Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle online (a) direct or indirect threats of physical or sexual violence against women, (b) targeted harassment of women and (c) privacy violations of women.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. Companies will be held to account for tackling harms occurring on their platforms, including hate crime, harassment and cyberstalking.
The Law Commission is also to conducting a second phase of its review of the legal framework around abusive and offensive communications online. This will include considering whether co-ordinated harassment by groups of people online could be more effectively dealt with by the criminal law. The review will make specific recommendations for legal reform and is due to report in early 2021.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle and (b) protect victims of online (i) racist, (ii) transphobic and (iii) homophobic abuse.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. Companies will be held to account for tackling harms occurring on their platforms, including hate crime.
The Law Commission is also conducting a second phase of its review of the legal framework around abusive and offensive communications online. This will include considering whether co-ordinated harassment by groups of people online could be more effectively dealt with by the criminal law. The review will make specific recommendations for legal reform and is due to report in early 2021.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of employment tribunal decision, Ms A Braine and others v The National Gallery: 2201625/2018.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the decision of the Employment Tribunal, the National Gallery paid a total of £158,000 (inclusive of VAT) in backdated holiday pay to those individuals who were found by the Tribunal to have had ‘worker’ status while providing education services for the Gallery.
In common with all publicly funded cultural institutions, the National Gallery operates independently and at arm’s length from Government. Arm’s Length Bodies are required to adhere to all relevant employment law, but their individual staffing structures and contractual arrangements are decisions to be taken solely by the gallery’s executive and trustees.
I understand, however, that the National Gallery disputes the way in which aspects of this case have been characterised, including the notion that the employment tribunal was a test case for the ‘gig economy’ in the arts. More broadly, the 2017 Mendoza Review of Museums in England considered in detail the nature of employment in the museums sector; the Review Team found no evidence of widespread poor practice or insecure employment in the museums sector.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 extent of (a) poor employment practice and (b) insecure work at publicly funded cultural institutions.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the decision of the Employment Tribunal, the National Gallery paid a total of £158,000 (inclusive of VAT) in backdated holiday pay to those individuals who were found by the Tribunal to have had ‘worker’ status while providing education services for the Gallery.
In common with all publicly funded cultural institutions, the National Gallery operates independently and at arm’s length from Government. Arm’s Length Bodies are required to adhere to all relevant employment law, but their individual staffing structures and contractual arrangements are decisions to be taken solely by the gallery’s executive and trustees.
I understand, however, that the National Gallery disputes the way in which aspects of this case have been characterised, including the notion that the employment tribunal was a test case for the ‘gig economy’ in the arts. More broadly, the 2017 Mendoza Review of Museums in England considered in detail the nature of employment in the museums sector; the Review Team found no evidence of widespread poor practice or insecure employment in the museums sector.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 employment tribunal decision, Ms A Braine and others v The National Gallery: 2201625/2018 on other publicly-funded cultural institutions.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the decision of the Employment Tribunal, the National Gallery paid a total of £158,000 (inclusive of VAT) in backdated holiday pay to those individuals who were found by the Tribunal to have had ‘worker’ status while providing education services for the Gallery.
In common with all publicly funded cultural institutions, the National Gallery operates independently and at arm’s length from Government. Arm’s Length Bodies are required to adhere to all relevant employment law, but their individual staffing structures and contractual arrangements are decisions to be taken solely by the gallery’s executive and trustees.
I understand, however, that the National Gallery disputes the way in which aspects of this case have been characterised, including the notion that the employment tribunal was a test case for the ‘gig economy’ in the arts. More broadly, the 2017 Mendoza Review of Museums in England considered in detail the nature of employment in the museums sector; the Review Team found no evidence of widespread poor practice or insecure employment in the museums sector.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to tackle (a) reports of poor employment practices, (b) insecure work and (c) the gig economy within publicly-funded cultural institutions.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the decision of the Employment Tribunal, the National Gallery paid a total of £158,000 (inclusive of VAT) in backdated holiday pay to those individuals who were found by the Tribunal to have had ‘worker’ status while providing education services for the Gallery.
In common with all publicly funded cultural institutions, the National Gallery operates independently and at arm’s length from Government. Arm’s Length Bodies are required to adhere to all relevant employment law, but their individual staffing structures and contractual arrangements are decisions to be taken solely by the gallery’s executive and trustees.
I understand, however, that the National Gallery disputes the way in which aspects of this case have been characterised, including the notion that the employment tribunal was a test case for the ‘gig economy’ in the arts. More broadly, the 2017 Mendoza Review of Museums in England considered in detail the nature of employment in the museums sector; the Review Team found no evidence of widespread poor practice or insecure employment in the museums sector.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 social media on young people’s mental health; and what plans his Department has to ensure that social media companies protect vulnerable young people.
Answered by Margot James
On 7th February, the UK Chief Medical Officers published their independent systematic map of evidence on screen and social media use in children and young people, and recommended next steps and advice for parents and carers. You can view the report here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/777026/UK_CMO_commentary_on_screentime_and_social_media_map_of_reviews.pdf
The DCMS and Home Office Online Harms White Paper, due to be published shortly, will contain a range of legislative and non-legislative measures, setting out definitive plans to tackle a wide range of harms that users, including children and young people, face online.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) social media companies and (b) online news platforms ban and remove harmful and extremist content.
Answered by Margot James
The forthcoming Online Harms White Paper will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures detailing how we will tackle online harms and setting clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep people safe online.
The press is subject to independent self-regulation. These regulators issue their own codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas including discrimination, accuracy and the reporting of crime.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to provide additional funding and support to youth services and projects engaging with young people at risk of violence.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises that the causes of youth crime are complex and are often tied to local factors. Local authorities allocate funding and deliver youth services in line with local need. The Government has made over £200bn available to local authorities to spend on local services over this Spending Review.
The Government is committed to making sure young people have opportunities to develop their skills and benefit from youth services, which are an important partner in the strategy to tackle the root causes of serious violence. The Office for Civil Society (OCS), now based in DCMS, has spent over £667m on youth programmes and supporting youth service delivery between 2014/15 and 2017/18 - with £190m of that being spent in 2017/18.
In addition, a new £200 million Youth Endowment Fund will be delivered over 10 years and will support interventions with children and young people at risk of involvement in crime and violence, will focus on those most at risk of youth violence including those displaying signs such as truancy, aggression and involvement in anti-social behaviour in order to steer them away from becoming serious offenders.
My department will continue to work closely with the Home Office on the implementation of the Serious Violence Strategy.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 youth services and social services on reducing youth violence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises that the causes of youth crime are complex and are often tied to local factors. Local authorities allocate funding and deliver youth services in line with local need. The Government has made over £200bn available to local authorities to spend on local services over this Spending Review.
The Government is committed to making sure young people have opportunities to develop their skills and benefit from youth services, which are an important partner in the strategy to tackle the root causes of serious violence.
My department will continue to work closely with the Home Office on the implementation of the Serious Violence Strategy.