Asked by: Caroline Spelman (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department has provided to the horseracing industry following the recent equine influenza outbreak and suspension of racing.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) is an arms-length body of DCMS which is responsible for collecting a statutory Levy from betting operators which it distributes in line with its statutory duties to support British horse racing. In April 2017, the Government implemented significant reforms to the Levy, resulting in a £45m increase in statutory Levy income in 2017/18.
The HBLB provides over £200,000 annually for the Equine Influenza Programme, and a further £150,000 towards the Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance Programme, provides British racing with expert information and provisions to minimise the impact of equine diseases and respond quickly to outbreaks.
HBLB has committed to pay a contribution to owners or trainers for the costs incurred where the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) recently required test samples to be taken for equine influenza, including the cost of the swabs and the veterinary fees involved. In addition, HBLB has committed £321,500 to support the rescheduling of replacement races and fixtures following the recent suspension, and will continue discussions with the BHA regarding funding for further races and fixtures as required. The BHA have now scheduled a number of additional fixtures from February 20th onwards.
Asked by: Caroline Spelman (Conservative - Meriden)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what advice his Department is providing to the equine sector on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Answered by Margot James
All UK businesses together with all organisations that process personal data will be required to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after 25th May 2018 and the UK's full data protection regime as set out in the Data Protection Bill. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides guidance and support to UK organisations and have already published a number of resources on the Commissioner's website (ico.org.uk) to help organisations prepare. The ICO has: launched a dedicated helpline service for smaller organisations; updated its 'SME toolkit' to reflect the requirements of the GDPR; simplified its "12-step" GDPR preparation guidance; and published tailored guidance for charities.