Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the publication of the Online Harms White Paper, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on assuming the role of the proposed regulator.
Answered by Margot James
As outlined in the White Paper, we intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. This regulator will set clear safety standards, backed up by mandatory reporting requirements and effective enforcement powers.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the total net economic effect of foreign tourists visiting (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Office for National Statistics only holds data on the Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK’s economy in 2013 at a regional level. They also document the UK’s GVA every year at a national level (shown in the table below). They do not hold GVA information at a city level. In 2013, the GVA for tourism in the West Midlands was 3.76bn.
Direct Tourism GVA in the UK:
Year | UK |
2009 | £44.6bn |
2010 | £49bn |
2011 | £53bn |
2012 | £57.3bn |
2013 | £59bn |
2014 | £60.4bn |
2015 | £64.6bn |
2016 | £68.3bn |
2017 | £67.7bn (Provisional) |
2018 | Not available yet |
The following table outlines the international visitor spend in the locations requested:
Year | West Midlands | UK |
2009 | £594.5m | £16.5bn |
2010 | £549.2m | £16.8bn |
2011 | £570.6m | £17.9bn |
2012 | £577.9m | £18.5bn |
2013 | £843.2m | £21.1bn |
2014 | £761.3m | £21.7bn |
2015 | £816.2m | £21.9bn |
2016 | £854.7m | £22.4bn |
2017 | £806.9m | £24.4bn |
2018 | Not available yet | Not available yet |
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with social media companies on the adequacy of the (a) age limits on users of their services and (b) checks that those companies have in place on the age of users.
Answered by Margot James
The department has regular conversations with social media firms on a variety of issues. We want the UK to be the safest place to be online, including to prevent children under the minimum required age from using social media platforms
As a result, the government has been clear that platforms must do more to enforce their terms of use, especially when children under the minimum required age are using social media platforms. In addition, both my department and other government departments are working with the technology sector to identify new tools and approaches that can be used to verify the age of users.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of youth centres that have closed in each year since 2010 in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Local Authorities are not required to collect this data and we do not keep the data centrally. Given the contribution of community and uniform youth groups, data on local authority run youth clubs would not give the full picture of provision available to young people.
Alongside this, we are investing significantly in youth organisations in a number of ways including:
* Over 1bn funding available for NCS over this Spending Review period. NCS is delivered via a supply chain network of over 100 organisations, many of which are youth organisations, allowing this funding to benefit communities at a local level;
* Up to £80 million (in partnership with Big Lottery Fund) through the Youth Investment and #iwill funds in voluntary and community organisations that work with young people;
* The £2m Building Connections Fund, in partnership with the Co-op Foundation, which is available to youth organisations helping to support young people to avoid long-term loneliness; and
* We have invested over £750,000 in various youth voice activities, such as UK Youth Parliament, the Make Your Mark youth ballot and groups to involve young people in national policy design.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 his counterpart in the Irish Government on a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cu; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The FAs of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland are working together to explore the feasibility of a joint bid. UK government officials have been an active partner in those discussions alongside the Devolved Administrations and the Irish Government. No Ministerial meetings with Irish Government counterparts have taken place to date, reflecting the very early stage of this exploratory work.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 of (a) FIFA and (b) IOC on the unlawful detainment of footballer Hakeem al-Araibi in Thailand.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The detention of Hakeem al-Araibi in Thailand was recently raised at the debate on Sport in the UK and in questions to FCO colleagues. This is a matter for the Governments of Thailand, Bahrain and Australia.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Treasury Act 1996 to promoting museum-led conservation.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The aim of the Treasure Act 1996 is to preserve important and significant finds for public collections. The intention is that at the end of the process governed by the Act and its associated code of practice, a treasure find will be acquired and conserved by a museum.
The Act and code both emphasise the importance of conservation throughout the treasure find process. The code contains extensive information on the treatment of finds and urges finders to follow appropriate codes of conduct and to seek the advice of professional archaeologists of archaeological and conservation methods.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme, which operates in England and Wales, and which records archaeological finds, also provides advice on conservation to finders.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 Secretary of State for Transport on the adequacy of travel arrangements for football fans.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of matters, and we are aware of the issues around travel to and from football matches. The Department for Transport is working collaboratively with their partners in the rail industry, football bodies and other stakeholders to improve travel for supporters.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 his US counterpart on Huawei; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
DCMS Ministers and officials speak with international counterparts, including the US, on a range of matters, including telecoms.
DCMS is leading a cross-government review of the UK telecoms supply chain. The Review is considering the full UK market position, including economic prosperity, corporate and consumer effects, and the quality, resilience and security standards of equipment with a view to establishing a robust supply chain policy framework that balances security and prosperity. The terms of reference for the review are available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 (a) English Football League, and (b) other stakeholders on the future of Coventry City Football Club; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department remains in regular contact with the English Football League on the situation regarding Coventry City Football Club. I look forward to discussing this further at the Westminster Hall debate on this issue tomorrow.