Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the availability of swimming teachers; and what steps she is taking to help increase national swimming teacher provision.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools and swimming lessons. Swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy as well as being a crucial life skill in terms of water safety. Swimming and water safety are important parts of the primary PE curriculum. The Government has published national guidance encouraging primary schools to use their share of the £320 million PE and Sport Premium to fund additional swimming lessons and train teachers.
The Government has provided a range of support for swimming pools during the pandemic. The £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country. Sport England continues to invest in access to swimming, awarding £9,112,544 in grassroots swimming and diving since 2019, including £6,230,502 directly to Swim England. This supports Swim England’s work to develop the swimming workforce, including the Institute of Swimming which delivers training for swimming teachers.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 14 December 2020 to Question 910164 on the protection of shop workers, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with supermarkets on the use of live facial recognition in their stores.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Minister for Crime and Policing has not had any discussions with supermarkets since the Answer of 14 December 2020.
The use of biometric data (including facial images) by private companies to identify individuals is regulated by the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the legislation, data processing must be fair, lawful and transparent. Companies would generally need to show that the use of biometric data was necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, as defined by the legislation. Individuals who consider their data has been misused can make complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office, the independent regulator of the legislation.
On 27 November, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) published its review into bias in algorithmic decision-making, which explored the different ways that algorithmic decision-making may affect protected characteristic data, such as race. We will respond to the report in due course. Facial recognition also remains a high priority for the ICO, which has indicated that it will be publishing more about its use by the private sector later this year.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
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 implications for (a) levels of discrimination against people from BAME backgrounds and (b) human rights of the use of live facial recognition by private companies.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Minister for Crime and Policing has not had any discussions with supermarkets since the Answer of 14 December 2020.
The use of biometric data (including facial images) by private companies to identify individuals is regulated by the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the legislation, data processing must be fair, lawful and transparent. Companies would generally need to show that the use of biometric data was necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, as defined by the legislation. Individuals who consider their data has been misused can make complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office, the independent regulator of the legislation.
On 27 November, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) published its review into bias in algorithmic decision-making, which explored the different ways that algorithmic decision-making may affect protected characteristic data, such as race. We will respond to the report in due course. Facial recognition also remains a high priority for the ICO, which has indicated that it will be publishing more about its use by the private sector later this year.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps are being taken to reduce the risk of covid-19 infection for food bank (a) teams and (b) users.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Government has put into place measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, protect the NHS, and save lives. Current guidance states that you must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. Exceptions have been made to go to work or provide voluntary or charitable services, if this cannot reasonably be done from home. This only applies in England. There is separate guidance on coronavirus for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In order to reduce the risks relating to coronavirus, volunteers, including those working at food banks, should follow guidance on social distancing (hands, face, space) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing and working in a COVID-secure environment https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19. Specific guidance for volunteer-involving organisations and groups on how they can involve volunteers safely in their work during the pandemic is available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enabling-safe-and-effective-volunteering-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The government has not made a specific assessment of the effect of COVID-19 infections at UK foodbanks.
The Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport has made a total of £22.7m available to 911 organisations supporting food supply from the £750m voluntary, community and social enterprise sector support package. This will support the ability of foodbanks to provide emergency food aid to people in need.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport what assessment his Department has made of the effect of covid-19 infection rates on the (a) number of UK foodbank volunteers and (b) ability of foodbanks to provide emergency food aid to people in need.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Government has put into place measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, protect the NHS, and save lives. Current guidance states that you must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. Exceptions have been made to go to work or provide voluntary or charitable services, if this cannot reasonably be done from home. This only applies in England. There is separate guidance on coronavirus for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In order to reduce the risks relating to coronavirus, volunteers, including those working at food banks, should follow guidance on social distancing (hands, face, space) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing and working in a COVID-secure environment https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19. Specific guidance for volunteer-involving organisations and groups on how they can involve volunteers safely in their work during the pandemic is available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enabling-safe-and-effective-volunteering-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The government has not made a specific assessment of the effect of COVID-19 infections at UK foodbanks.
The Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport has made a total of £22.7m available to 911 organisations supporting food supply from the £750m voluntary, community and social enterprise sector support package. This will support the ability of foodbanks to provide emergency food aid to people in need.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
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 the CEO of the Charity Commission on the use of charity reserves since in each year since 2017.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State and Minister for Civil Society meet the Charity Commission on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters that are relevant to the charity sector. These have included discussions on the charity sector's financial resilience in relation to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Charity reserves make an important contribution to charities' financial resilience and their ability to respond to financial shocks. All registered charities in England and Wales must explain their policy on reserves in their trustees’ annual report, stating the level of reserves held and why they are held. We welcome the Charity Commission's guidance on charity reserves, which was originally published in 2016 and subsequently refreshed in 2018. The guidance sets out clearly what reserves are, how to develop a reserves policy, the legal requirements for publishing the reserves policy and reporting on it, and what trustees should do to keep proper oversight of their charity’s reserves. It continued to make clear that all charities need a policy that establishes a level of reserves that is right for the charity and clearly explains to its stakeholders why holding these reserves is necessary.
Building on this guidance, the Charity Commission provided clear advice to charities on financial management in 2020, including on the appropriate use of reserves in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has made no assessment of the specific impact of this advice.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
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 of the advice of the CEO of the Charity Commission given between 2017 and 2019 on the use of charity reserves on the ability of charities to deliver their charitable (a) objectives, (b) covid-19 services and (c) other services.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State and Minister for Civil Society meet the Charity Commission on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters that are relevant to the charity sector. These have included discussions on the charity sector's financial resilience in relation to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Charity reserves make an important contribution to charities' financial resilience and their ability to respond to financial shocks. All registered charities in England and Wales must explain their policy on reserves in their trustees’ annual report, stating the level of reserves held and why they are held. We welcome the Charity Commission's guidance on charity reserves, which was originally published in 2016 and subsequently refreshed in 2018. The guidance sets out clearly what reserves are, how to develop a reserves policy, the legal requirements for publishing the reserves policy and reporting on it, and what trustees should do to keep proper oversight of their charity’s reserves. It continued to make clear that all charities need a policy that establishes a level of reserves that is right for the charity and clearly explains to its stakeholders why holding these reserves is necessary.
Building on this guidance, the Charity Commission provided clear advice to charities on financial management in 2020, including on the appropriate use of reserves in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has made no assessment of the specific impact of this advice.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
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 jobs in the charity sector of the advice of the CEO of the Charity Commission given between 2017 and 2019 on the use of charity reserves.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State and Minister for Civil Society meet the Charity Commission on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters that are relevant to the charity sector. These have included discussions on the charity sector's financial resilience in relation to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Charity reserves make an important contribution to charities' financial resilience and their ability to respond to financial shocks. All registered charities in England and Wales must explain their policy on reserves in their trustees’ annual report, stating the level of reserves held and why they are held. We welcome the Charity Commission's guidance on charity reserves, which was originally published in 2016 and subsequently refreshed in 2018. The guidance sets out clearly what reserves are, how to develop a reserves policy, the legal requirements for publishing the reserves policy and reporting on it, and what trustees should do to keep proper oversight of their charity’s reserves. It continued to make clear that all charities need a policy that establishes a level of reserves that is right for the charity and clearly explains to its stakeholders why holding these reserves is necessary.
Building on this guidance, the Charity Commission provided clear advice to charities on financial management in 2020, including on the appropriate use of reserves in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has made no assessment of the specific impact of this advice.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what covid-19 safety guidance his Department has issued to arts organisations planning to stream live events from closed venues during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
From Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December, performing arts venues can continue to operate under Stages 1 and 2 of the performing arts roadmap. This means that professional rehearsal and training, and performances for broadcast or recording purposes, may continue as these are professional activities that cannot take place at home. However performances to live audiences cannot take place, either indoors or outdoors. During this period non-professional activity, such as amateur choirs and orchestra, cannot take place. Further information can be found in the performing arts guidance on gov.uk.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is seeking a legally binding guarantee to keep Arm as a separate entity with a separate business model that is not subject to US intellectual property provisions after Arm is sold from Softbank to Nvidia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As provided in previous parliamentary responses, ARM is an important part of the UK's tech sector and makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. While acquisitions are primarily a commercial matter for the parties concerned, the Government monitors these closely. When a takeover may have a significant impact on the UK we will not hesitate to investigate further and take action. We are scrutinising the deal carefully to understand its impact on the UK. The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the government to call in transactions such as this. We will consider if and when it would be appropriate to do so.