Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has undertaken research into the incidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among footballers.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm, including serious injuries. With that in mind, we expect sports to do all they can to protect their players as a fundamental part of their duty of care.
The Government remains committed to working with sports to build on the positive work on concussion that is already taking place, including the use of research. To that end, the Secretary of State and I hosted two roundtables on concussion in sport earlier this year to understand the issues from the perspectives of players and to push the sports on what more they can be doing, including research.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to compensate people who have lost money as a result of the collapse of Football Index.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has appointed Malcolm Sheehan QC to lead the independent review of the Football Index gambling product and we have published its scope and terms of reference on gov.uk. This review is entirely separate from the ongoing administration proceedings, which are looking at assets and liabilities of the company and recompense to customers. As I said in my Written Ministerial Statement of 7 June, the independent review will be conducted and report in such a way as to avoid prejudicing that process and the Gambling Commission’s ongoing regulatory investigation. The statement can be found at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-06-07/hcws63
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to help ensure that the Honresfield Library remains in the UK.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The UK’s export-licensing procedures allow us to identify important items of cultural property of national significance which are in danger of being sold abroad and to consider whether an attempt should be made to keep them in the UK, whilst respecting the rights of owners.
An export licence is required for cultural goods manufactured or produced more than 50 years before the date of export and valued above certain thresholds (except in the case of documents and manuscripts where there is no minimum financial value).
If items at risk of export are considered by an expert adviser to be of outstanding importance they are referred to the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art. If the Committee decides that an object meets one or more criteria used to determine national importance, it may recommend that the Secretary of State defers the granting of an export licence in order to give a UK institution or collector the opportunity to acquire it.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans a further programme of financial support for organisations affected by Tier 2 and Tier 3 local covid-19 alert level restrictions.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday 1 November, universal restrictions will be in place for the whole of England from 5 November until 2 December. Given the far reaching implications of this, the Government extended the furlough scheme for the duration of this period and grants for businesses forced to close. Due to this, some of the measures recently announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to support a regional approach will be paused.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to respond to the recommendations of the recent report of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We welcome all contributions to the debate around gambling, including the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group’s recent report, and we are considering its findings and recommendations carefully. We also look forward to forthcoming reports from the Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry, and the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into gambling regulation and problem gambling, to which we will formally respond.
The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
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 economic effect on UK musicians of leaving the transitional period without an agreement with the EU.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The UK’s creative industries deliver around 12 per cent of the UK’s total exports in services, and have grown rapidly in recent years. The government is committed to ensuring this growth continues.
DCMS has engaged extensively with union bodies, artists and cultural organisations to help understand the needs of the creative and cultural sector, including UK musicians who make up a significant proportion of people in these sectors. We understand the diverse circumstances of companies, organisations and individual practitioners and how they may need to adapt as we leave the EU.
We want a relationship with the EU based on friendly cooperation, centred on free trade on the lines of the free trade agreement the EU has with Canada. On temporary entry for business purposes (mode 4), a reciprocal agreement based on best precedent will mean that UK citizens will be able to undertake some paid business activities in the EU without a work permit, on a short-term basis. The precise details, including range of activities, documentation needed, and the time limit, will be negotiated. We are confident that such an agreement based on friendly cooperation can be achieved. However, in the event that such a comprehensive free trade agreement cannot be agreed, the transition period will end and the UK will operate under the deal agreed with the EU in 2019 and an arrangement similar to that between Australia and the EU.
In all circumstances, we expect UK musicians’ work to continue to be an export that is highly valued in the EU as it is across the world.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to seek to negotiate an agreement on multi-entry touring visas for UK musicians wishing to perform in the EU as part of the future partnership negotiations.
Answered by John Whittingdale
DCMS has engaged extensively with union bodies, companies, orchestras, individual musical practitioners and cultural organisations. We understand the importance of being able to tour. We recognise that this depends on musicians and crew being able to move quickly and easily between countries, taking necessary equipment with them.
We want a relationship with the EU based on friendly cooperation. On temporary entry for business purposes (mode 4), a reciprocal agreement based on best precedent will mean that UK citizens will be able to undertake some business activities in the EU without a work permit, on a short-term basis. The same would apply for EU citizens making business visits to the UK. The precise details, including range of activities, documentation needed, and the time limit, will be negotiated.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
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 number of masts that will be required to roll out 5G throughout the UK.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government is committed to establishing the UK as a global leader in 5G technology and ensuring that the majority of the population has access to a 5G signal by 2027. We have made good progress toward these aims, with 5G networks available in over 70 UK towns and cities and the investment of £200m in a 5G testbeds and trials programme.
5G deployment is still in its infancy and decisions on rollout and deployment remain a matter for the network operators themselves, based on need and demand for 5G services. It should be noted that in many cases 5G deployment will be delivered utilising masts that are currently used for the delivery of 4G services.
As roll out continues Government will continue to work with industry and stakeholders to support the timely and efficient rollout of 5G across the UK.