Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to bring forward a code of practice regarding violence against women and girls online.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act (OSA) gives online user-to-user services and search service providers new safety duties. They will need to take steps to tackle illegal content and protect children. The major social media platforms – known as ‘Category 1 services’ in the Act – will also be required to take steps to enforce their terms of service and offer user empowerment tools. As the regulator for the OSA, Ofcom will set out steps providers can take for their different duties in codes of practice and guidance. This will include steps for content which disproportionately affects women and girls.
Ofcom will also produce guidance summarising all the measures it has recommended in its different codes of practice and guidance that will protect women and girls. This guidance will ensure it is easy for platforms to implement holistic and effective protections for women and girls, across their various OSA duties.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the uptake of Pension Credit in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral, (c) the North West and (d) United Kingdom.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
To raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up, the Department launched a nationwide marketing and communications campaign in April 2022.
Nationally, the campaign has included advertising on TV, broadcast radio and in newspapers; in medical centre and Post Office screens; as well as advertising on buses and digital street displays. Online marketing activity has also included social media, internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit.
We have also been promoting Pension Credit at a local level in regional newspapers (including Liverpool Echo, Blackpool Gazette, Bolton News, Lancashire Evening Post, Manchester Evening News); and on local radio (stations such as Capital radio in Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester and Greatest Hits Radio in Blackpool and Bolton).
There is a strong indication that the campaign has had a positive impact and has resulted in an unprecedented number of Pension Credit applications.
The Department is building on this success through a range of creative no-cost media campaigns to boost awareness of the benefit. We are also engaging with stakeholders, including other Government Departments, Councils, and charities, in order to harness their help and support to raise awareness through their networks and channels. For example, we will be holding a Pension Credit Week of Action commencing on 10 June. As in previous years, this will be an opportunity to collaborate with all our partners to maximise awareness of Pension Credit and to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to ensure those that don't have access to the internet can respond to the 10 year review of the NHS constitution.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to supporting people from all backgrounds in accessing the NHS Constitution consultation. We would encourage those without internet access to utilise resources on offer at some public spaces, including libraries and community centres, to support their response. The easy read consultation, which will be launched imminently, will provide an option for the consultation to be printed and sent to the Department. More widely, the Government has taken steps to ensure households across the United Kingdom are able to access fast, reliable mobile and broadband services to support their full participation in society.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 21381 on Telemedicine: Older People, whether her Department undertook an economic impact assessment of Public Switched Telephone Network migration.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom and DSIT have not conducted an economic impact assessment for the transition to digital landline services. The decision to make this transition was made by telecoms companies, not the Government.
The UK’s telecoms regulator released its positioning statement in 2019 which reviewed various regulatory considerations. Ofcom is responsible for the monitoring process of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration. Ofcom in its statement captured issues related to consumer impact, downstream service providers, and the wider impact on the future of fixed telephone services. Ofcom and DSIT recognise the necessity in upgrading the PSTN. The network is increasingly unreliable and prone to failure; therefore, it is imperative for the PSTN to undergo the necessary upgrades to keep pace with modern-use of telecommunications services.
While this is an industry-led process, Ofcom and Government are working together to monitor how Communication Providers approach the migration, with the protection of vulnerable customers being the top priority.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will hold discussions with (a) Healthwatch England and (b) other relevant stakeholders on the potential impact of the change to the requirement for practices to update the NHS website on whether they are accepting NHS patients to include the phrase when availability allows on the accuracy of reporting of NHS dental access; and what proportion of dental practices are updating their websites in line with that requirement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service dentists are required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care. Integrated care boards (ICBs) can review which practices in their areas have not updated their profiles in a 90-day period, and work with practices to ensure they comply.
Appointment availability can fluctuate daily, for example with patients cancelling and rescheduling appointments. We have updated the wording on the NHS website profiles to when availability allows, to portray a status which is more reflective of the way that most contractors are already working. This wording was added to the NHS.UK website on 2 April 2024.
Since March 2024 the number of practices reporting that they are taking on new patients via their NHS website profile has increased. Nearly 500 more dental practices on the NHS Find a Dentist website were showing themselves as open to new adult patients as of 8 April 2024, compared to the end of January 2024.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2024 to Question 23443 on Prostitution: Internet, whether his Department has received legal advice on the legality of the operations of adult services websites.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The acts of buying and selling sex are not in themselves illegal in England and Wales. Adult Service Websites are online advertising directories that provide a platform on which legitimate sex workers and escorts can advertise their services and are legal under current prostitution legislation.
Ministers responsible for the Safeguarding portfolio have met the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for sex work five times since 2017; at least two of those meetings were conducted virtually. The Home Office works closely with the police to cut crime and protect vulnerable people. Officials regularly meet representatives of NPCC portfolios as part of their routine engagement with the police.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the average time from first contact with the NHS specialist mental health services to the commencement of regular talking therapy treatment for someone with a mental health condition receiving treatment through talking therapy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In England, for the reporting period of 2022/23, there were 1,215,329 referrals to the NHS Talking Therapies programme, where treatment was started within the same period. The average waiting time from a referral being received to first treatment was 19.8 days. For the reporting period of February 2024, there were 109,260 referrals that started treatment within the same period, with an average 17.1 day wait from referral to first treatment. A referral has accessed services when the patient has attended their first treatment appointment, or an Internet Enabled Therapy log has been recorded for them.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle inequalities in access to digital technologies in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Preston; and what estimate she has made of the number of households without internet access in (i) the North West, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) Preston.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has been clear that no one should be left behind in the digital age. We will take steps to ensure support for the most urgent priorities. For example, we are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to bring gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach communities.
According to thinkbroadband.com, only 0.5% of premises in the North-West, 0.6% in Lancashire, and less than 0.1% in Preston are unable to access a decent broadband connection of 10Mbps download, 1Mbps upload. These premises may be able to request an improved connection through the Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) if their current connection falls below these speeds.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 23701 on Voice over Internet Protocol: Local Government, which local authorities her Department has had discussions with; and on what dates those discussions took place.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department has previously engaged with Local Authorities on this issue via the Local Government Association. This engagement is ongoing and is in addition to frequent meetings with other relevant stakeholders, including industry and the signatories of the Charter.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to help ensure that public services are available to (a) individuals and (b) households without internet access.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has affordable access to public services, whether online or offline.
All new public services therefore must adhere to the Government Service Standards, which require Departments to provide a service that meets the needs of all users, across a range of channels. These channels include phone, paper, and face-to-face as options for both individuals or households that do not have access to the internet, or lack the confidence to use it.
Service teams are required to provide evidence that their service meets these standards, as part of which they undertake rigorous user testing for both online and offline services.