Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to include provisions to protect internet users from illegal advertisements in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the Online Safety Bill, companies will have duties with regard to user-generated content advertising, such as posts by influencers and posts by companies on their social media feeds. Companies will need to minimise the risk of illegal user-generated content appearing on their services, and take swift action to remove it once alerted to it.
The legislation will not cover adverts which are placed directly or indirectly through a contract between an advertiser and an advertising service. It is important to keep the scope of the Bill manageable, to ensure its success in regulating the most harmful forms of user-generated content. We are however awaiting the report from the Joint Committee scrutinising the Draft Bill and will carefully examine any recommendations in this area.
Harms associated with paid-for advertising will be addressed holistically via the Online Advertising Programme. In February 2019, we announced that we will consider how online advertising is regulated. In 2020 we launched a call for evidence and we will be launching a public consultation on the Online Advertising Programme in the coming months.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what speed copper broadband must accomplish to be legally defined as broadband.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
‘Broadband’ is defined by the technology type and replaced older ‘narrowband’ technologies such as ‘dial-up’ as a method of connecting to the internet. There is therefore no speed threshold which a connection must reach in order to be considered ‘broadband’.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to remove all covid-19 restrictions for indoor music venues after 19 July 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As announced by the Prime Minister, the Government will proceed cautiously to Step 4 of the Roadmap on 19 July. At Step 4, most of the legal restrictions imposed throughout the pandemic will be removed and all remaining businesses will be able to reopen.
The Government will provide guidance for Step 4 of the Roadmap to help businesses and the public to make informed decisions about how to manage risks from COVID-19.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to assess the use of third party cookies by online advertisers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Following the Government’s call for evidence in 2020 we will be launching a public consultation by the end of this year as the next steps of our Online Advertising Programme.
Whilst online advertising presents benefits, it also presents new challenges for consumers, businesses and society as a whole. It raises questions over the collection, analysis and use of consumer data, as well as the appropriateness and accuracy of targeting. The scale and speed of advertising has also highlighted possible challenges around content standards and harmful advertisements.
We are currently working to shape the consultation and what it will consider. Ultimately we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 support the promotion of physical activity among young people.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people have the best opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity. Our Sporting Future strategy sets out how important it is for all children to have a good experience of sport and physical activity while they are young.
The Government’s arm’s-length body, Sport England, has invested over £190 million into physical activity for children and young people over 2016-2021, including programmes such as the £40 million Families Fund, which encourages low-income families with children to do sport and physical activity together. Initiatives such as the Studio You video platform, funded by Sport England and powered by This Girl Can, are also encouraging more teenage girls to be active.
The Government’s School Sport and Activity Action Plan (jointly published by the Department for Education, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and Department for Health and Social Care in July 2019) sets out a commitment to ongoing collaboration to support the delivery of high-quality PE lessons and to ensure that sport and physical activity are an integral part of both the school day and after-school activities. This is supported by £320 million per year through the PE and sport premium. More recently, the Government has hosted roundtables on how to take support for young people even further, and has committed to updating the Government sport strategy, with children and young people central to this.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make it illegal for gambling companies to describe their product as an investment platform.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with advertising codes of practice issued by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Failure to comply with the advertising codes is also a breach of the Gambling Commission’s social responsibility code and it can take appropriate action. These codes already require that gambling marketing is socially responsible and does not create the impression that gambling products are an investment opportunity when they are not.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to enable caravan owners to be refunded for services that they have not received from caravan park operators during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Whether a consumer is due a refund will depend on the terms of their contract or agreement. The Citizens Advice consumer service offers consumers free advice on their rights and how to take their complaint forward. The helpline can be contacted on 0808 223 1133, and via www.citizensadvice.org.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many Ofcom employees have the security clearance necessary to advise industry on cyber attacks.
Answered by Matt Warman
As the communications regulator, Ofcom’s role is to ensure communication providers’ comply with their legal duties on security under the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom is also the competent authority for the digital infrastructure sector under the Network and Information Systems Directive 2020.
It is the role of the NCSC to advise industry following cyber attacks.
The NCSC will continue to play this role working closely with Ofcom under the new regime introduced in the Telecoms Security Bill. Ofcom will work with NCSC to ensure that it always has access to the right level of information which can be accessed by those with the appropriate level of security clearance.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many jobs have been lost from Ofcom since 2010.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Below is headcount data from Ofcom’s Annual Reports since 2010, figures which are in the public domain:
Year | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Average FTE | 865 | 832 | 735 | 781 | 785 | 787 | 795 | 828 | 868 | 902 | 937 |
The reduction between 2010 and 2012 reflects headcount reductions in the wider public sector at the time. Since then, Ofcom has had a number of new duties conferred on them which account for subsequent headcount rises.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support sporting venues that are unable to open solely for the purposes of elite sport as a result of financial inviability.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s approach to reopening venues and events has been based on safety and wider public health concerns. We continue to work closely with sport governing bodies and venues across the country to fully assess what support is needed during this challenging time.
As a result of this work, on 19 November 2020 we announced a £300 million Sports Winter Survival Package which aims to protect their immediate futures over the winter period. Decisions on allocations are being undertaken by an Independent Board, whilst Sport England are responsible for administering the fund.
This support is in addition to the multi-billion pound package of business support from government that has enabled many sports clubs and leisure businesses to survive, including the furlough scheme and business interruption loan scheme. Sports have accessed many hundreds of millions of pounds of support through this.
The Government remains committed to engaging across the sector to maintain a complete picture of the financial impact of Covid-19 to ensure sports venues survive this difficult period wherever possible.