Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Prime Minister on the BBC decision to change the eligibility criteria for free TV licences for people aged 75 and over.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State frequently discuss a wide range of issues relating to the business of the Department, including television and the media.
The Government has been clear that the future of the over 75s concession is the responsibility of the BBC, not Government. In the 2015 funding settlement, we agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020; this reform was then debated and agreed by Parliament in the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017.
The Government is disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the over 75s concession to only those aged over 75 and in receipt of Pension Credit. We recognise the importance of television to people of all ages, particularly for older people who value television as a way to stay connected with the world. The Secretary of State met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC, and asked them to do more to help those affected by its decision.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the BBC's decision to change the eligibility criteria for free TV licences on the incomes of over-75s households in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The future of the over 75 concession is the responsibility of the BBC, not Government. We are very disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the concession to only those aged over 75 in receipt of Pension Credit.
The BBC published research from Frontier Economics in November 2018 which looked at the potential impact of changes to the concession on those aged 75 and over. This research is available here: https://www.frontier-economics.com/media/2896/bbc-licence-fee-report-nov-18.pdf
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 representatives from (a) Facebook and (b) Twitter on the removal of abusive and harmful content from their platforms.
Answered by Margot James
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media companies on a range of issues including the removal of harmful or abusive content.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 BBC on its public consultation on licence fees for people aged over-75.
Answered by Margot James
The government regularly meets with the BBC to discuss a range of issues, including the over 75 concession.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
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 enable young people to participate in open access youth work.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The provision of open access youth services in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
Government recognises the transformational impact that open access youth work can have especially for young people facing multiple barriers of disadvantage, that is why we have invested £40m in the Youth Investment Fund to boost open access youth services in 6 disadvantaged areas and expect over 300,000 young people to benefit.
However Local Authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide sufficient open access services in their area. We believe they are best placed to know what is required in their communities.
The Government announced in the Civil Society Strategy its commitment to reviewing the guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services. Further announcements will be made in due course.