Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
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 impact of online tracking and data harvesting activities by advertising and marketing companies on people's privacy.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The use of online tracking technology is regulated by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This legislation sets rules in relation to organisations’ use of cookies, tracking pixels and similar technologies that track information about people accessing a website or other electronic services. It also requires organisations to give people clear and comprehensive information about the use of tracking technologies, and a choice about whether or not they are applied on devices.
The ICO is the independent regulator for PECR and the UK GDPR and has produced guidance for organisations on the use of tracking technologies. It is currently conducting an investigation into use of personal data by the ad-tech industry and will publish its final findings, once the investigation is concluded. Further information can be found on the ICO’s website.
People who have privacy concerns in respect of the use of their personal data by any organisation can contact the ICO for further advice or to make a complaint. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 and through their live chat facility. Further contact details are on the ICO’s website. The ICO has a number of tools to take action against those who breach the legislation. For example, it can require organisations to address unlawful practices and impose civil monetary penalties.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
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 increase awareness of sudden cardiac arrest training offered by the FA and other organisations which teach people how to recognise a sudden cardiac arrest and respond accordingly.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The welfare and safety of everybody taking part in sport is of paramount importance. I welcome the work of The FA and other sports organisations in increasing access to first aid equipment and education.
Sport England, our arm’s length body for community sport, has funded UK Coaching’s free course for first responders to help them understand how to respond and act quickly to a sudden cardiac arrest:
https://www.ukcoaching.org/resources/topics/tips/sudden-cardiac-arrest-tips-to-help-you-be-prepared
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the provision of defibrillators at grassroots football clubs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Events at both UEFA EURO 2020 earlier this year and more recently at Newcastle United have demonstrated the immense value of access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and first aid training for anyone involved in sport. Sports have a responsibility to make the safety and welfare of players their top priority, including through access to life-saving first aid equipment and relevant training and education.
At the grassroots level, all capital funding awards for sports venues made by Sport England, the Government’s arm’s length body for community sport, must include AED provision if it is not already available.
For football facilities, support over recent years has been provided by The Football Association (The FA) and the British Heart Foundation to help ensure AEDs are available. In June 2021 I welcomed the Premier League’s announcement of their new Defibrillator Fund, which will fund AEDs at thousands of football clubs and facilities across the country. Each grant recipient will be required to have at least one person successfully complete The FA Education Sudden Cardiac Arrest free online course. Sport England is working with the Football Foundation in support of the Premier League initiative to put £3 million into providing AED equipment for grassroots football clubs.
The Defibrillator Fund will see AEDs provided to Football Foundation funded facilities which currently are without a device onsite. A second phase of the project will allow grassroots clubs that own their facilities to apply for funding for a defibrillator.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
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 hold (a) Instagram and (b) other social media platforms to account for (a) racist and (b) other hateful content.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Online abuse of any kind is unacceptable. Racist abuse and other hateful content has no place in an open and tolerant society.
We are taking groundbreaking steps to hold companies accountable. Under new online safety laws, all companies in scope of the framework will need to take swift and effective action against criminal online abuse - including abuse which takes place anonymously. Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. Priority categories of legal but harmful content for adults will be set out in secondary legislation and these are likely to include some forms of online abuse.
Users will also be better able to report abuse, and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform. This might include the removal of harmful content, sanctions against offending users, or changing processes and policies to better protect users. If a company fails in these duties, it could face an investigation and enforcement action from the regulator, Ofcom, including large fines.
The draft Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the regulatory framework, has now been published for pre-legislative scrutiny. It is for Parliament to determine how and when the Bill will be scrutinised, which the government hopes will be soon.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support small cricket clubs that are experiencing financial difficulties due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. The £300m Sports Survival Package also aims to protect the immediate futures of major spectator sports in England.
Sport England has also provided £220million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35million Community Emergency Fund. This includes £6,599,437 investment in cricket to 1,362 projects.
On 26 January Sport England also published their strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ and as part of this have committed an extra £50million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government plans to provide to (a) the English Cricket Board and (b) local authorities to increase cricket facilities in (i) Illford South constituency and (ii) other areas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. Sport England has also provided £270 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. This includes £6,599,437 investment in cricket to 1,362 projects.
Furthermore, in the last 10 years (since 2011), Sport England has invested more than £85 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding in community sports organisations and facilities for participation in cricket. For the period 2017/22 Sport England has invested £11,202,500 in the England and Wales Cricket Board.
In Ilford South, Sport England’s recent funding for cricket has included £9,445 to Ilford Cricket Club and £3,366 to Redbridge Cricket Club through their COVID-19 Community Emergency Fund.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his predecessor had in 2016 with the National Archives on the document entitled, FCO 37/3978 Involvement of UK companies training Sri Lankan security forces, 1985.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I am not aware of discussions between my predecessor and the National Archives specifically relating to the document entitled, FCO 37/3978 Involvement of UK companies training Sri Lankan security forces, 1985 during 2016.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) ARM Holdings Ltd and (b) Nvidia on the proposed purchase of ARM Holdings Ltd; and if he will publish details of those discussions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders on a variety of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website. It would be inappropriate to comment further on an ongoing commercial matter.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what communications his Department has had with BT on potential takeover bids; and what assessment has been made of the potential effect of such a takeover on the UK's high-fibre broadband infrastructure and 5G network.
Answered by Matt Warman
The department regularly engages with BT and others across the telecoms industry on a variety of issues, including the government’s ambitions for nationwide gigabit capable broadband and 5G mobile coverage. Despite recent speculation in the media, BT is not subject to a takeover bid at the current time.