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Written Question
Internet: Advertising
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government is taking steps to regulate online advertisements selling financial products not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Answered by John Whittingdale

As part of the Online Advertising Programme, the Government will introduce a new and targeted regulatory framework for online advertising, which focuses on tackling illegal advertising. This includes illegal or scam adverts for financial products and services, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will work closely with the FCA and HM Treasury.


Written Question
Football: Television
Wednesday 12th July 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will amend the Category A list of sports that are free to air on television to include the (a) Champion's League Final, (b) Europa League Final and (c) Europa Conference League Final; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government believes that certain sporting events of national interest should be shown on free-to-air television rather than behind a paywall, so that they can be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible. That is why we have the listed events regime.

In determining what events form part of this regime, a balance between accessibility and the ability of sporting organisations to generate revenues from commercial broadcast arrangements to invest in the development of their sports from the grassroots up. The Government believes that the current list strikes an appropriate balance, and has no current plans to undertake a full review of the events on the list.


Written Question
Events Industry
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to support business events organisers based in (a) Europe and (b) other countries who wish to engage with the UK business events sector.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is taking a number of steps to promote the UK’s strong business events offer to the international market. VisitBritain supports organisations in hosting international business events in the UK through their Business Events Growth Programme, which has awarded over £1.5m in grants since 2016. VisitEngland also facilitates meetings between English cities and key international markets throughout the year at international trade shows such as IMEX Frankfurt and IBTM World in Barcelona.

Business events are hugely valuable to our economy, contributing over £31 billion a year in spend and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. They promote our leading growth sectors to the world while attracting international visitors to all corners of the UK.

We continue to engage with the sector, including through the Tourism Industry Council and the Events Industry Board Working Group, to assess how we can further strengthen the UK’s reputation as a leading business events destination.


Written Question
Social Media: Personation
Monday 5th December 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

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 tackle online impersonations on (a) social media and (b) dating applications which are carried out for the purpose of coercive control.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Online Safety Bill will require user-to-user services to tackle illegal content. This includes social media and dating apps.

We recently announced our intention to add the controlling or coercive behaviour offence to the list of priority illegal offences under the Bill. This means that in-scope services will be required to proactively prevent users from being exposed to this type of content, strengthening protections for users from this behaviour. They will also need to swiftly remove such content if it appears on their service.

The Online Safety Bill is scheduled to return to the Commons on 5th December for its second day of Report.


Written Question
Hotels: Disability
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

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 adequacy of the accessibility of hotels for disabled people in the UK.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government remains committed to the ambition set out in both the Tourism Sector Deal, and more recently in the Tourism Recovery Plan, for the UK to be the most accessible tourism destination in Europe by 2025.

VisitEngland’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group comprises a range of leading accessible tourism stakeholders who share the vision for England to provide world-class accessible tourism experiences that every person with accessibility requirements can enjoy. The chair of the group, Ross Calladine, is the government's newly appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism.

The group undertakes a range of activities to increase engagement of tourism destinations and businesses in the provision of access for all and to raise awareness of accessible tourism experiences amongst disabled people.

VisitEngland is currently undertaking a review of the National Accessible Scheme (NAS) that helps accommodation owners in England develop and promote their level of accessibility and helps people with accessibility requirements identify suitable accommodation more easily. It comprises a comprehensive set of standards and, for a fee, assessment by a trained independent assessor. The review of the NAS is being carried out within the wider context of VisitEngland’s work on accessible tourism, particularly the provision of the Accessibility Guides initiative and the comprehensive guidance on the Business Advice Hub.


Written Question
Holiday Accommodation: Disability
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many roundtable meetings her Department has had with disabled people to discuss the barriers they face in booking accommodation.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government remains committed to the ambition set out in both the Tourism Sector Deal, and more recently in the Tourism Recovery Plan, for the UK to be the most accessible tourism destination in Europe by 2025.

VisitEngland’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group comprises a range of leading accessible tourism stakeholders who share the vision for England to provide world-class accessible tourism experiences that every person with accessibility requirements can enjoy. The chair of the group, Ross Calladine, is the government's newly appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism.

The group undertakes a range of activities to increase engagement of tourism destinations and businesses in the provision of access for all and to raise awareness of accessible tourism experiences amongst disabled people.

VisitEngland is currently undertaking a review of the National Accessible Scheme (NAS) that helps accommodation owners in England develop and promote their level of accessibility and helps people with accessibility requirements identify suitable accommodation more easily. It comprises a comprehensive set of standards and, for a fee, assessment by a trained independent assessor. The review of the NAS is being carried out within the wider context of VisitEngland’s work on accessible tourism, particularly the provision of the Accessibility Guides initiative and the comprehensive guidance on the Business Advice Hub.


Written Question
Hotels: Disability
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many roundtable meetings her Department has had with stakeholders in the tourism sector to discuss the barriers disabled people experience when booking hotels and other similar venues since 2021.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government remains committed to the ambition set out in both the Tourism Sector Deal, and more recently in the Tourism Recovery Plan, for the UK to be the most accessible tourism destination in Europe by 2025.

VisitEngland’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group comprises a range of leading accessible tourism stakeholders who share the vision for England to provide world-class accessible tourism experiences that every person with accessibility requirements can enjoy. The chair of the group, Ross Calladine, is the government's newly appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism.

The group undertakes a range of activities to increase engagement of tourism destinations and businesses in the provision of access for all and to raise awareness of accessible tourism experiences amongst disabled people.

VisitEngland is currently undertaking a review of the National Accessible Scheme (NAS) that helps accommodation owners in England develop and promote their level of accessibility and helps people with accessibility requirements identify suitable accommodation more easily. It comprises a comprehensive set of standards and, for a fee, assessment by a trained independent assessor. The review of the NAS is being carried out within the wider context of VisitEngland’s work on accessible tourism, particularly the provision of the Accessibility Guides initiative and the comprehensive guidance on the Business Advice Hub.


Written Question
Financial Conduct Authority: Gambling Commission
Tuesday 18th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to improve co-operation between the Financial Conduct Authority and the Gambling Commission.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport worked closely with their counterparts at the Treasury to discuss the collapse of BetIndex, the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in this case, the independent review conducted by Malcolm Sheehan QC and the lessons learnt that were identified by the review.

Following the publication of the review, the Gambling Commission updated its framework for risk based regulation so that product novelty is properly considered alongside other factors in determining the level of scrutiny an operator is placed under.

The review also clearly states that the FCA’s concluded position was that no part of Football Index fell within the FCA’s remit on legal grounds. Only one company is currently regulated by both the Gambling Commission and the FCA. The Commission continues to be vigilant about emerging products and operators and, under the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the FCA, identify and highlight the potential need for its involvement wherever necessary.

The FCA and the Gambling Commission strengthened their Memorandum of Understanding in response to Mr Sheehan’s recommendations in the independent review, including establishing new escalation routes and commitments on timeliness of responses to ensure regulatory impasses are identified and overcome quickly. The FCA has additionally nominated an Executive Director to oversee its relationship with the Commission.


Written Question
Gambling: Regulation
Tuesday 18th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many companies does the Gambling Commission dual regulate with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport worked closely with their counterparts at the Treasury to discuss the collapse of BetIndex, the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in this case, the independent review conducted by Malcolm Sheehan QC and the lessons learnt that were identified by the review.

Following the publication of the review, the Gambling Commission updated its framework for risk based regulation so that product novelty is properly considered alongside other factors in determining the level of scrutiny an operator is placed under.

The review also clearly states that the FCA’s concluded position was that no part of Football Index fell within the FCA’s remit on legal grounds. Only one company is currently regulated by both the Gambling Commission and the FCA. The Commission continues to be vigilant about emerging products and operators and, under the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the FCA, identify and highlight the potential need for its involvement wherever necessary.

The FCA and the Gambling Commission strengthened their Memorandum of Understanding in response to Mr Sheehan’s recommendations in the independent review, including establishing new escalation routes and commitments on timeliness of responses to ensure regulatory impasses are identified and overcome quickly. The FCA has additionally nominated an Executive Director to oversee its relationship with the Commission.


Written Question
Gambling: Regulation
Tuesday 18th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

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 merits for gambling regulation of requiring the Gambling Commission to assess the novelty of an (a) operator or (b) product when conducting scrutiny.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport worked closely with their counterparts at the Treasury to discuss the collapse of BetIndex, the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in this case, the independent review conducted by Malcolm Sheehan QC and the lessons learnt that were identified by the review.

Following the publication of the review, the Gambling Commission updated its framework for risk based regulation so that product novelty is properly considered alongside other factors in determining the level of scrutiny an operator is placed under.

The review also clearly states that the FCA’s concluded position was that no part of Football Index fell within the FCA’s remit on legal grounds. Only one company is currently regulated by both the Gambling Commission and the FCA. The Commission continues to be vigilant about emerging products and operators and, under the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the FCA, identify and highlight the potential need for its involvement wherever necessary.

The FCA and the Gambling Commission strengthened their Memorandum of Understanding in response to Mr Sheehan’s recommendations in the independent review, including establishing new escalation routes and commitments on timeliness of responses to ensure regulatory impasses are identified and overcome quickly. The FCA has additionally nominated an Executive Director to oversee its relationship with the Commission.