Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help small charities with increases in (1) rent, and (2) utility, bills.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government is supporting small charities with their energy bills until March 2023, through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. His Majesty’s Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy are currently undertaking a review to determine what support will be available for organisations from April 2023.
Charities and community amateur sports clubs can also apply for charitable rate relief of up to 80% if a property is used for charitable purposes (https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/charitable-rate-relief).
With Government support, small charities have shown significant resilience over the past few years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through the winter. My Department will keep engaging constructively across the sector, and with colleagues across Government, to monitor the impact of rising costs.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a requirement for age blocks for social media sites.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children.
We expect companies operating sites likely to be accessed by children to use age verification technologies and measures such age assurance to ensure that only children who are old enough are able to access an age-restricted service. The Government also recently announced that it will make changes to the Bill to require services with age restrictions to explain, in their terms of service, the measures they use to enforce these, such as the use of age assurance or age verification technologies, and apply these terms consistently. This means that social media sites and other platforms are held to account for what they say in their terms of service, but will not mandate sites to have a minimum age restriction. Such a requirement could have a negative impact on the ability of children to access appropriate online services and to derive benefit from them.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the Electronic Trade Documents Bill [HL] would have, if enacted, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government has conducted its own impact assessment of the benefits of the Electronic Trade Documents Bill and found that, in our best estimate scenario, the benefits to UK businesses involved in international trade will be £1.137 billion over 10 years. We intend to publish the impact assessment shortly.
There is a diverse and geographically dispersed range of businesses involved in international trade in the UK, according to ONS figures. In 2020, there were 263,000 exporting businesses in the UK, 124,000 of which exported goods; further ONS estimates show that around 75% of UK businesses which exported in 2020 are based outside London. Current research does not allow us to assess impacts at the local authority level, however.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the voluntary and community sector to (1) support access, and (2) provide digital skills, for (a) migrant communities, and (b) ethnic minorities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The voluntary and community sector plays a vital role in supporting people across the country in their everyday lives.
We recognise that digital skills and access are increasingly required to participate fully in society, and that digital exclusion makes it more difficult for people to use essential services.
To support access, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport continues to encourage operators to offer social tariffs, which provide low-cost mobile and broadband services for people on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. We continue to work closely with Ofcom, consumer groups, and the sector to raise awareness of these low-cost offers. For those unable to own a device with internet access, public libraries play an important role in providing access to the internet, with trained staff and volunteers to support users. The Department for Education’s Digital Entitlement allows for adults with no or low digital skills (below level 1) to study for Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQs) for free.
The size of the challenge, however, means that we cannot tackle the digital divide on our own. The involvement of the voluntary and community sector is crucial, and support can be most effective where providers are able to tailor their support to local needs.
DCMS will continue to engage with the sector and across Government on this topic.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money they have spent in the last 12 months on funding third-sector organisations that help (1) children, and (2) vulnerable groups.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Third-sector organisations work with a range of different government departments across a variety of issues and topics. As such, DCMS does not hold central data on all spending to third-sector organisations from across His Majesty’s Government.
Annual statistics for all grants distributed by HM Government can, however, be found on GOV.UK here. As well as providing a general overview, the site allows users to search for grants awarded to charities, by downloading the latest grants statistical tables and filtering by a charity’s registered number.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take, alongside sporting bodies and associations, to address racism in motorsport.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Racism has no place in society. Her Majesty’s Government is committed to working with our arm’s length bodies, sporting bodies and sector partners to ensure sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.
We were extremely dismayed to hear about the recent racist remarks made about Sir Lewis Hamilton but commend Formula 1’s zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination. Alongside work under Formula 1’s anti-racist platform We Race As One, their swift condemnation of Nelson Piquet’s racist remarks has led to their decision to implement a life-time ban on his attendance at races. In addition, the British Racing Drivers’ Club has suspended Mr Piquet as a member, citing its zero-tolerance policy toward racism and stating it expects formally to terminate his membership at a board meeting to be held within seven days.
Last year we also welcomed the work of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Sir Lewis Hamilton which is aimed at improving the representation of Black people in UK motor sport. However there is still more to do, and we will continue to work across Her Majesty’s Government and with sector partners to ensure that inequalities people from ethnically diverse backgrounds face in sport, including motorsports, are being tackled effectively.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include a statutory watchdog to advocate for children as users of online services, funded by a levy on the tech industry, in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Protecting children online sits at the heart of the new Online Safety Bill. The new regime will ensure that children are protected from harmful or inappropriate content such as grooming, bullying, pornography and the promotion of self-harm and eating disorders.
Once the regime is operational, Ofcom’s new responsibilities under the Bill will be fully funded by industry fees. They will oversee and enforce service providers’ compliance with the duties in the Bill, including the child safety duties.
The regulatory framework is already designed to capture the insight and expertise of organisations that represent the interests of children. For example, Ofcom must consult relevant experts when designing its codes of practice, which will determine the recommended safety measures platforms put in place. It must also undertake research into users’ experience of regulated services, which will inform its regulatory approach and priorities. In addition, the Bill expands the remit of the Communications Consumer Panel. This panel, which is an independent group of experts, will act on behalf of users by conducting research, carrying out consultations and giving advice to Ofcom. Ofcom will also have the flexibility to choose other mechanisms better to understand users and their experiences as it deems appropriate. Finally, the super-complaints mechanism will also ensure that Ofcom is alerted by eligible bodies, which will include advocacy bodies like the Children's Commissioners, to any significant or systemic risks to children, though the ongoing consultation and research will likely mean Ofcom is able to tackle such issues upstream.
Adding an additional ‘watchdog’ would duplicate the existing provisions in the Bill, creating a confusing landscape. This would not be in the best interests of children.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take, alongside sporting bodies and associations, to tackle racism in cricket.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Racism has no place in cricket, sport, or wider society. The Government is committed to working with our arm’s-length bodies, sporting bodies and sector partners to ensure sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.
We welcome the action the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is taking to tackle racism in cricket. We will continue to monitor its actions, including the implementation of the ECB’s plan for diversity and inclusion. A recent update indicates that the ECB is continuing to deliver on its commitments on improved diversity in governance, the development of an anti-discrimination unit, and its review of crowd management alongside the First Class Counties and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority. The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, established by the ECB in March 2021, is also currently in the process of reviewing the evidence to form an independent report with suggested recommendations on how to tackle discrimination and achieve equity in cricket.
Funding from our arm’s-length body for grassroot sport, Sport England, is explicitly linked to the development and implementation of robust diversity and inclusion policies and plans. This has been made clear to the ECB, which has responded positively and constructively.
We will continue to liaise with the cricket authorities on tackling racism and hold them to account on this.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish an independent racism reporting body for the broadcasting industry.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government believes that there is no place for prejudice or discrimination in the media or anywhere else and is committed to supporting the broadcasting sector to ensure it is a place which offers opportunities for people from all backgrounds to contribute and succeed. This can only be achieved through a diverse workforce which reflects modern Britain.
Ofcom, as the independent communications regulator, has a duty to promote equality of opportunity in relation to employment in the broadcasting sector and has powers to ask broadcasters to provide information about their diversity policies and the make-up of their workforce. Her Majesty’s Government is committed to working together with the industry and with Ofcom to support greater diversity and inclusion. Her Majesty’s Government has no plans to establish an independent racism reporting body for the broadcasting industry.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide more capital via the Dormant Assets Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 delivers on Her Majesty’s Government's commitment to expand the scheme. Over time, this will unlock an estimated £880 million for good causes across the UK.
Her Majesty’s Government will launch a public consultation this summer on the social and/or environmental focus of the English portion. This is an opportunity to consider how future funds can be distributed in England.
The Act provides the power to expand the scheme without the need for primary legislation. This will enable Her Majesty’s Government to respond more rapidly to opportunities to broaden the pool of eligible assets as they arise, alongside experience of managing dormant assets which will build over time.