to deposit funds and gamble.
The Commission has also considered the availability of free-to-play gambling-style games and plans to strengthen the rules by requiring licensed gambling operators to complete age-verification checks before consumers are able to access free-to-play games.
Together with the Minister for Digital and Creative Industries, I will chair a roundtable bringing together the technology and gambling sectors to look at enhancing protections online. The Commission will consult on tightening age verification requirements and is continuing to work with the video games industry to raise awareness of the risks of third parties using its products to provide illegal gambling facilities. We are considering the issue of 16 and 17 year olds playing National Lottery products as part of the design phase of the Fourth Licence.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to introduce requirements for schools to teach pupils in secondary school about the dangers of gambling online.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government wants all schools to deliver a high-quality education that ensures all young people are equipped with the knowledge they need to prepare them for adult life, including the risks associated with harmful behaviour and addiction.
Schools are required to teach a balanced and broad curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils, and prepares pupils for the opportunities, experiences and responsibilities of later life. The Department is aware that some schools choose to teach about gambling and addiction in an age-appropriate way, as part of their wider school curriculum or through Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE).
The non-statutory PSHE programme of study, published by the PSHE Association, includes teaching about gambling (including online) and its psychological and financial impact. There are also organisations that work with schools and children to raise awareness of the risks around gambling, including the Young Gamblers Education Trust.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report entitled Everybody In: How to end homelessness in Great Britain, published by Crisis in 2018, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals in that report; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government is aware homelessness goes beyond just Westminster, which is why the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel was set up. The panel, of which Crisis CEO Jon Sparkes is a member, provides evidence-based advice which the Government will consider ahead of the upcoming Rough Sleeping Strategy.
This Government is pleased at the manner in which the report is aligned with our actions. For example, the report calls for the implementation of schemes such as Housing First. In last autumn’s budget, £28 million of funding was announced for pilots in Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands. These pilots will support around 1,000 people, including some of the most long-term rough sleepers.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) heart monitors, (b) TENS machines and (c) mobility aids that are no longer required are returned for use by other patients.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the very best use of all resources and items where they are safely and legally reusable and returnable.
The policy on the return of equipment is a matter for each individual NHS trust. The policy should be included in the trust’s Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP). The publication of a trust’s SDMP is a requirement under Service Condition 18 of the NHS Standard Contract. This should be available for inspection by any member of the public.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to ensure that more medical equipment is returned and reused by other patients; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The return, reuse or recycling of equipment is decided locally between the relevant commissioners and providers of equipment. There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the best use of all resources and items including recycling and reuse of equipment where it is safe and cost effective to do so.
The Department does not collect data on expenditure on reusable medical equipment and no estimate has been made of these costs.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of reusable medical equipment that was not returned in each of the last three years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The return, reuse or recycling of equipment is decided locally between the relevant commissioners and providers of equipment. There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the best use of all resources and items including recycling and reuse of equipment where it is safe and cost effective to do so.
The Department does not collect data on expenditure on reusable medical equipment and no estimate has been made of these costs.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
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 effect on young peoples' gambling behaviour of the advertising of gambling during live sporting events.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
We considered advertising as part of our Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility. The response was published on 17 May. Protecting vulnerable people was central to the review, and we recognised that having the right advertising protections in place was an important part of this.
As set out in the consultation document, children’s exposure to gambling adverts on TV has been declining year on year since 2013. The Gambling Commission’s Young People Survey in 2017 found that there was little evidence of a direct influence on gambling activity, with only 1% of young people in the survey saying advertising prompted them to start gambling or increase the amount they gamble. However, our response recognises that there are gaps in the evidence available, and outlined measures to fill these, including significant research commissioned by GambleAware into the impact of gambling advertising on children, young people and those vulnerable to harm.
There are already strong controls in place around gambling advertising, which must not be targeted at children. The response set out a package of initiatives to strengthen protections further. These include forthcoming guidance from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) on protecting children and young people. We do not propose to bring forward legislative proposals, but we will keep these issues under review.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
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 plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the advertising of betting on pitch-side electronic advertising boards during televised sporting events.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
We considered advertising as part of our Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility. The response was published on 17 May. Protecting vulnerable people was central to the review, and we recognised that having the right advertising protections in place was an important part of this.
As set out in the consultation document, children’s exposure to gambling adverts on TV has been declining year on year since 2013. The Gambling Commission’s Young People Survey in 2017 found that there was little evidence of a direct influence on gambling activity, with only 1% of young people in the survey saying advertising prompted them to start gambling or increase the amount they gamble. However, our response recognises that there are gaps in the evidence available, and outlined measures to fill these, including significant research commissioned by GambleAware into the impact of gambling advertising on children, young people and those vulnerable to harm.
There are already strong controls in place around gambling advertising, which must not be targeted at children. The response set out a package of initiatives to strengthen protections further. These include forthcoming guidance from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) on protecting children and young people. We do not propose to bring forward legislative proposals, but we will keep these issues under review.