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Written Question
Gambling: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th December 2020

Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Middleton South)

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 received on the rate of covid-19 transmission in adult gaming centres to justify keeping such centres closed in areas with tier 3 restrictions in December 2020.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"I remind hon. Members that there have been some changes to normal practice in order to support the new call list system and to ensure that social distancing can be respected. Members should sanitise their microphones using the cleaning materials provided before they use them and respect the one-way system …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"Before I bring in Seema Malhotra, I have been asked whether Members who are not on the call list can intervene, as was the practice before covid-19. The answer is no, you have to be on the call list to speak. I understand there is one Member waiting outside to …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"I think it would be sensible and help hon. Members if I impose a formal three-minute time limit from now. I call Julian Knight...."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"I apologise to the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley): I have gone one out of order on the call list...."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"Before I call the SNP spokesperson, I have a small announcement to make. Members should be aware that the first nine minutes of this debate were not broadcast, due to technical problems, but there will of course be a full record of the debate in Hansard...."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

"The Minister has more time than I expected, but I trust he will still leave time for the Member who introduced the debate to sum up...."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 22 Jun 2020
BBC Regional Politics Coverage

"I hope I will not break the sequence of the hon. Gentleman agreeing with all hon. Members who have intervened. Like me, he must have received a letter from the BBC this morning, proudly saying that it spent two thirds of its money in the regions and other nations. Of …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 22 Jun 2020
BBC Regional Politics Coverage

"I do not know whether my hon. Friend is as sad as I am, but over recent weekends, I have switched on the Parliament channel, and people can see coverage of virtually all the general elections there have been since television started covering them. One really interesting factor from those …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 04 Mar 2020
Huawei and 5G

"The right hon. Gentleman is making the case that security is paramount. Does he agree that there is also a commercial argument, in that the Government are going to reward Huawei, which has bought its way into the system? Its first tenders in the 3G and 4G networks were at …..."
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