Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the risk of avian flu transmission to birds that are permanently resident in Royal Parks.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Managing the risk of avian influenza transmission is an operational matter for The Royal Parks, which is following instructions issued by the Animal Plant and Health Agency.
The captive bird collection of pelicans in St James’s Park has been moved indoors and The Royal Parks’ staff and wildlife officers are carrying out enhanced monitoring of the park waterbodies to check for signs of illness and to ensure that, should there be any, carcasses are removed immediately.
Additional signs have been installed in all the parks in areas where public feeding of birds is popular, instructing visitors not to feed the birds as this causes populations of waterfowl to group together and increases the risk of transmission.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 support the arts and culture in London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), HM Government supported London's vibrant cultural sector against the impact of COVID-19. London-based groups and venues received just over a third of total CRF funding – £494 million in grants and loans – supporting over 1,200 organisations. That included 21 organisations in Ealing, such as Colour Sound Experiment Ltd (just under £500,000) and Marquee Entec Ltd (£524,000). The Southbank Centre, the Royal Opera House and Historic Royal Palaces were just a few of the many other acclaimed London institutions which received significant amounts of CRF funding, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our iconic cultural and heritage venues through the pandemic.
In addition to this, Arts Council England – the arm’s length body which is responsible for distributing public funding – is committed to supporting arts and culture in the capital. Around a third of its investment through the 2023–26 Investment Programme will be directed to organisations in London, amounting to £143.7 million. The new Investment Programme includes a wider spread of investment to outer London boroughs, meaning more Londoners will benefit from creative and cultural investment. Arts Council England will also continue to prioritise a number of London boroughs in its existing set of priority places (Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, and Newham).
I am pleased that, through this Investment Programme, Arts Council England is supporting 56 cultural organisations in the capital for the first time. These organisations will sit alongside our acclaimed institutions such as the Royal Opera House, London Transport Museum, the National Theatre, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Southbank Centre, which will continue to receive funding. Organisations leaving the portfolio are eligible to apply for support from Arts Council England’s £12.6 million Transition Programme. This fund will provide those leaving the portfolio with up to 12 months’ funding at the current levels from the point of notification. Both the amount of money available, and the length of transition, have been extended.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish her Department's White Paper on the future of the Gambling Act; and whether that White Paper will include recommendations relating to the collapse of the Football Index.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will publish a white paper setting out next steps regarding the Gambling Act Review in the coming months. We are considering all the evidence carefully, including the conclusions of the independent review of the regulation of BetIndex Ltd, the operator of Football Index, which we published in September.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support the simplification of terms and conditions required by digital and technology companies when accessing their websites or applications.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under upcoming Online Safety legislation, companies that enable sharing of user-generated content and search services will need to create clear and accessible terms of service for how they will protect users from harmful content on their platform, and enforce these consistently. The draft Online Safety Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny and the government will introduce it to Parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 and associated regulatory authorities are taking to reduce nuisance automated marketing calls.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Companies that make marketing calls are regulated by both the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). The PECR was designed to complement the DPA and impose strict obligations on organisations that make marketing calls to individuals in the UK.
The Government has taken a number of actions to tackle nuisance and automated marketing calls through amendments to the PECR. This includes introducing director liability and working with the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury to ban cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers. We also secured over £1 million to provide vulnerable people with call blocking devices.
The regulators Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office have developed a joint action plan to tackle the harm to consumers caused by nuisance calls and communications. This can be found at:
We continue to work with regulators and the telecoms industry in a joined up effort to tackle the issue of nuisance marketing communications.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of (a) households and (b) land area have 5G coverage.
Answered by Matt Warman
All four Mobile Network Operators have now launched 5G networks, with 5G services now available in over 100 towns and cities across the UK.
Ofcom, as the UK’s telecommunications regulator, collects mobile coverage data for its Connected Nations reports. Ofcom does not currently report on 5G coverage figures but we will be working with them to agree how best to report 5G coverage data as it becomes more widespread.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many households do not have access to high speed internet; and what his Department's definition is of high speed internet.
Answered by Matt Warman
The department does not use the term “high speed internet”, but uses the term “superfast” to denote speeds capable of 24Mbps and more. There are c.30 million households across the UK, and the superfast coverage against the 24Mbps definition is 96.8%. Against the EU definition, which is 30Mbps and above, coverage across the UK is 96.5%.
In regard to households that do not have access to high speed internet, Ofcom have defined a “decent broadband” connection as being able to access 10Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload. According to Thinkbroadband as of 16 October, 1.4% of UK premises have speeds of less than 10Mbps.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 on jobs in the events industry in England of exempting children aged 12 and under from the rule of six, in line with the policies of the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My department continues to closely assess the impact of COVID-related restrictions on the events industry.
The rule of six does not apply to work, education and training activities. Meetings of up to 30 can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place.
Where the rule of 6 does apply, we have set out a clear and consistent limit of 6 people. Health is a devolved matter, and each administration has the discretion to implement the policy as they see fit.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and the latest public health assessments.
We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing events businesses across the UK.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all communities can access (a) park tennis courts and (b) other (i) free and (ii) low-cost open spaces and sporting facilities.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As we set out in the government sport strategy, Sporting Future, sport and physical activity should be accessible to all. It is so important to the health of the nation - in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing.
As announced on 9 July, from 25 July indoor gyms, leisure centres (including tennis courts) and swimming pools in England should be able to reopen. These facilities will be able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance.
Sport England have announced a £195 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis. It recently boosted its Community Emergency Fund by a further £15 million to meet the demand, taking the total up to £210 million.
The income scheme announced on Thursday 2 July by the Secretary of State for Local Government, aims to support local authorities who have incurred irrecoverable loss of income from sales, fees and charge which they had reasonably budgeted for. Further guidance will follow on the principle of the scheme.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the contribution to the UK economy of the event catering industry; and what estimate he has made of trends in the level of contribution from that sector in each of the next five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The hospitality sector is hugely important to the UK economy, supporting 3.2 million jobs across the country and representing almost 10% of the country’s total employment. My Department has not made an estimate of the current or future contribution of the event catering industry to the broader hospitality sector.
We have been encouraged by the industry’s commitments to develop new hospitality career opportunities as part of the Tourism Sector Deal - including boosting apprenticeships and developing a new mentoring scheme.
We recognise that the COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted multiple parts of the hospitality industry. We remain in regular contact with stakeholders, including UKHospitality, and will continue to monitor the situation. Hospitality businesses and workers can access the Government’s economic support package, including the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan scheme.