Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Culture Recovery Fund to the outdoor learning sector.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund is an unprecedented support package for culture and heritage. Where outdoor educational centres have extensive public outreach; run professional arts programmes; or own, work with or manage heritage, they may be eligible for support and could apply to the Culture Recovery Fund.
However, please note that the application portals for the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund have now closed.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 implications for his policies of the decision by booking.com, Expedia and other providers to continue to promote bookings for holiday accommodation in England during the period covered by the covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Under the current national restrictions, accommodation providers must close, whether in: a hotel, hostel, B&B, holiday apartment, home, cottage or bungalow, campsite, caravan park or boarding house, canal boat or any other vessel. However, there are a limited number of exemptions to this set out in law. As such, accommodation providers have not been required to stop advertising their services.
When travel is necessary and staying in hotels and other guest accommodation required, we expect people to act responsibly, in line with government regulations and guidance.
Accommodation providers should take all reasonable steps to encourage guests to adhere to government restrictions, including informing guests of restrictions when taking bookings and communicating to all customers, including those with existing bookings, reminding them not to travel unless it is essential (such as for work purposes or attending a funeral).
Accommodation providers should not intentionally facilitate bookings that do not adhere to government restrictions. Those not complying with these responsibilities may be at risk of the premises being closed.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government's Rethink, Reskill, Reboot campaign was launched.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Rethink, Reskill, Reboot recruitment campaign began on Friday 9 October 2020.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 made of the effect of the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 on (a) levels of gambling-related harm and (b) rates of gambling-related suicide.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Since 1999 rates of problem gambling have been measured through the three British Gambling Prevalence Surveys and subsequently in the Health Surveys for Scotland and England and the Gambling Commission’s survey of gambling behaviour in Wales. The proportion of the adult population of Great Britain who are considered to be problem gamblers has remained stable at below 1% since the first survey in 1999. The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age and more details will be announced in due course.
As set out in answer to Question 82541, there has been no assessment of the longer term trends in rates of gambling related suicide. Determining factors related to individual deaths by suicide is difficult and complicated, but we know that there may be wider lifestyle factors associated with problem gambling that may link to poor mental health, and that problem gambling can create a cycle of debt that can also have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing. In extreme cases it may lead to thoughts of suicide.
The Government committed to addressing suicide risk and gambling in the latest progress report to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, which were published in January 2019.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing greater restrictions on loot boxes in video games.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government launched a call for evidence on loot boxes on 23 September 2020 to seek detailed information on the impact of loot boxes on players, particularly children and young people. The call for evidence will run until 22 November 2020 and will examine concerns that loot boxes may encourage gambling-like behaviour and lead to problem gambling, as well as examining the size and scale of the loot box market in the UK, and the impact of current voluntary and statutory protections.
The government stands ready to take action should the outcomes of the call for evidence support taking a new approach to ensure users, and particularly young people, are better protected.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) he or (b) a Minister in his Department is planning to attend the final of the delayed 2019-20 FA Vase.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ministers are not currently planning on attending the Non-League Finals day later this month. The ministerial team have attended pilot events and will attend others where possible, and are close to the pilot programme.
The Government is keen to see the safe return of spectators to live sports events. A programme of pilot events is being carried out to allow venues and operators to test their covid-secure arrangements in line with the Government's guidance on the return of fans to elite sports events.
Subject to public health conditions, the pilots will build up throughout September with a view to a full reopening for fans under Covid-secure conditions from 1 October.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle underage gambling.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Operators offering gambling facilities to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and have procedures in place to prevent underage gambling. The Gambling Commission has a range of powers to act in the case of failure, including the power to suspend or revoke a licence, impose financial penalties or prosecute criminal offences. In May 2019 the Gambling Commission introduced new rules that require online gambling businesses to verify the age of customers before they can deposit money, gamble, or access play-for-free versions of gambling games. The Gambling Commission is also working with local authorities and the hospitality sector to improve the enforcement of legal age requirements on the use of gaming machines in pubs.
The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care work closely together on matters related to gambling harm, and share regular updates including on the forthcoming evidence review being carried out by Public Health England.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the Gambling-related harms evidence review.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Operators offering gambling facilities to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and have procedures in place to prevent underage gambling. The Gambling Commission has a range of powers to act in the case of failure, including the power to suspend or revoke a licence, impose financial penalties or prosecute criminal offences. In May 2019 the Gambling Commission introduced new rules that require online gambling businesses to verify the age of customers before they can deposit money, gamble, or access play-for-free versions of gambling games. The Gambling Commission is also working with local authorities and the hospitality sector to improve the enforcement of legal age requirements on the use of gaming machines in pubs.
The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care work closely together on matters related to gambling harm, and share regular updates including on the forthcoming evidence review being carried out by Public Health England.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when adult gaming centres and arcades will be able to re-open as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As detailed in the Government's roadmap “Our Plan to Rebuild” the next phase of easing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions will begin no earlier than 4 July, subject to public health advice. My Department is working through the next steps with the arcades sector in line with further announcements on the roadmap.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the National Lottery’s income is derived from players aged 16 and 17 in (a) main lottery sales (i) online (ii) in shops and (b) scratchcard sales (i) online and (ii) in shops.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on National Lottery income derived from players aged 16 and 17 is provided in the Consultation document dated 16 July 2019 on the minimum age for playing National Lottery games.
Sales revenue derived from players aged 16 and 17 is estimated due to the complexities involved in collating data from retail sales.
Total estimated sales revenue from 16 and 17 year olds in 2017/18 was £47m of which 32% was for draw-based games, 68% for scratchards and less than 1% for online instant win games (inclusive of online scratchcards).
This below data is from page 24 of the consultation document.
National Lottery income from 16 and 17 year olds in 2017/18 | Online | Retail | As % of total sales in 2017/18 |
Draw-based games | £15m* | 0.2% | |
Scratchcards |
| £31.8m | 0.5% |
Instant Win Games (inclusive of online scratchcards) | £200,000 |
| 0.003% |
Total | £47m | 0.7% | |
Figures rounded to the nearest £0.1m
* Over 99% of draw-based game sales to 16 and 17 year olds would have taken place in retail.