Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 potential economic merits of The Independent Game Developers' Association's proposal for a video games investment fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS’ Creative Industries Economic Estimates show that the UK video games industry contributed an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy in 2019, up from £0.4 billion in 2010, and its headcount has grown to 27,000, a 47% increase since 2013.
I am pleased that in 2021/22 my Department will be continuing to fund the UK Games Fund, which provides valuable support to early stage games development businesses and talented graduates throughout the UK. We continue to consider what further actions we can take to underpin the games sector’s vital contribution to the UK’s future economic success. We are currently looking closely at industry’s most recent proposals, including The Independent Game Developers Association’s updated proposal for the creation of a new, large scale video games investment fund.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 potential effect of not having an EU Data Adequacy Agreement on the UK video games sector.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We see no reason why the UK should not be awarded data adequacy by the EU and we expect the process to be concluded promptly. However, we advise UK organisations to take sensible steps to prepare for a situation where the EU does not adopt adequacy decisions for the UK.
In such a scenario, businesses and other organisations would be able to use alternative legal mechanisms to continue to transfer personal data. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are the most common legal safeguard and will be the relevant mitigation for most organisations. Guidance can be found on GOV.UK and the ICO’s websites regarding steps organisations may be required to take relating to data protection and data flows by the end of the bridging period.
We have liaised extensively with representatives from the video games industry and fully recognise the key role the sector can play in the future prosperity of the UK. Video games contributed an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy in 2019.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the video games sector.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We recognise the importance of the UK video games industry, which is a significant player in the global games industry, with scope to deliver powerful economic benefits for the UK. The sector contributed an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy in 2019, a 9.1% year-on-year increase from 2018.
The UK games industry relies on a highly skilled workforce that possesses leading technical and creative expertise. The UK and the EU have agreed to a list of activities that can be carried out by short-term business visitors without the need for a work permit, on a reciprocal basis in most Member States, subject to any reservations taken. Domestically, the UK’s new Points Based System will enable companies to attract the best and brightest from around the world.
Data is of fundamental importance to the video games industry. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement helps to facilitate the cross-border flow of data by prohibiting requirements to store or process data in a specific location. As the EU left insufficient time to ratify data adequacy decisions before the end of 2020, we have agreed a time limited ‘bridging mechanism’ which will allow personal data to continue to flow as it does now whilst EU adequacy decisions for the UK are adopted, and for no more than 6 months. We see no reason why the UK should not be awarded data adequacy by the EU and we expect the process to be concluded promptly. However, we advise UK organisations to take sensible steps to prepare for a situation where the EU does not adopt adequacy decisions for the UK.
The video games sector relies on continued market access to export digital goods and services throughout the EU. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and the EU. The Agreement also secures commitments on the promotion of cross border trade in services by providing service suppliers and investors with transparency and certainty about future trade with the EU.
The sector also relies on a strong and stable framework governing Intellectual Property rights. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement represents a good balance between securing high standards for copyright protection and securing the UK’s domestic flexibility to continue to improve and adapt the copyright framework to meet future opportunities and challenges.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department has provided to (a) fairgrounds, (b) other outdoor events and (c) the wider events sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has introduced a number of support measures for businesses and individuals through COVID-19, which fairgrounds and the wider outdoor events sector can access. These include various government-backed loans, as well as the extended furlough and self-employed support schemes. We also introduced a substantial, UK-wide cut in VAT for many tourism and hospitality activities, including admission to circuses and fairs, until the end of March.
In light of the national restrictions announced on 4 January, the Chancellor has announced one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring. He also announced that a £594 million discretionary fund will be made available to support other impacted businesses.
This comes on top of the existing Additional Restrictions Grant discretionary funding and the Local Restrictions Support Grants.
On 13 January I met with representatives of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain to assess how we can most effectively support the fairground industry through this period. We also remain in close contact with the wider events sector via the Tourism Industry Council and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Panel to closely monitor the situation.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, prior to 30 January 2020, when a Minister of his Department most recently visited Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Helen Whately, then Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, visited Chatterley Whitfield Colliery Heritage Centre, with Jonathan Gullis MP on Wednesday 29th January 2020.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 help Kidsgrove Sports Centre to reopen.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity facilities are crucial for adults and children to stay active. Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. On 22 October, the Government announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres. In addition, Sport England has also provided over £220 million directly to support the sector through this pandemic with the Community Emergency Fund of £35m specifically to support community sport clubs and exercise centres.
As the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions ended on Wednesday 2 December, and gyms and sport facilities can reopen across all tiers. As set out in the COVID Winter Plan the decision to allocate tiers is based on a range of factors and will be reviewed every 14 days. In Tier 3 areas we have taken further measures to limit social interactions and therefore opportunities for the virus to spread. Outdoor organised sport can resume, but the Government will advise against contact sports with a higher risk of transmission, although these can still go ahead for under 18s and disabled groups. Group activity and exercise classes indoors are also advised against.
I know that Sport England are continuing to work with Newcastle Under Lyme borough council and the charity on the development of Kidsgrove Sports Centre project.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on delivering support for local authority owned culture and heritage assets through the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Support for the Arts for Local Authorities in Round 1 was £23,376,244. Support for Heritage for Local Authorities in Round 1 was £1,435,900. This included funding for councils and local government owned assets including museums, theatres, music venues, archives; designed landscapes; buildings; monuments and industrial transport.
In addition to the arts and heritage emergency recovery grants, The CRF Heritage Stimulus Fund ‘Covid-19 Emergency Heritage at Risk’ stream granted £89,870.
Under the CRF Heritage Stimulus Fund ‘Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk Fund’ Lincoln City Council received £1,086,629 for Lincoln Castle and Blackpool City Council received £764,000 for the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on distributing the tampon tax to support women and girls.
Answered by John Whittingdale
To date more than £62 million of VAT on sanitary products has gone to good causes supporting women and girls, through the Tampon Tax Fund. The successful applicants to the 20/21 round of the Tampon Tax Fund were announced on gov.uk on Friday 27th November 2020 and funding will be distributed in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 increase the availability of full fibre broadband in Stoke-on-Trent.
Answered by Matt Warman
Good progress has been made in the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency, with over 99% of premises in the constituency able to access superfast broadband. This is up from 73% in March 2013. Gigabit-capable coverage in the constituency stands at 8%.
There is an active Local Full Fibre Network Project (LFFN) taking place in Stoke-on-Trent with around 110km of new fibre network being built with the aim of creating 100% city wide full fibre connectivity. DCMS have invested over £9 million into this project with a supplier also contributing. There is a video which gives an overview of this Government funded project in Stoke here: https://vimeo.com/368247591
On top of that, 25 premises took advantage of our recently closed Gigabit Voucher Scheme in the area.
For those premises that are still struggling with slow speeds, there are a number of options available to them. DCMS runs another voucher scheme that can be used by rural communities across the UK to reduce the cost of installing gigabit-capable connectivity. This provides a voucher worth up to £3,500 for eligible small businesses and vouchers worth up to £1,500 for residents. However, Staffordshire County Council have recently committed to “top up” these voucher values investing £1m of funding in addition to eligible funding from the Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme. This means that in rural areas of Staffordshire, residents can get a voucher of up to £3,500 and small businesses a voucher of up to £5,500.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 tackle (a) anti-semitism and (b) islamophobia online.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is absolutely clear that there is no place for hateful content online. In April 2019 the Government published the Online Harms White Paper setting out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place to be online. In February 2020 the Initial Government Response to the consultation was published indicating the direction of travel for the legislation. The Full Government Response detailing proposals for the legislation will be published later this year.
Government recognises that incidents of online hate crime are becoming more prevalent and we are taking action to tackle the issue. We allocated £200,000 for a new national police hub to tackle the emerging threat of online hate crimes which went live in January 2018.?We have been supporting initiatives specific to tackling islamophobia and anti-semitism. We have committed £100,000 for the Antisemitism Policy Trust to support their work to tackle online antisemitism,?and acknowledge this as a growing area of concern. We have also supported Tell MAMA?(Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks)?with?just over £2.8m between 2016 and 2020 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred (including online).