Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Regulations 16(1), 16(3), 17(6) and Schedule 2 Part 2 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, if he will revise the Government's performing arts guidance of 5 November 2020 so that theatres that (a) are businesses and (b) operate within a designated theatre can continue to hold covid-secure rehearsals regardless of the professional status of the performers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Since Thursday 5 November, new national restrictions have been in force in England to control the spread of coronavirus and to limit contacts between households.
The Health Protection Regulation 5(1) states that no person may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse. The exceptions to the restrictions enables people to leave their homes for the purposes of work where it is not possible for them to work from home.
This exception extends to professionals within the performing arts who are unable to train, rehearse or take part in performances for broadcasting or recording purposes at home. Other than for this purpose, theatres, concert halls and entertainment venues must close.This exemption does not apply to non professional activity within the performing arts in accordance with the wider restrictions.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - 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 potential merits of permitting socially-distanced outdoor singles tennis games to be played during the period of new national covid-19 lockdown from 5 November 2020.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. Therefore, from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December indoor and outdoor leisure including tennis courts will need to close. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions.
In order for these measures to have the greatest impact, we will all need to sacrifice doing some things that we would otherwise like to do, for a short period of time. As soon as we're in a position to start lifting restrictions, grassroots sports will be one of the first to return.
People are still allowed to leave their homes for exercise and recreation outdoors, with your household or on your own, or with one person from another household or support bubble.The gravity of the situation has meant that we have been forced to take some tough choices. That meant having to deny extremely worthy candidates exemptions to the rules, including grassroots sport.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - 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 potential merits of permitting socially-distanced outdoor archery as a form of exercise during the period of new national covid-19 lockdown from 5 November 2020.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. Therefore, from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December indoor and outdoor leisure including tennis courts will need to close. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions.
In order for these measures to have the greatest impact, we will all need to sacrifice doing some things that we would otherwise like to do, for a short period of time. As soon as we're in a position to start lifting restrictions, grassroots sports will be one of the first to return.
People are still allowed to leave their homes for exercise and recreation outdoors, with your household or on your own, or with one person from another household or support bubble.The gravity of the situation has meant that we have been forced to take some tough choices. That meant having to deny extremely worthy candidates exemptions to the rules, including grassroots sport.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is taking steps to support the BBFC in securing greater coverage for their trusted age ratings on video-on-demand platforms; what video-on-demand platforms carry BBFC age ratings; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of linking those ratings to parental filters.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
While adoption of the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) best practice age ratings by online platforms is currently voluntary, we welcome Netflix’s commitment to work towards complete coverage of its content under the BBFC’s ratings and support the BBFC’s drive to encourage other Video On Demand platforms to follow suit. By doing so, this will provide consumers, especially parents, with well recognised age ratings and consumer advice.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - 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 potential merits of online content being age-rated and labelled using trusted BBFC classifications which reflect UK national sensitives as a result of large-scale consultation of all four UK nations.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
It is vital that children are protected from accessing age-inappropriate, harmful content online. The government’s Online Harms legislation will establish in law a new ‘duty of care’ on companies towards their users. The ‘duty of care’ will ensure companies have robust systems and processes in place to keep their users safe and will deliver a higher level of protection for children than for the typical adult user. Details of how the online harms legislation will protect children from harmful content will be published later this year in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.
Over the past year we have been working with the BBFC and industry to drive the voluntary adoption of the BBFC’s age rating symbols to Video On Demand platforms. Doing so will provide consumers with well recognised age ratings and consumer advice.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals for family friendly WiFi which use the default filters imposed by mobile network operators, based on BBFC guidelines and regulated by the BBFC.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda, and wider government priorities. The government has worked hard to ensure content is filtered in public places where children are likely to be, as well as at home. The major providers of public WiFi are committed to providing family friendly public WiFi wherever children are likely to be. A Friendly WiFi Logo was launched in 2014 to help parents identify the safest places to browse the internet.
The BBFC provides an independent framework for mobile network operators and defines content that is unsuitable for customers under the age of 18 based on their Classification Guidelines for film and video. There are no plans to require other internet providers who provide family friendly filters to use the BBFC’s framework.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to make the 2018 BBFC AV Guidance approved by Parliament the basis for future Government online harms proposals to protect children from harmful content.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As we announced on 16 October last year, we will not be commencing Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) 2017 and its provisions on age verification for online pornography as originally intended. Instead the online harms regime will include provisions to protect children from age-inappropriate content, including online pornography. Our Online Harms proposals will go further than the DEA’s focus on online pornography on commercial adult sites and provide a higher level of protection for children.
Details of how the online harms legislation will protect children from harmful content, including online pornography, will be published later this year in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish the online media literacy strategy connected with the Online Harms Bill.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Online Harms White Paper set out the Government’s intention to publish an online Media Literacy Strategy to ensure a coordinated and strategic approach to media literacy education for all UK citizens. The Strategy is due to be published in spring 2021.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received from experts in the education sector on the Online Harms Bill.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers and officials are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, in developing the Online Harms Bill. This includes discussions with experts from the education sector. We will publish a Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation later this year, which will include more detailed proposals on online harms regulation. We will continue to engage with stakeholders from the education sector, as well as industry, academia and civil society, as we develop proposals and move towards legislation.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the role of the proposed online harms regulator to promote education and raise awareness of online safety.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with Ofcom on a variety of issues, including online media literacy education. Information about Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the gov.uk website. The forthcoming Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper Consultation will set out more detail about the online harms regulator’s role in promoting media literacy education.