Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps with the Royal Parks to introduce designated areas for jogging that are separate from pedestrian areas in those parks in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Day to day operational management of The Royal Parks is matter for The Royal Parks charity. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to you to respond to your questions.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 improve (a) mobile phone and (b) broadband coverage in (i) The Wrekin constituency and (ii) Shropshire; and what the timeframe is for improving that coverage.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government announced in-principle support in October 2019 for the Mobile Network Operators’ (MNOs) Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal. The proposal would share investment costs between the mobile network operators and government and increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the United Kingdom to 95% by 2025. It will be underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator.
The Government's in-principle support is subject to detailed negotiations. While this is not yet a done deal, the Prime Minister has made improvements to rural mobile coverage part of his first 100 days pledge. I will continue to work with the sector to make that happen, but I will also explore all possible options to meet our mobile coverage ambitions, including rural roaming.
The exact site deployment plans and timescales will be managed by the MNOs themselves in order for them to best deliver the agreed coverage outcomes. So until the operators’ final radio planning exercise is complete, neither the Government nor the operators will know the precise location or number of new or upgraded masts. However, the operators will be consulting with local communities as the SRN rolls out across the UK.
According to Thinkbroadband, currently, 93.7% of Shropshire has access to superfast broadband - up from 5% in 2011. This improvement is thanks to the investment that both the government and Shropshire County council have made towards superfast rollout in Shropshire, including parts of Wrekin.
Taking into account the Council’s current contracts with British Telecommunications plc (BT) and Airband Community Internet Ltd, together with additional commercial commitments, Shropshire County Council expect 97% of premises in the Council area will have access to superfast broadband by 2021.
The Wrekin constituency currently has 97% of premises with access to superfast speeds, up from 72% in 2011.
Our Voucher scheme through the Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme is available to all rural areas in the UK and there are a number of providers who have been very active in utilising this and our previous voucher schemes in Shropshire, for example SWS Broadband who are headquartered in Shrewsbury.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to bring forward proposals to update the (a) Gaming Act 1968 and (b) Gambling Act 2005.
Answered by David Evennett
The Gambling (Advertising and Licensing) Act 2014 came into force in November 2014 and since then all remote casino operators who provide services to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. The first full year of statistics relating to remote casinos will be available in November 2016 and will contribute to understanding how the sector is performing. Gross gambling yield in the terrestrial casino industry increased by 46% between 2010-11 and 2014-15.
Operators in all sectors - terrestrial and remote - are required to adhere to the conditions in their licences and ensure that controls are in place to keep gambling fair and safe for all.
The Gaming Act 1968 was repealed by the Gambling Act 2005. The Secretary of State has a range of powers under the Gambling Act to ensure that the regulations governing gambling are kept up to date as the industry develops, and DCMS and the Gambling Commission keep this under review.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will undertake or commission research to measure the (a) the effect of remote casinos on the terrestrial casino industry and (b) the benefits and disbenefits of remote casinos to the UK economy.
Answered by David Evennett
The Gambling (Advertising and Licensing) Act 2014 came into force in November 2014 and since then all remote casino operators who provide services to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. The first full year of statistics relating to remote casinos will be available in November 2016 and will contribute to understanding how the sector is performing. Gross gambling yield in the terrestrial casino industry increased by 46% between 2010-11 and 2014-15.
Operators in all sectors - terrestrial and remote - are required to adhere to the conditions in their licences and ensure that controls are in place to keep gambling fair and safe for all.
The Gaming Act 1968 was repealed by the Gambling Act 2005. The Secretary of State has a range of powers under the Gambling Act to ensure that the regulations governing gambling are kept up to date as the industry develops, and DCMS and the Gambling Commission keep this under review.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to launch the Triennial Review of gambling machine stakes and prize limits.
Answered by David Evennett
In April 2015 the previous Government introduced regulations which require authorisation of stakes over £50 on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals through a “verified account” or staff interaction.The Government published its evaluation of the £50 regulations on 21 January. The evaluation paper can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-gaming-machine-circumstances-of-useamendment-regulations-2015
We will now consider the findings of the evaluation before deciding if there is a need for further action.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will conduct research on the potential link between levels of productivity and the provision of high-speed data services and broadband connectivity.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned research by SQW Consulting who produced the UK Broadband Impact Study in November 2013. The study demonstrates a clear link between improved productivity and high quality broadband connectivity. For example, the study estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage more online platforms to carry prominent age ratings and content advice for music videos classified by the British Board of Film Classification; and what steps he is taking to link such age ratings to parental control.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Government is committed to working with music labels and platforms towards seeing age ratings on all online music videos. Under the industry’s voluntary ratings scheme for online music videos,which is an initiative that I started,more than 150 music videos have been age rated by the BBFC to date and the ratings appear alongside them on YouTube and Vevo.
Work is continuing with industry to encourage them to further develop the online ratings scheme, including making the ratings more visible on online platforms and ensuring the ratings work as effectively as possible with parental controls.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department will publish its consultation on verification mechanisms to restrict under 18 access to pornographic websites.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently preparing a consultation on the Government’s manifesto commitment requiring age verification for access to all sites containing pornographic material. This will be published in due course.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prevent illegal online sales of portable antiquities discovered at archaeological sites in the UK.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
DCMS funds the Portable Antiques Scheme (PAS), which encouraged the voluntary recording over 100,000 objects in 2014. PAShas an MoU with eBay to monitor any unreported treasures - and calls in the sellers for questioning if illegal sales reported by third parties.PASFinds liasion officers work closely with local police forces when investigating the illegal recovery ofarchaeologicalmaterialfrom the UK. You can find more information on the PAS website -finds.org.uk.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of poor player behaviour and discipline by Premier League football players on the field on the reputation of UK sport; and if he will hold talks with the Professional Footballers' Association and FA to discuss improving that behaviour and discipline.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government believes that professional footballers have a responsibility to set a good example, especially to children in terms of acceptable behaviour. This is something I have discussed with both the chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association when we met recently, and with the FA as part of our regular discussions on a range of football matters.
More generally The PFA works in partnership with the FA and the professional Leagues to implement key areas within football’s inclusion and anti-discrimination plan. Through the plan, a new code of conduct has being introduced from the start of this season, as part of a series of measures to address on-field behaviour in English football. The new code sets out the standards required and consequences for non-compliance.