Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's White Paper on online harm, what plans he has to introduce an definition of what constitutes harmful.
Answered by Margot James
The Online Harms White Paper includes an initial list of online harmful content or activity in scope of the White Paper, based on their prevalence and impact on individuals and society.
This list is, by design, neither exhaustive nor fixed. A static list would prevent swift regulatory action to address new forms of online harm, new technologies, content and new online activities.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's white paper on online harms, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed policies on the volume of people using smaller platforms to conduct illegal or harmful activity.
Answered by Margot James
The duty of care will apply to platforms that provide the services or tools that allow, enable or facilitate users to share or discover user-generated content, or interact with each other online - regardless of their size. Focussing on the services provided by companies, rather than their business model, sector or size, limits the risk that online harms simply move and proliferate outside of the ambit of the new regulatory framework.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2019 to Question 234783 on Department for International Development: Secondment, what teams within his Department the nine requested roles from the Department for International Development will be in.
Answered by Margot James
My Department is working closely with DFID to match to resource requirements across our directorates.
Individuals are matched to teams within the Department based on skill set and job history.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many Sikhs are employed in his Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) religious group.
Answered by Margot James
At the 31st December 2018, fewer than 10 civil servants in my Department were recorded as being Sikhs, as a religious group.
The Department encourages all of its employees to provide details of their personal diversity information. This action is voluntary and information is captured via employee input onto the HR system. The department’s declaration rate for religion is 67%.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to raise the age for purchasing scratch cards from 16 to 18 years old.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
When the conclusions of the Government’s Gambling Review were announced in May 2018, the Government said it would consider whether 16 remained an appropriate age limit to play all National Lottery products, including scratchcards, as part of work on the next licence competition. The evidence in this area is currently being reviewed and analysed, including the number of young people who play National Lottery games and whether participation leads to problem gambling behaviours in later life.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has had made of the relationship between 16 year olds purchasing scratch cards and gambling addiction in later life.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
When the conclusions of the Government’s Gambling Review were announced in May 2018, the Government said it would consider whether 16 remained an appropriate age limit to play all National Lottery products, including scratchcards, as part of work on the next licence competition. The evidence in this area is currently being reviewed and analysed, including the number of young people who play National Lottery games and whether participation leads to problem gambling behaviours in later life.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people who have a gambling addiction.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We published the Review of Gambling Machines and Social Responsibility Measures in May 2018. This set out decisive action to protect those vulnerable to harm by cutting the maximum stake on B2 machine from £100 to £2, along with measures to strengthen protections around online gambling and gambling advertising. These include action by the Gambling Commission to improve age-verification controls online and introduce tougher sanctions for breaches of advertising codes. A multi-million pound safer gambling advertising campaign will launch this year, aimed at raising awareness of the risks around gambling and signposting to help.
The Review also set out action on treatment and support for those who experience harm, including initiatives to improve the evidence on treatment needs and effectiveness, expand access to existing services and strengthen the voluntary system for funding support.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to respond to the recommendations of the January 2018 Independent review of Full-Time Social Action.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
We are considering the recommendations in the Full Time Social Action Review’s report and I recently met with Steve Holliday, Chair of the Review, to discuss these recommendations in further detail. The Government Response to the Review’s report will be published in due course.