Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to consult on the future of Channel 4.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 as part of our review of the public service broadcasting ecosystem.
The public consultation ran for 10 weeks before closing on 14 September. We received around 60,000 responses.
We are analysing every response to make sure we come to an informed decision on whether a change of ownership is the best way to secure Channel 4’s future.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What recent assessment his Department has made of the progress of the covid-19 vaccine rollout.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Due to our successful COVID-19 vaccination programme we have now delivered over 83 million doses to people in England, including 3.6 million booster and third doses to the most vulnerable since September.
This has reduced the link between case numbers and hospitalisation, preventing the National Health Service from becoming overwhelmed and provided additional protection ahead of the winter.
Over 24.3million infections have been prevented and more than 127,000 lives saved to date.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
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 adequacy of online gambling protections provided by gambling companies for (a) known frequent gamblers and (b) other online users.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Keeping gambling fair and open and free from crime, and protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited are priorities for the government and key licensing objectives for the Gambling Commission. The Commission requires all operators to monitor gambling activity and to intervene where a customer may be at risk of harm. It has consulted on tightening its rules on customer interaction for online operators and will publish a response and next steps in the summer.
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of the Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of our regulatory system, including protections for online gamblers and the Gambling Commission's powers and resources. We aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
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 effectiveness of the Gambling Commission in reducing gambling-related harms.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Keeping gambling fair and open and free from crime, and protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited are priorities for the government and key licensing objectives for the Gambling Commission. The Commission requires all operators to monitor gambling activity and to intervene where a customer may be at risk of harm. It has consulted on tightening its rules on customer interaction for online operators and will publish a response and next steps in the summer.
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of the Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of our regulatory system, including protections for online gamblers and the Gambling Commission's powers and resources. We aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question 175810 on Education: Finance, if he will confirm the cost of using a national funding rate of £4,760 to calculate 16-19 funding allocations for 2020-21.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Modelling the cost of increasing the base rate to £4,760 for 16-19 funding allocations for 2020-21 would require consideration of various factors, such as, the forecast of expected student numbers across age ranges, the characteristics of those students, the courses undertaken, the effect of lagged funding and the impact of the policy change required. The department does not routinely make estimates of this kind.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on updates to the Transpennine rail route.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
£589m funding announced in July 2020 has enabled further design and development work on the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme. The first stages of Overhead Line Electrification (OLE) installation have begun between York and Church Fenton, and in the Spring Network Rail will be carrying out engineering work between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge to support future masts and electric wires.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the eastern leg of HS2 that connects the line to Yorkshire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government is committed to ensuring Yorkshire reaps the benefits on high-speed services. The Integrated Rail Plan will consider the sequencing and delivery of HS2, as well as Northern Powerhouse Rail and other rail investment projects to ensure the benefits of these investments are delivered to passengers and communities more quickly. We intend to publish the IRP this Spring.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the cost of increasing the national funding rate for all full time 16, 17 and 18 year old students to £4,760 per year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The information requested is not held centrally as the department does not routinely make estimates of this kind. Modelling such costs would require consideration of various factors, such as the forecast of expected student numbers across age ranges, the characteristics of those students, the courses undertaken, the effect of lagged funding and the impact of the policy change required.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish his timeframe for the policy development and publishing of the Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A new Tobacco Control plan is due to be published later this year and will set out further ambitions to deliver a smoke free country by 2030. Policies for the new plan are currently under development. We will consider all proposals from the 2019 Green Paper, including those on e-cigarettes and addressing smoking in particular vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to bring forward proposals in the Green Paper, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, in the upcoming Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A new Tobacco Control plan is due to be published later this year and will set out further ambitions to deliver a smoke free country by 2030. Policies for the new plan are currently under development. We will consider all proposals from the 2019 Green Paper, including those on e-cigarettes and addressing smoking in particular vulnerable groups.