Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to remove misinformation on covid-19 vaccines online.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. The Counter Disinformation Unit was stood up on 5 March 2020 to bring together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope, and reach of misinformation and disinformation, including that relating to COVID-19. The CDU remains stood up.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the information people access about COVID-19 and the vaccine is accurate, so that everyone is able to make informed decisions about their health. We are working with social media platforms to ensure promotion of authoritative sources of information, and to help them identify and remove incorrect claims about COVID-19 and the vaccine in line with their terms and conditions.
The Online Safety Bill will force companies to tackle illegal misinformation and disinformation in scope of the Bill, and the biggest platforms will need to address legal but harmful material, including some types of harmful misinformation such as anti-vaccination content. However, we expect companies to take steps now to improve safety, and not wait for the legislation to come into force before acting.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide redress to the people affected by the collapse of BetIndex Limited, the operators of Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, went into liquidation on 5 November. The process is continuing and it is likely that this will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors. There is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the independent review into the collapse of football gambling firm, Football Index, will be complete.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has appointed Malcolm Sheehan QC to lead the independent review into the regulation of BetIndex Limited, the operators of Football Index. The independent review is expected to provide a report for publication shortly. Its findings will form part of the evidence informing the government’s ongoing Review of the Gambling Act 2005, which was announced in December 2020.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 it his policy to (a) introduce a junk food advertising ban before 2023 and (b) expand that ban to cover junk food advertising on television, other broadcasting platforms and in public spaces.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is legislating in the Health and Care Bill to introduce a restriction on paid-for advertising of food and drinks products high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) online and a 9pm watershed on TV. This watershed will also apply to all On-Demand Programme Services (ODPS) under the jurisdiction of the UK. ODPS that do not fall under the UK’s jurisdiction will be included in the online restriction of paid-for HFSS advertising. These measures will come into force simultaneously at the end of 2022. It is not the Government’s intention to legislate to restrict HFSS advertising in public spaces. This form of advertising is subject to advertising codes regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority which include restricting HFSS advertising in media directed at children under 16.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what evidence his Department based its decision on when deciding to allow spectators into the EURO 2020 football matches held at Wembley Stadium in June and July 2021 prior to the proposed further easing of covid-19 restrictions on the 19 July 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Events Research Programme (ERP) is running pilot events, including the EURO 2020 matches at Wembley, to inform decisions around the safe removal of social distancing at Step 4 of the roadmap. The pilots are running across a range of settings, venues, and activities, so that findings support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.
Decisions are guided by a Science Board of relevant experts including senior PHE representation, who take into account the latest public health data. All pilots are designed in a scientifically controlled way, with special consideration to reduce risk of transmission. The Science Board provides scientific assurance across the programme, and ensures that events follow ethical and scientific principles, generating evidence of sufficient quality to inform decisions.
Our Science Board follows a scientific framework developed by SAGE’s Environmental Modelling Group. This includes understanding appropriate audience sizes for the ERP’s research purposes.
These capacities have been agreed in advance with event organisers, and the health and safety capacity caps of their respective venues.
The second phase of the ERP included the England games against Croatia (13 June), and Scotland (18 June). Public health is our main priority and entry to these EURO 2020 pilot events required proof of a negative NHS Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test taken within 48 hours of entering the event, or proof of two vaccinations with the second vaccination being given at least 14 days prior to entry of the event via the NHS COVID Pass within the NHS App. In addition to this, attendees to events in the ERP’s third phase can also show proof of natural immunity, based upon a positive PCR test within 180 days of the event.
The Government is working closely with industry partners to design these pilot events to help gather evidence on opening events safely.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 it his policy to ensure that all sports played by UK national teams are available live for free on non-subscription services.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises that sporting events of national significance have the ability to bring the nation together through shared moments and therefore it is important that they are made available to as wide an audience as possible.
Under the current listed events regime national sporting events including matches for the FIFA Football World Cup finals tournament, the Rugby World Cup finals and events in the Olympics are made available to free to air broadcasters. In January 2020 the Government added the Paralympic Games to the list, recognising that it is an event of national significance on par with the Olympic Games.
The listed events regime works well to strike an appropriate balance between retaining free-to-air sports events for the public while allowing rights holders to negotiate agreements in the best interests of their sport. Therefore, the Government does not have plans to review the listed events regime at this time.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who is the membership of the Events Research Programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Events Research Programme (ERP), under the guidance of Chief Advisors Nicholas Hytner and Davd Ross, is aimed at providing key scientific data on how small and large-scale events could be permitted to safely reopen in line with the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown. The Chief Advisers will oversee the programme, reporting into the Prime Minister and will co-chair a small, advisory Senior Steering Board. There will also be a Joint Programme Board working across government to inform policy development and a Science Board to provide scientific assurance across the programme. Pilots, due to start in April, will investigate how a combination of testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions can be employed to allow venues to open safely. It is anticipated that findings will be reported to the Prime Minister at the end of May, to feed into wider discussions around Step 4 of the lockdown restrictions.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Events Research Programme is expected to publish its roadmap for the reopening of the events industry; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Events Research Programme (ERP), under the guidance of Chief Advisors Nicholas Hytner and Davd Ross, is aimed at providing key scientific data on how small and large-scale events could be permitted to safely reopen in line with the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown. The Chief Advisers will oversee the programme, reporting into the Prime Minister and will co-chair a small, advisory Senior Steering Board. There will also be a Joint Programme Board working across government to inform policy development and a Science Board to provide scientific assurance across the programme. Pilots, due to start in April, will investigate how a combination of testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions can be employed to allow venues to open safely. It is anticipated that findings will be reported to the Prime Minister at the end of May, to feed into wider discussions around Step 4 of the lockdown restrictions.