Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned changes to the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme on listed places of worship.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme.
The changes announced were necessary given the tight fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous government and considering competing financial demands in other parts of the heritage and cultural sector.Will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits within the available means. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the (a) transparency and (b) accountability of lottery fundraising by charities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The transparency and accountability of society lottery operators is a matter for the Gambling Commission through its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).
The Minister for Gambling has no current plans to take action in this area.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to remove the cap on charity lottery ticket sales.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations.
We are carefully considering calls to increase or remove limits on ticket sales, alongside the results of independent research into the lotteries sector.
We will provide an update on our policy position before the Summer Recess.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to publish research commissioned by her department to gather evidence about the (a) size and (b) nature of the prize draw sector.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department is still considering the findings of the independent research, which looked at the size and nature of the prize draw market, as well as possible gambling harm associated with these products. This research is informing our policy considerations, as whilst not regulated as a gambling product under the Gambling Act, we want people who participate in large scale commercial prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place. We will update Parliament further in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on charity lotteries of introducing a statutory levy on gambling operators.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the statutory levy, we will introduce a statutory levy charged to all licensed gambling operators. Society lotteries will be charged the levy at the lowest rate of 0.1%, in recognition of the low rates of harm associated with participation in society lotteries and the important benefits they bring to good cause fundraising. The Gambling Act 2005 is clear that all licensees are in scope of the levy, but to minimise disruption this 0.1% will be charged as a proportion of proceeds retained after good causes. We will also conduct a formal review of the statutory levy system within five years where the structure and health of the levy system, including levy rates, will be assessed and any necessary adjustments made to ensure we are achieving our objectives and impacts are proportionate.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying zero rate Society Lotteries to a compulsory levy for problem gambling.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations.
The Government is committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working with all stakeholders in order to support the industry and ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk.
We will provide further updates to the House soon.