Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her policy is on the devolution of broadcasting powers.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Broadcasting is and should remain a reserved matter.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of privatisation of Channel 4.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government wants to ensure Channel 4's future sustainability and ability to deliver against its remit.
No decisions have been made about Channel 4’s future. The government is looking at a wide range of options, including those proposed by Channel 4’s leadership.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions his Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the safety of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Statistics on the use of Freedom of Information exemptions are published by the Ministry of Justice (Table 10 of annual reports). They are available here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
These statistics provide the number of times section 38 as a whole has been used by each government department. More detailed figures for the constituent parts of section 38 are not readily available because our systems are not designed to provide a more detailed breakdown than is required for the published statistics.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions his Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the physical or mental health of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Statistics on the use of Freedom of Information exemptions are published by the Ministry of Justice (Table 10 of annual reports). They are available here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
These statistics provide the number of times section 38 as a whole has been used by each government department. More detailed figures for the constituent parts of section 38 are not readily available because our systems are not designed to provide a more detailed breakdown than is required for the published statistics.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what instructions have been given to staff in his Department dealing with freedom of information requests on the application of Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No. 19, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office, in considering whether to apply the exemptions in section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
No guidance has been issued to staff on the application of Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No.19, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office, about the application of section 38 of the Act. However, the Ministry of Justice has published its own guidance on the use of this exemption. This is available here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/foi-guidance-for-practitioners/exemptions-guidance.