First elected: 1st July 2021
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Remain neutral in Israel-Palestine conflict and withdraw support for Israel
Gov Responded - 6 Nov 2023 Debated on - 11 Dec 2023 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsWe want the UK to be neutral in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and withdraw offers of support for Israel.
Seek a ceasefire and to end Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Sign this petition Gov Responded - 13 Nov 2023 Debated on - 11 Dec 2023 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsWe want the Government to seek a ceasefire and also seek to address the root cause of the current conflict by promoting dialogue and advocating for the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Urge the Israel Government to allow fuel, electricity and food into Gaza
Gov Responded - 10 Nov 2023 Debated on - 11 Dec 2023 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsThe UK Government should urge the Israeli Government to stop the blockade of Food, Fuel and Electricity to the already impoverished city of Gaza
Create an emergency fund for ASD (autism) & ADHD assessments
Gov Responded - 14 Dec 2021 Debated on - 6 Feb 2023 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsThe Government should create an emergency fund to deal with the massive waiting lists for autism & ADHD assessments for children AND adults. This would provide resources for local health services deal with current waiting lists and new patients.
Review management of ADHD assessments and increase funding
Gov Responded - 21 Apr 2022 Debated on - 6 Feb 2023 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsThe Government should commission a review of how Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessments are managed by the NHS, including through Shared Care Agreements, and increase funding to reduce waiting times.
Create a ‘National Sleep Strategy’ to end child bed poverty
Gov Responded - 23 Mar 2022 Debated on - 19 Dec 2022 View Kim Leadbeater's petition debate contributionsAs a teacher in 2018 I started a bed poverty charity, since then schools have referred 1400 children without beds. Bed poverty is affecting educational outcomes for children across the UK
A national sleep strategy must resource local authorities to identify, address and ultimately end bed poverty
These initiatives were driven by Kim Leadbeater, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Kim Leadbeater has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Kim Leadbeater has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Kim Leadbeater has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Safety cameras Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Mark Eastwood (Con)
Elected Representatives (Codes of Conduct) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Debbie Abrahams (Lab)
Criminal Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Barry Sheerman (LAB)
Motor Vehicle Tests (Diesel Particulate Filters) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Barry Sheerman (LAB)
As announced in the recent Spring Budget, the government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk, due to increased demand from vulnerable groups and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency.
Work is underway to finalise the delivery time frame and eligibility criteria. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.
Society lotteries are an important fundraising tool for many charities and other good causes throughout the country. They are regulated as a gambling product, and require a licence from the Gambling Commission in order to operate. We recognise their benefits as part of a mixed portfolio of funding, as they are able to provide a source of regular and unrestricted income.
Under the current regulatory framework, a charity holding a single operator licence is able to sell up to £50 million of tickets per year, which can provide for a healthy supplement to other sources of income.
We reviewed the impact of the society lottery sales and prize limit increases, 12 months after they were implemented in July 2020. We continue to keep this under review with the Gambling Commission.
I greatly appreciate the importance of society lotteries as a fundraising tool for charities and other organisations. Society lotteries are a vital source of funds for these organisations, raising around £400 million a year.
In 2020, we legislated to raise the annual sales limit for large society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million. Each charity with a society lottery licence is therefore able to sell up to £50 million of tickets per year. Most society lottery operators have sales well within this annual limit, meaning there is plenty of scope for them to continue to grow. After taking account of any prizes and administrative costs, charities and other good causes are able to retain a large percentage of this revenue, currently averaging 46% of total sales.
We reviewed the society lottery sales and prize limit increases 12 months after they were implemented, concluding that it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of these changes. The results of this review were published in March 2022, and found that no individually licensed society lottery has sales close to the £50 million limit, with only one umbrella operator benefitting from a further annual increase. We keep this under review with the Gambling Commission.
I greatly appreciate the importance of society lotteries as a fundraising tool for charities and other organisations. Society lotteries are a vital source of funds for these organisations, raising around £400 million a year.
In 2020, we legislated to raise the annual sales limit for large society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million. Each charity with a society lottery licence is therefore able to sell up to £50 million of tickets per year. Most society lottery operators have sales well within this annual limit, meaning there is plenty of scope for them to continue to grow. After taking account of any prizes and administrative costs, charities and other good causes are able to retain a large percentage of this revenue, currently averaging 46% of total sales.
We reviewed the society lottery sales and prize limit increases 12 months after they were implemented, concluding that it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of these changes. The results of this review were published in March 2022, and found that no individually licensed society lottery has sales close to the £50 million limit, with only one umbrella operator benefitting from a further annual increase. We keep this under review with the Gambling Commission.
I greatly appreciate the importance of society lotteries as a fundraising tool for charities and other organisations. Society lotteries are a vital source of funds for these organisations, raising around £400 million a year.
In 2020, we legislated to raise the annual sales limit for large society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million. Each charity with a society lottery licence is therefore able to sell up to £50 million of tickets per year. Most society lottery operators have sales well within this annual limit, meaning there is plenty of scope for them to continue to grow. After taking account of any prizes and administrative costs, charities and other good causes are able to retain a large percentage of this revenue, currently averaging 46% of total sales.
We reviewed the society lottery sales and prize limit increases 12 months after they were implemented, concluding that it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of these changes. The results of this review were published in March 2022, and found that no individually licensed society lottery has sales close to the £50 million limit, with only one umbrella operator benefitting from a further annual increase. We keep this under review with the Gambling Commission.
In June 2023, the Cabinet Office published an addendum to the 2023/24 Pay Remit Guidance, allowing organisations in scope flexibility to make a one-off payment worth up to £1,500 for all eligible staff up to and including Grade 6. The criteria for this payment is that individuals must have been in post on 31 March 2023 and still in post at the point a department makes the payment during the 2023/24 pay year. There are no plans to adjust the criteria.
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all and promoting respect and tolerance across different religious and non-religious groups. We condemn any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. We engage with India on a range of human rights matters and where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, also regularly speaks to the High Commissioner of India, and human rights including freedom of religion or belief forms part of that dialogue.
The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions will continue to follow reports of violence closely, while recognising that these are matters for India. Our network of High Commissions across India regularly meet religious representatives and have run projects supporting minority rights. Over the last three years, they have worked with local NGOs to bring together young people of diverse faith backgrounds to work together on social action projects in their local communities and promote a culture of inter faith tolerance. For the second year, we are supporting a UK-India Interfaith Leadership Programme for a cohort of emerging Indian leaders of diverse faith backgrounds, including Muslims, creating an opportunity to exchange UK-India experiences on leading modern, inclusive communities.
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed the public inquiry into COVID-19 will begin in Spring 2022. The Government understands that to ensure we learn lessons from the pandemic, it is imperative that we engage and consult with bereaved families and others, before the terms of reference are finalised. Throughout the pandemic senior ministers, including the Prime Minister, have met and will continue to meet with bereaved families.
I want to thank the Bereaved Families for Justice group for all their efforts in representing bereaved families throughout the pandemic. Every death from this virus is a tragedy and our deepest sympathies are with everyone who has lost loved ones. The Government remains steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that these families have the scrutiny of the Government’s response to managing the pandemic that they deserve.
Caravan park owners and operators are subject to consumer protection legislation. They are also subject to planning and site licensing rules overseen by local authorities.
We believe the existing consumer protection legislation provides the tools necessary for tackling rogue practices in this sector. However, we have announced our intention to strengthen consumer enforcement and have brought forward additional measures as part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.
The department has not discussed these issues with the Competition and Markets Authority recently.
The Government believes the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
While there is the potential for some benefits from a change in the current arrangements, there is also a real risk of negative impacts. A change to permanent summertime or double summertime may also have significant impacts on certain sectors and businesses.
Given the potential scale of impacts involved, an exceptionally wide-ranging cost benefit analysis would need to be performed to inform a decision on changing the current system.
Ofgem is responsible for certifying Alternative Dispute Resolution entities and appointing the Energy Ombudsman (EO). The EO is important for ensuring good consumer outcomes and trust by investigating disputes between suppliers and consumers.
Every two years Ofgem assesses the performance of the EO to ensure they still meet the approval criteria. The latest completed assessment, covering 2019-2021 is available on Ofgem’s website.
Ministers meet regularly with the EO to understand trends in consumer complaints and ensure a high-quality service.
The energy supplier switching process will work as intended whether smart meters are operating in smart mode or not at the time of the switch request.
When consumers do request to switch they are protected through Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards. Ofgem are responsible for regulating energy suppliers against these obligations in this area.
Under the Warm Home Discount scheme, the majority of eligible households are identified through data matching and are provided the rebate on their energy bill automatically. Therefore, only the named bill payer can receive a rebate.
Energy suppliers can also provide additional support to households through the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme, through measures such as financial assistance, debt write-off, and energy efficiency. This support can be provided to households, irrespective of whether a person is named on the electricity bill.
The Government has also provided extensive help through the Energy Price Guarantee, the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme and further cost of living payments to low-income and vulnerable households.
The organisations eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, as per ONS trade data, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries compensation schemes. Both of those thresholds must be met to warrant inclusion, meaning that some energy intensive sectors, which are not significantly trade intensive like swimming pools and leisure centre, will not be eligible for support. The definition used for trade intensity is the international trade in goods in relation to the sector’s turnover percentile of the criteria set for the enhanced support for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries.
While swimming pools consume large amounts of energy, they are not trade intensive based on the best available ONS data.
The firms eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries schemes.
The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity, and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. BEIS has worked closely with key Whitehall Departments, including DCMS, and will engage with them in the design and implementation of the scheme.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including hospices, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The Government recognises that organisations such as hospices may continue to experience high energy bills which is why the Government will continue to provide support to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme which will run from April until March 2024. The Government has also made up to £14.1 billion available for health and social care over the next two years.
The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices. An HMT-led review into the operation of the current Energy Bill Relief Schemes was conducted with the objective of significantly reducing the overall burden on the taxpayer and public finances, and ensuring support is targeted at those most in need and unable to adjust to recent energy price rises. The review considered a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including input from businesses and stakeholders. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting non-domestic customers and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion.
The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount on energy bills to eligible non-domestic customers including hospices.
The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for ETII support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. These thresholds were set to balance the UK's goals of delivering targeted support at lower overall cost, while capturing a broad enough share of affected companies.
The Government recognises that some businesses are particularly exposed to energy cost increases and are less able to pass these costs through to their customers. The Government has there therefore decided to provide a more generous level of support to certain businesses for a further year starting from April 2023. The firms eligible for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme are those operating within sectors that fall above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, and those within sectors eligible for the existing Energy Intensive Industries schemes. These sectors have been published on GOV.UK.
We have not engaged directly with representatives from the laundry sector but continue to work with a range of business sectors including organisations representing small businesses facing increasing costs driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that businesses are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased business rates relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £13.6 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.
The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses.
Businesses in Batley and Spen will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months, raising the Employment Allowance to £5,000 and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, at the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
Support is also available to SMEs across the UK through the Start Up loan scheme which has provided 148 SMEs in Batley and Spen loans to the value of £1,477,438 as of October 2022.
BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, there have been around 800 loft insulation measures installed in Batley and Spen constituency. Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.
At the end of October 2022, there were 1,606 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Batley and Spen constituency.
The Government is supporting households through a series of measures; including, the Energy Price Guarantee, saving typical households £900 this winter and the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme payments.
A Treasury-led review will be launched to consider how to support households and with energy bills after April 2023. It is the Government’s intention that support will be better focused on the most vulnerable households and those least able to pay.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has completed his annual statutory review of pensions and benefits. Rates will, subject to Parliamentary approval, increase by 10.1% from April 2023.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a cost-reflective and market led mechanism and it is for suppliers to determine the value of the exported electricity and to take account of the administrative costs associated when setting their tariffs. The SEG contract that a supplier has with a householder is at a set price which is not directly linked to the wholesale market. We are currently reviewing Ofgem’s recently published annual SEG report to ensure that small-scale generators continue to have an effective route to market.
Feed-in tariff (FIT) rates are adjusted annually, in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Further information regarding the FIT rates for solar can be found on Ofgem’s website: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/feed-tariffs-fit/tariffs-and-payments.
On 29 July, the Government confirmed that funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the 1% of households who will not be reached through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, including residents of housing associations who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier. An announcement with details on how and when these households across Great Britain can access this support will be made in the Autumn.
The Government consulted in July 2021 on a number of proposals concerning consumer protection law. The Government’s response was published recently, and set out our approach to ensuring consumers are supported with a robust set of rights. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy/outcome/reforming-competition-and-consumer-policy-government-response.
In particular, the Government will consult in due course on adding fake reviews to the list of banned practices – giving greater clarity to business on the current law and, where fake reviews are posted, allowing enforcers to take effective action quickly.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a market-led mechanism, to help level the playing field for small-scale low-carbon generators such as householders with solar panels. It provides a route to market for any excess energy exported to the grid following closure of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme.
To enable the SEG to be market based and encourage innovation, one of the key features is to allow suppliers to set both the tariff levels and structure. The contracts that suppliers have with householders are at a set price which is not directly linked to the wholesale market cost.
The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme supports businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors. The funding supports sectors where social mixing is a primary motivation for consumers.
An indicative list of the types of businesses that can be supported under this scheme can be found at annex A of the scheme guidance. It is for Local Authorities to determine those cases where eligibility is unclear.
Local Authorities are encouraged to focus Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) support on businesses who have been severely impacted by reduced business activity due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The guidance does not mandate specific evidence to determine if a business has been severely impacted by Omicron. It is for Local Authorities to issue grants at their discretion, based on local decision making.
The guidance for both OHLG and ARG schemes can be found here.
The Government announced in November 2021 that the fourth Contracts for Difference allocation round will feature a £20million annual ringfenced budget for tidal stream energy. This builds on a long and continuing history of government support for the tidal power sector, and opens up possibilities for Britain’s marine energy sector to play a key role in strengthening energy security and reducing the country’s dependency on fossil fuels.
The Department regularly meets with representatives from across the Hospitality sector to discuss how it can recover and build back from the pandemic.
We have provided an unprecedented support package of £352 billion, including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT cuts and the job retention scheme, which hospitality businesses have access to.
We have published a new Hospitality Strategy: Reopening, Recovery, Resilience to ensure England’s pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues can thrive long-term.
Our new strategy, ‘Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity’, committed to the development of a National Vision for Facilities. This vision will set out the role of facilities and wider spaces for participation, including the importance of the public and private leisure sector, to anticipate future fiscal events.
The Government has confirmed significant funding for facilities, including a £63 million support package for swimming pools announced at the Budget. This package will help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
Government is also investing nearly £400 million directly into grassroots sports facilities across the country up to 2025.
The Government levies duties on gambling operators based on their profits, including from sports betting. The Government also invests millions into grassroots sport facilities, with the majority of support coming through Sport England, which receives over £100m in Exchequer funding each year. A further £205m has been committed to grassroots facilities between 2022 and 2025. While the horserace betting levy recognises the unique relationship between horse racing and betting, other sports have far broader appeal. We currently have no plans to introduce a sports betting levy.
The Government levies duties on gambling operators based on their profits, including from sports betting. The Government also invests millions into grassroots sport facilities, with the majority of support coming through Sport England, which receives over £100m in Exchequer funding each year. A further £205m has been committed to grassroots facilities between 2022 and 2025. While the horserace betting levy recognises the unique relationship between horse racing and betting, other sports have far broader appeal. We currently have no plans to introduce a sports betting levy.
A variety of initiatives are in place across the gambling regulatory framework and health services to protect individuals and the public from harmful gambling and raise awareness of its risks.
The Gambling Commission requires all gambling operators to make information available to customers on how to gamble safely and how to access information on problem gambling and the support available. Most operators signpost to the charity GambleAware’s begambleaware.org site, which contains a wide range of information on risks as well as links to advice and support, including the 24 hour National Gambling Helpline. The NHS webpage 'Help for problem gambling' covers common indicators which suggest that individuals may be experiencing harmful gambling, and the NHS Live Well page on gambling has been updated, providing information on gambling-related harms and signposting to sources of support.
The Department for Health and Social Care is also taking steps to improve and expand specialist treatment services available for people with a gambling addiction. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, £15m has been committed to establish 15 clinics by 2023/24. Seven specialist clinics are already open and accepting patients. DHSC has committed to undertake an audit of gambling-related harm training materials for healthcare professionals to build capability in the healthcare workforce.
There have also been a number of recent voluntary and regulatory initiatives to reduce the visibility of gambling around major sporting events. The gambling industry’s ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban, prevents gambling ads from airing during and immediately before or after live sports coverage before 9pm. Further to this, the Advertising Standards Authority recently implemented tough new rules banning content with ‘strong appeal to children’ from gambling ads, including top-flight and UK national team footballers. GambleAware have also launched a new phase of their ‘Bet Regret’ campaign for the tournament providing increased signposting to support for gambling harm around the 2022 World Cup.
Evidence on the impacts of gambling advertising, including sponsorship around sports, is being closely considered as part of the government's Review of the Gambling Act. A white paper will be published in the coming weeks outlining our conclusions and next steps.
A variety of initiatives are in place across the gambling regulatory framework and health services to protect individuals and the public from harmful gambling and raise awareness of its risks.
The Gambling Commission requires all gambling operators to make information available to customers on how to gamble safely and how to access information on problem gambling and the support available. Most operators signpost to the charity GambleAware’s begambleaware.org site, which contains a wide range of information on risks as well as links to advice and support, including the 24 hour National Gambling Helpline. The NHS webpage 'Help for problem gambling' covers common indicators which suggest that individuals may be experiencing harmful gambling, and the NHS Live Well page on gambling has been updated, providing information on gambling-related harms and signposting to sources of support.
The Department for Health and Social Care is also taking steps to improve and expand specialist treatment services available for people with a gambling addiction. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, £15m has been committed to establish 15 clinics by 2023/24. Seven specialist clinics are already open and accepting patients. DHSC has committed to undertake an audit of gambling-related harm training materials for healthcare professionals to build capability in the healthcare workforce.
There have also been a number of recent voluntary and regulatory initiatives to reduce the visibility of gambling around major sporting events. The gambling industry’s ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban, prevents gambling ads from airing during and immediately before or after live sports coverage before 9pm. Further to this, the Advertising Standards Authority recently implemented tough new rules banning content with ‘strong appeal to children’ from gambling ads, including top-flight and UK national team footballers. GambleAware have also launched a new phase of their ‘Bet Regret’ campaign for the tournament providing increased signposting to support for gambling harm around the 2022 World Cup.
Evidence on the impacts of gambling advertising, including sponsorship around sports, is being closely considered as part of the government's Review of the Gambling Act. A white paper will be published in the coming weeks outlining our conclusions and next steps.
The Government believes that certain sporting events of national interest should be shown on free-to-air television so that they can be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible.
We want to ensure that as viewing habits change and technology evolves the regulatory framework remains fit for purpose.
The listed events regime works effectively for traditional linear broadcasting by prohibiting the broadcast of exclusive rights of an event on the list without prior consent from Ofcom. The current list is divided into two categories (Group A and Group B) and where rights holders make an event available, full live coverage must be offered for purchase to qualifying channels for events in Group A. Group B events may have live coverage on subscription TV provided that secondary coverage or highlights are offered for purchase to qualifying broadcasters. However, no rights holder can be compelled to sell its rights, and no broadcaster can be compelled to acquire rights.
In our Broadcasting White Paper, we announced our intention to make qualification for the listed events regime a PSB-specific benefit. This will more clearly enshrine the important role our PSBs play in distributing important and valuable content to UK audiences. The Government will introduce this legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Our Broadcasting White Paper also confirmed our intention to undertake a review to look at whether the scope of the listed events regime should be extended to include digital rights. The Government is speaking to stakeholders to look at whether in the face of technological change, the objectives of the existing regime are still being met and whether digital rights should be included in the regime. The review will need to balance the ability for audiences to watch national sporting events at no additional cost with the ability for sporting organisations to generate revenues from sports rights to re-invest in their sports at all levels.
The Terms of Reference for the review can be found here.
The Gambling Act Review is a comprehensive and evidence-led review of gambling regulation to ensure it is fit for the digital age. We will publish a White paper setting out our conclusions in the coming weeks.
The Government is committed to introducing a new offence of epilepsy trolling in the Online Safety Bill to address this appalling online abuse.
As households and communities face rising energy prices, charities are seeing increased demand for their services while contending with the same price increases themselves.
With government support, charities have shown significant resilience over the past two years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households over the winter.
That is why the government will support all charities, public sector organisations and businesses with their energy costs this winter, offering an energy price guarantee for six months, equivalent to the protection offered to British households. Further details will be announced in due course.
Following the increases in July 2020 and the review of their impact published in March 2022, there are no plans to make further policy changes to society lottery sales and prize limits. Funding raised by the large society lottery sector is continuing to grow, as data published by the Gambling Commission since the review shows.
My department will keep engaging constructively with their counterparts across the sector and government to continuously monitor the impact of rising energy costs on the charity and broader civil society sector.
The National Youth Guarantee is this government’s commitment that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities.
As part of the National Youth Guarantee funding we intend to launch a Uniformed Youth Fund later this year to increase access to Uniformed Youth groups across the country. The fund will allow organisations such as the Scouts to increase provision in areas with unmet demand, improving the wellbeing of young people and helping them to develop skills for life and work.
DCMS received £560 million to deliver the National Youth Guarantee over the Spending Review period.
The first phase of the Youth Investment Fund saw £12 million spent in financial year 21/22 in key levelling up areas, which has provided funding for over 400 youth organisations. Funding was used for a wide range of equipment to assist with youth activities, as well as capital improvements that will reduce overheads and running costs. Phase Two will fund the construction or redevelopment of up to 300 youth facilities, targeting investment in left-behind areas, where young people have the greatest need and lowest provision. £368 million has been allocated to Phase Two, which will open for bids in summer 2022.
DCMS also funds the National Citizen Service (NCS) which is running a range of activities during the 2022 summer holidays, providing access to adventures away from home, skills development, engaging in local community projects and volunteering opportunities for thousands of young people across the country. NCS has already received £72 million this year and will receive around £100 million in the following two years. Additionally, DCMS has already signed a grant agreement with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme for £4.2 million, enabling them to offer every state secondary school in England the chance to participate, in collaboration with the Department for Education.
Finally DCMS has committed £6 million to the #iwill fund, fully matched by the National Lottery Community Fund, to support tens of thousands more youth volunteering opportunities.
Further funding to tackle Uniformed Youth waiting lists will begin to be released later this year.
The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. The Government has committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This will be supported by a three year £560 million investment in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in national youth spending, with a firm focus on levelling up. The Youth Investment Fund is a geographically targeted fund levelling up access to youth services in those areas that need it the most. Ministerial decisions on eligibility criteria were taken on the basis of high quality, robust and publicly available data, details of which are available on the gov.uk website here. Kirklees did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Youth Investment Fund. However, through the National Youth Guarantee DCMS will fund a range of youth programmes across England, such as the National Citizen Service (NCS) and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, as well as volunteering programmes through the #iwill Fund and tackling uniformed youth waiting lists, all of which the young people of Kirklees can benefit from.
Society lottery sales and prize limits were last increased in July 2020 when the annual sales limit was raised from £10 million to £50 million. We published a review of the impact of these changes in March 2022 (link). The review considered evidence on the annual sales limit, and found that the increase had allowed some operators to move to a single licence and reduce costs. The review concluded that more data was necessary to fully measure the impact of the 2020 changes, and that therefore further policy changes were not necessary at this time.
My officials will continue working with the Gambling Commission, as part of its regulatory role, to keep the sector under review.
The Online Safety Bill has robust provisions in place to protect people from physical harm caused by online trolling. The Bill requires services in scope to have systems and processes to tackle illegal content on their services. This includes any illegal online abuse which crosses the criminal threshold.
The largest companies will also need to keep their promises to adult users by taking action against harmful content that is prohibited under their terms of service. All services likely to be accessed by children will also need to protect children from harmful or inappropriate content. Where relevant, platforms will have to address content that poses a material risk of significant physical or psychological harm to an appreciable number of adults or children.
We are also ensuring that criminal law captures a range of harms online. Clause 150 in the Bill, the harmful communications offence, will criminalise the sending of messages with the intention to cause serious distress without a reasonable excuse. This new offence will capture people sending flashing images to known sufferers of epilepsy with the intention of causing harm that amounts to serious distress. In addition, the Ministry of Justice is carefully considering the Law Commission’s recommendation for a standalone offence for epilepsy trolling. The Government will set out its full response to the Law Commission’s report, later this year.