Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department will publish a response to the Technical consultation on a Community Wealth Fund in England, which closed on 19 October 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is grateful to all those who took the time to respond to the technical consultation. Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are carefully considering all of the responses received. The government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people over 75 years of age (a) have been (i) fined, (ii) arrested, (iii) imprisoned and (b) are subject to legal action for non payment of their television licence.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Responsibility for collecting and enforcing the Licence Fee is the responsibility of the BBC. The BBC has confirmed that no enforcement action has been taken against over-75s for TV licence evasion at this stage.
The Secretary of State has been clear that the BBC must ensure that it supports those affected by its decision on the over-75s concession and we expect them to do so with the utmost sensitivity.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2021 to Question 155057, on Gaming: Coronavirus, for what reason licensed betting offices with gaming machines are a greater social and economic priority than adult gaming centres with those machines.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government has designed the roadmap for reopening premises following careful consideration of the evidence and scientific advice. The roadmap strikes a balance between mitigating the social, health and economic impacts of closures and the need to avoid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections. It also takes account of the cumulative impact of easing restrictions and the need to assess the impact at each step. Under the current roadmap, all non-essential retail will open at Step 2, not before 12 April. Indoor entertainment and indoor leisure will open at Step 3, not before 17 May.
As the business of Adult Gaming Centres consists entirely of customers playing machines within the premises, they are considered to be entertainment and will open at Step 3. The customers of Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) may enter the premises, place a bet and leave with a betting slip, a transaction more similar to purchasing goods in a shop. While LBOs will be permitted to open at Step 2, they will be subject to a number of additional restrictions as set out in the previous Tier 3 guidance. These include showing no live sport or racing and having no chairs, as well as early closure. Under normal circumstances LBOs are limited to offering a maximum of four gaming machines and only two may be made available under these restrictions.
In recognition of the impact of requiring some businesses to remain closed for a longer period, the Chancellor announced an enhanced package of support at the Budget, including Restart Grants of up to £18,000 per premises, specifically for those which must remain closed beyond Step 2.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the Government's policy is that adult gaming centres are unable to open on 12 April 2021; and what the evidential basis is for that policy.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government has designed the roadmap for reopening premises following careful consideration of the evidence and scientific advice. The roadmap strikes a balance between mitigating the social, health and economic impacts of closures and the need to avoid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections. It also takes account of the cumulative impact of easing restrictions and the need to assess the impact at each step. Under the current roadmap, all non-essential retail will open at Step 2, not before 12 April. Indoor entertainment and indoor leisure will open at Step 3, not before 17 May.
As the business of Adult Gaming Centres consists entirely of customers playing machines within the premises, they are considered to be entertainment and will open at Step 3. The customers of Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) may enter the premises, place a bet and leave with a betting slip, a transaction more similar to purchasing goods in a shop. While LBOs will be permitted to open at Step 2, they will be subject to a number of additional restrictions as set out in the previous Tier 3 guidance. These include showing no live sport or racing and having no chairs, as well as early closure. Under normal circumstances LBOs are limited to offering a maximum of four gaming machines and only two may be made available under these restrictions.
In recognition of the impact of requiring some businesses to remain closed for a longer period, the Chancellor announced an enhanced package of support at the Budget, including Restart Grants of up to £18,000 per premises, specifically for those which must remain closed beyond Step 2.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the covid-19 roadmap guidance will be updated to cover fairgrounds and travelling fairgrounds; and whether that guidance will include discretionary guidance for local authorities.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We will re-enable outdoor events such as funfairs and fairgrounds in Step 2 of the roadmap, as referenced here, subject to local authority approval where required. Step 2 will take place at least 5 weeks after Step 1 and no earlier than 12 April, subject to an assessment of the data.
Whilst outdoor events are not currently able to proceed due to the national restrictions, my Department looks forward to working across Government and with Local Authorities, Public Health England and the sector itself to get funfairs running safely and successfully once they are permitted.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether adult gaming centres will reopen at the same time as other retail venues listed in the Government’s shops and branches guidance when covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Prime Minister announced on Monday 22 February that indoor entertainment venues, which will include Adult Gaming Centres, will open at Step 3 of the roadmap, not before 17 May. The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, while preserving the health and safety of the country.
At next week’s Budget the Chancellor will set out the next phase in our economic support package to reflect the steps set out in the Prime Minister’s roadmap to easing restrictions, tailoring support for individuals and businesses to reflect the changing public health restrictions.
Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department has provided on the reopening of Adult Gaming Centres.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has published guidance to help businesses understand how to make workplaces Covid-secure and help tackle the spread of the virus. When they are open, Adult Gaming Centres should follow the shops and branches guidance in addition to Bacta’s specific guidance for FECs and AGCs to ensure they can operate as safely as possible.
As announced by the Prime Minister, we intend to publish our plan for taking the country out of lockdown in the last week of February. That plan will depend on the continued success of our vaccination programme, and on a sustained reduction in Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
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 restricting the Tampon Tax Fund to charities which specialise in women’s issues.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The purpose of the Tampon Tax Fund is to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to projects that improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls. The existing criteria for the Fund - with the focus on onwards grants to small and medium sized charities and direct support for vulnerable women and girls - maximise the reach and impact of the Tampon Tax Fund across the UK. Whether directly or through onwards grants, tampon tax fund is exclusively made available to projects that support vulnerable women and girls.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the number of applications that UK Community Foundations has received for its onward grants of using Tampon Tax Fund money.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2018, UK Community Foundations (UKCF) were awarded £3.4 million from the Tampon Tax Fund to make onward grants to grassroots charities across the UK. In their end of year report submitted in March 2019, they outline that they received 1,469 applications in total to this onward grants fund, from which 407 grants were awarded.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the funding UK Community Foundation and Women’s Aid Federation of England were given from the 2017-2018 Tampon Tax Fund has been used for their own administration of those grants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the 2018-19 round of Tampon Tax Funding, UK Community Foundations were awarded £3.4 million from the Tampon Tax Fund to run an onward grants programme across the UK, of which £219,380 has been allocated to administration. The Women’s Aid Federation of England were awarded £1,509,850 for a project addressing domestic abuse, of which £609,040 was designated for onward grants. The cost of administering these grants has not been separated from the general costs of running their programme of activities.