Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
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 the return of fans at live sports events during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is keen to see the safe return of spectators to live sports events. A programme of pilot events is being carried out to allow venues and operators to test their covid-secure arrangements in line with the Government's guidance on the return of fans to elite sports events. The latest list of events was announced on 26 August 2020 and includes football, horse racing and rugby union.
The events have been selected to test a range of different event styles across the country’s major men’s and women’s spectator sports. A number of successful pilots have already been completed, including snooker at the Crucible, cricket at Edgbaston and the Oval, and football at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Subject to public health conditions, the pilots will build up throughout September with a view to a full reopening for fans under covid-secure conditions from 1 October.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
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 ensure that superfast broadband is available throughout the UK.
Answered by Matt Warman
The government has invested significant amounts in digital infrastructure over the last decade, with the BDUK Superfast programme investing over £1.8 billion of public money to ensure over 96% of UK premises have access to superfast broadband. In addition to this, nearly £900 million has been allocated to stimulate the market to start building gigabit-capable infrastructure and full fibre connectivity.
For those premises that are still struggling with slow speeds, there are a number of options available to them. DCMS runs a 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. ‘Top-up’ schemes run by Local Authorities, who provide their own funding on top of DCMS’s, are also operating across the UK.
The government also introduced the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) on 20 March 2020. The USO gives eligible premises in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable connection. The government has defined decent broadband as a service that can provide a download speed of 10Mbps and an upload speed of 1Mbps.
Furthermore the government has pledged a further £5 billion to invest in the hardest to reach areas of the UK. Supplier engagement has taken place over the summer, and their feedback will be used to refine and finalise the delivery vehicle of the programme which will launch the first wave of procurements in early 2021.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people participated in the National Citizen Service in each local authority area in Surrey in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
NCS participants by Surrey Local Authority District | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Elmbridge | 118 | 145 | 134 | 114 |
Epson and Ewell | 142 | 142 | 169 | 119 |
Guildford | 194 | 205 | 235 | 191 |
Mole Valley | 91 | 105 | 102 | 101 |
Reigate and Banstead | 179 | 147 | 139 | 189 |
Runnymede | 63 | 93 | 90 | 57 |
Spelthorne | 113 | 161 | 136 | 80 |
Surrey Heath | 85 | 135 | 112 | 159 |
Tandridge | 96 | 64 | 81 | 127 |
Waverley | 115 | 115 | 141 | 151 |
Woking | 56 | 125 | 147 | 113 |
Participation numbers for Summer 2019 are undergoing compliance checks and are not yet available.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have participated in the National Citizen Service in each local authority area in Surrey in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to reduce problem gambling.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to tackle doping in (a) elite and (b) amateur UK sport.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government is fully committed to eradicating the use of performance enhancing substances and methods in sport.
UK Anti- Doping (UKAD) is our Arms Length Body with responsibility for tackling the use of performance-enhancing drugs. UKAD drives a clean sport programme including a successful education programme, along with athlete testing across more than 40 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports.
Using information from a wide range of sources, UKAD focuses resources where there is the highest risk of doping, whether this be in amateur or professional sports, with the aim of targeting the right people at the right time.
On 30th March, the Government launched a review to ensure UKAD continues to be able to work as effectively as possible and be a world-leader in tackling anti-doping.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to tackle the use of performance-enhancing drugs in (a) elite and (b) amateur UK sport.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government is fully committed to eradicating the use of performance enhancing substances and methods in sport.
UK Anti- Doping (UKAD) is our Arms Length Body with responsibility for tackling the use of performance-enhancing drugs. UKAD drives a clean sport programme including a successful education programme, along with athlete testing across more than 40 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports.
Using information from a wide range of sources, UKAD focuses resources where there is the highest risk of doping, whether this be in amateur or professional sports, with the aim of targeting the right people at the right time.
On 30th March, the Government launched a review to ensure UKAD continues to be able to work as effectively as possible and be a world-leader in tackling anti-doping.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many complaints concerning nuisance calls have been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The table below displays the number of complaints about nuisance calls and text messages received by the ICO since 2010:
Financial Year | Live calls | Automated calls | SMS spam | Total |
2010/11 | 1706 | 1745 | 618 | 4069 |
2011/12 | 1685 | 3680 | 3068 | 8451 |
2012/13 | 31662 | 82803 | 41036 | 155501 |
2013/14 | 56269 | 74024 | 30139 | 160432 |
2014/15 | 75082 | 80188 | 23680 | 178950 |
2015/16 | 70252 | 71425 | 17869 | 159546 |
2016/17 | 65691 | 82011 | 18397 | 166099 |
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of nuisance calls.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We have taken a number of steps to reduce the number of unsolicited direct marketing calls and allow members of the public to identify nuisance callers. They include:
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to build on the achievements of Team GB at the Rio Olympics 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Team GB and ParalympicsGB reached new heights in Rio, with a best ever away Olympics and a London-beating Paralympic medal count. But this success is also about more than medals. Since 2012 UK Sport funded athletes have given back over 18,000 days visiting schools and local projects as part of our commitment to inspire the next generation, in a scheme that will extend through through the Tokyo cycle. We will continue, via UK Sport, to ensure that elite athletes have the opportunity to fulfil their potential on the Olympic and Paralympic stages, and we remain equally committed to getting more people from every background involved in sport and physical activity, supporting initiatives that enable more people to play, watch and volunteer in sport.