Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with broadcast media on ensuring balanced coverage of people who claim benefits.
Answered by Margot James
The government does not influence programming decisions, as broadcasters are editorially independent of government. Ofcom, as the independent communications regulator, is responsible for enforcing the Broadcasting Code which sets rules for licensed broadcasters to follow. This includes a requirement for broadcasters to treat individuals within programmes fairly, and material facts must not be presented in a way that is unfair to an individual.
The government is committed to supporting the broadcasting sector to ensure that it provides for and reflects the whole of the UK population, including individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the planned timescale is for implementation of the voluntary ban on advertising on television by betting companies during sporting events.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In December the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) announced changes to its advertising code. These include a ‘whistle to whistle’ ban on all TV betting adverts during pre-watershed live sport, including for 5 minutes before and after play, an end to betting adverts around highlight shows and re-runs, and an end to pre-watershed bookmaker sponsorship of sports programmes. The IGRG announced that the changes are expected to come into effect in summer.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what protections there are to ensure that a personal CCTV system located in a residence or business does no film people on public property; and what recourse there is in the event that an owner of such a CCTV system does not provide film material of people on public property taken with that system when requested to do so.
Answered by Margot James
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulates and enforces the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) which covers images recorded by CCTV cameras. The DPA places obligations on individuals and organisations to process personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner.
The ICO has a number of tools available to ensure compliance with data protection rules which include criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audits. For those who commit serious breaches there are significant financial penalties including fines up to £18 million or 4% of global turnover that can be applied as well as the backstop of criminal prosecution.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many current contracts his Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.
Answered by Margot James
Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive
Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search