Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on tax concessions for small music venues.
Answered by Margot James
Ministers have regular discussions with their Cabinet colleagues on a range of matters, including supporting music venues.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the cost to (a) small clubs, (b) charities and (c) churches of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation; and what assessment she has made of the current level of compliance with that regulation.
Answered by Margot James
The European Commission published an Impact Assessment on the regulatory impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is available on their website.
HM Government's Impact Assessment for the Data Protection Bill assesses there will be implementation costs for a range of organisations but that the overall effect of the Act is de-regulatory. This Impact Assessment is available on gov.uk.
The Information Commissioner is responsible for monitoring compliance with the UK's new data protection laws.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has published a range of user-friendly material on the GDPR on its website. It has also set up a dedicated phone line for small businesses and charities. Details can be viewed at: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/advice-service-for-small-organisations/.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the economic value of tourism to (a) the UK and (b) Yorkshire.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Tourism is a vitally important aspect of the UK’s economy, worth over £66 billion to the UK’s GVA in 2016, which is over 14% of the UK’s total GVA. Tourism also supports over 1.5m jobs across the country.
In the Yorkshire and Humber area, VisitEngland’s Tourism survey of domestic overnight visitors shows that 10.7m visits were made over the same period, accounting for spend of £1.75 billion.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on preparations to implement the broadband universal service obligation; if he will prioritise the allocation of broadband funding for areas with (a) very slow and (b) no connections; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
By 2020 the Universal Service Obligation (USO) will give everyone the legal right to high speed broadband of at least 10Mbps.
We created new powers for this in the Digital Economy Act 2017, and subsequently ran a public consultation on the design of the USO, which we will be setting in secondary legislation very shortly.
Ofcom will then be responsible for implementing the USO, including designating the universal service providers and the design of an industry cost-sharing fund.
The USO is demand-led, and will, upon request, allow anyone who does not have a connection that meets the minimum specification from a designated provider, no matter where they live or work, up to a reasonable cost threshold.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to set up a Data Ethics Commission.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Data governance, and the effective and ethical use of data, are vital for the future of our economy and society. The Government is committed to creating a sound ethical framework in the UK that will give people confidence in how their data is being handled and used.
We are currently considering the British Academy and Royal Society’s thoughtful report in this issue (https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/projects/data-governance/data-management-governance.pdf) and will set out next steps shortly.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) cost to the public purse, of the loss of library books in the last five years; and what steps she is taking to help local authorities prevent such losses.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Department has not made an estimate of the number and cost of library books in public libraries in England that have been lost in the five years since 2012. Local library authorities are responsible for providing public library services including managing book stock available for library lending.
The Libraries Taskforce is committed to working with local library authorities in England to promote improved procurement processes including of bookstock.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2016 to Question 48050, if her Department will make representations to Ofcom on introducing a cap on the amount of spectrum each mobile operator can hold.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ofcom is still considering the rules for the forthcoming auction. We will await their findings.