Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how long it takes the Gambling Commission to approve an application from a charity for accreditation to receive LCCP RET contributions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Gambling Commission requires all operators licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 to make an annual contribution to fund research, prevention and treatment of problem gambling, and publishes a list of organisations to which operators may direct this contribution. The time taken by the Commission to reach a decision about whether an organisation can be included on that list depends on a number of factors. These include the quality and completeness of the information provided by the organisation, the complexity of issues associated with information provided and whether further investigation into independent oversight or potential conflicts of interest is required.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the biggest pay rise given to someone in his Department was in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms in the last 12 months.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The biggest pay rise given to a member of staff in DCMS in the last 12 months was £20,035.00 which was an increase of 59.95%. This was a member of staff being promoted from close to the old band B minimum (£33,107) to the new band A floor (£51,729), plus a Recruitment & Retention Allowance to retain specialist skills within the organisation.The average pay increase as part of the pay award across the workforce was 2.5%.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he and his Ministers have had discussions with Ministers in the Departments for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential effect on heritage railways of the (a) proposals in the DEFRA consultation on the cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood and (b) number of planning permissions granted by MHCLG for new surface coal mines; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I attended an MP-level meeting on the future of coal for heritage railways in March of this year. My Defra Ministerial colleague was in attendance at this meeting, at which discussions included the economic and social benefits of the heritage rail industry, the industry’s efforts to diversify the sector through carbon offsetting and seeking alternative fuels, and the status of extant planning permissions for mines in the UK.
My Defra Ministerial colleague confirmed that the consultation on the cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood applies only to residential settings, thereby placing heritage railways outwith the scope of this consultation.
Heritage railway representatives took an action from the meeting to contact officials at MHCLG regarding planning permissions for new and existing surface coal mines.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Gambling Commission plans to announce the outcome of their consultation into Society Lotteries; and whether that announcement will include the implementation date for the new society lottery sales limits.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Gambling Commission’s consultation on changes to its licence conditions and new transparency measures closes on 12 March. Secondary legislation to implement the reforms to society lotteries announced in July 2019 was laid in January 2020 and is scheduled to be debated on 9 March in the House of Lords, and 10 March in the House of Commons. The Gambling Commission expects to publish its response to the consultation in April, subject to the replies it receives.
A 3-month notice period for the sector is also required before the Gambling Commission is able to bring the changed licence conditions into force, so I therefore expect these changes to be introduced in the summer.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the (a) Union Jack, (b) St George's flag, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) flag of Wales has been flown from the headquarters of his Department in London in each year since 2015.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Union flag is generally flown everyday above the DCMS offices. For certain occasions we fly other flags including the Commonwealth Flag, Merchant Navy Flag, Rainbow Flag, Armed Forces Flag, Transgender Flag and Red Ribbon Flag.
We have flown the Flag of St George on St George’s Day since 2007. We also fly the Home Nations flags in support of England, Scotland or Wales when they reach the latter stages of major sporting events.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) Union Jack, (b) St George, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) Flag of Wales flags his Department owns.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department owns the following:
a) 260 Union Flags plus 114 Union Banners for flying in Windsor
b) 27 Flags of St George
c) 1 Scottish Saltire
d) 1 Flag of Wales
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timeframe is for the proposed increase in charity lottery limits announced on 16 July 2019 to come into force.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
New limits to the per draw sales, annual sales and maximum prize for society lotteries were announced on 16 July 2019. Affirmative secondary legislation is required to change the limits, and the Gambling Commission is also required to consult on changes to its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).
I hope to lay the draft Order in Parliament in January 2020, and the changes to come into force during 2020. The Order will include transitional arrangements for the first year, to enable operators to take advantage of the new limits as soon as possible.
The Gambling Commission has already launched its consultation in anticipation of the legislation, and this will help ensure the new limits can come into force as swiftly as possible. Their consultation also covers measures to improve transparency of society lotteries and will run until 12 March 2020. There will then be a further 3 month notice period before the changes can be implemented, which is likely to be in the summer.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
Answered by Nigel Adams
No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.
The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’.
Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.