Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential financial public losses as a result of the proposed changes to the Gambling Act.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming months. Appropriate consideration of impacts is being made at all stages.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that there are adequate age-related controls in place for people purchasing Non-Fungible Tokens in video games.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This Government is committed to ensuring that video games are enjoyed safely and consumers are empowered to make informed decisions. Video game ratings are mandatory under UK law for physical products. The Games Rating Authority - which is part of the Video Standards Council - rates games using the Pan European Games Information (PEGI) system. In addition to age classifications, PEGI ratings also include content descriptors to ensure buyers are informed about games at the point of purchase, including whether a title contains 'in-game purchases', such as Non-Fungible Tokens, loot boxes and other in-game items.
We will continue to work with industry and other relevant stakeholders to understand the impact of new in-game technologies.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of short-stay educational visits to the UK from EU schools; and what steps she is taking to encourage more visits from EU schools to the UK.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
As set out in the government’s Tourism Recovery Plan, we are committed to supporting the tourism industry’s return to pre-pandemic levels across England, including tourism for educational purposes.
So far, the government has provided over £35 billion in support to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors over the course of the pandemic in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
The continuing desirability of English language skills drives the UK’s soft power on the world stage. The Tourism Recovery Plan recognises educational travel as an important part of the visitor economy and highlights the 2021 updates to the International Education Strategy, which sets out how we will promote English Language Training in the UK.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a compensation scheme in order to grant financial redress to customers of Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, went into liquidation on 5 November. The process is continuing and it is likely that this will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors. There is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.