Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to tackle the recording of breastfeeding in public without consent.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This behaviour may already be captured by existing offences.
However, we are keenly aware of concerns that have been expressed over the changes in technology, including the misuse of photography, social media, imagery, and the opportunities to abuse and upset others that such developments can bring.
We have therefore asked the Law Commission to review the law in this area to ensure victims are properly protected.
It is important that any changes to the law in such sensitive areas, are thoroughly assessed and fully evidenced.
The review has looked at the question of non-consensual photography in public places, including whether recording and sharing images of breastfeeding should be captured as “intimate” imagery for the purposes of any reformed criminal law.
The Government awaits the Law Commission’s findings with interest and shall consider them carefully.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to protect breastfeeding mothers from being photographed in public.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This behaviour may already be captured by existing offences.
However, we are keenly aware of concerns that have been expressed over the changes in technology, including the misuse of photography, social media, imagery, and the opportunities to abuse and upset others that such developments can bring.
We have therefore asked the Law Commission to review the law in this area to ensure victims are properly protected.
It is important that any changes to the law in such sensitive areas, are thoroughly assessed and fully evidenced.
The review has looked at the question of non-consensual photography in public places, including whether recording and sharing images of breastfeeding should be captured as “intimate” imagery for the purposes of any reformed criminal law.
The Government awaits the Law Commission’s findings with interest and shall consider them carefully.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will review the decision to award photography studios a £2,600 restart grant; and if he will allocate additional funds to local authorities so that a grant of £8,000 can be awarded to those studios.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Restart Grants announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 March 2021 are one-off grants to businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors, to support businesses to reopen as Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Strand One of the Restart Grants aims to support non-essential retail with grants of up to £6,000. Stand Two is to support hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses, with grants of up to £18,000. The higher amount is in recognition that these sectors will have been allowed to open at a later date and are likely to be more severely impacted by remaining restrictions.
The main service principle will determine which threshold of funding a business receives. Businesses will need to declare which is their main service. Local Authorities will need to exercise their reasonable judgement to determine whether or not a business is eligible for grants, and under which funding threshold, and be satisfied that they have taken reasonable and practicable steps to pay eligible businesses, and to pay them the correct amount.
Local Authorities in England have also been allocated £2bn in additional funding via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), to provide essential support that best suits their area. The latest FAQs issued to Local Authorities on 6 May explain that ARG funding can be used as a top-up for businesses that are in receipt of grants under other schemes.
Further guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department made of the potential effect of the decision on the level of coronavirus restart grant to be awarded to photography studios on the revenue of those studios in the context of the restrictions placed on their business as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Restart Grants announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 March 2021 are one-off grants to businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors, to support businesses to reopen as Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Strand One of the Restart Grants aims to support non-essential retail with grants of up to £6,000. Stand Two is to support hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses, with grants of up to £18,000. The higher amount is in recognition that these sectors will have been allowed to open at a later date and are likely to be more severely impacted by remaining restrictions.
The main service principle will determine which threshold of funding a business receives. Businesses will need to declare which is their main service. Local Authorities will need to exercise their reasonable judgement to determine whether or not a business is eligible for grants, and under which funding threshold, and be satisfied that they have taken reasonable and practicable steps to pay eligible businesses, and to pay them the correct amount.
Local Authorities in England have also been allocated £2bn in additional funding via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), to provide essential support that best suits their area. The latest FAQs issued to Local Authorities on 6 May explain that ARG funding can be used as a top-up for businesses that are in receipt of grants under other schemes.
Further guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason photography studios are no longer in the leisure services category for covid-19 support grants.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Restart Grants announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 March 2021 are one-off grants to businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors, to support businesses to reopen as Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Strand One of the Restart Grants aims to support non-essential retail with grants of up to £6,000. Stand Two is to support hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses, with grants of up to £18,000. The higher amount is in recognition that these sectors will have been allowed to open at a later date and are likely to be more severely impacted by remaining restrictions.
The main service principle will determine which threshold of funding a business receives. Businesses will need to declare which is their main service. Local Authorities will need to exercise their reasonable judgement to determine whether or not a business is eligible for grants, and under which funding threshold, and be satisfied that they have taken reasonable and practicable steps to pay eligible businesses, and to pay them the correct amount.
Local Authorities in England have also been allocated £2bn in additional funding via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), to provide essential support that best suits their area. The latest FAQs issued to Local Authorities on 6 May explain that ARG funding can be used as a top-up for businesses that are in receipt of grants under other schemes.
Further guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available to people working in the travel photography industry who have been affected by the covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government appreciates the significant disruption the pandemic has had on the travel and tourism sector and is very grateful for people’s patience as it works to protect the NHS and save lives.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the Government has put in place an unprecedented economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months.
Measures announced at Spring Budget 2021 which businesses, including photography companies, may benefit from include extensions to the furlough scheme; extensions to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS); extensions to the COVID-19 loan schemes; a business rates holiday; mortgage holidays; enhanced Time to Pay for taxes; and an extension to the reduced rate of VAT for businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
The Government is also conscious of the fact that demand for travel is influenced by international travel restrictions. Government’s objective is to see a safe and sustainable return to international travel. That’s why we have worked with industry and international partners to set up a Traffic Light System to facilitate the return of international travel while managing variants of concern.
We have recently published details of countries that fall into which category of the Traffic Light System and confirmed that international travel can resume from 17 May 2021. Our priority remains to protect public health, which is why the ‘green’ list is currently very small. As the epidemiological situation improves worldwide, it is expected that there will be more opportunities for leisure travel with a greater number of destinations added.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the travel photography industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has sought to keep as many business sectors open as we can to protect the economy, whilst delicately balancing the need to protect the NHS and save lives. The Department engages regularly with business representatives, stakeholders and local partners to understand the impact of Covid-19 across all sectors of the economy.
In addition, the Government has provided an unprecedented package of support to businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic, including those in the travel photography industry. This support includes grants, loans, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, the trade credit insurance guarantee and tax deferrals.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials in (a) his private office and (b) the wider Department have been allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
There are no officials in private office allocated to the production and promotion of online content. The digital capability in communications team is not wholly devoted to social media but also deals with content production for other purposes such as design and photography. With that caveat the number of civil servants for whom this is a part of their role for the relevant years is:
2018-19: 4
2019-20: 5
2020-21: 6 ( and 1 vacancy)
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students completing a Photography degree are permitted to complete practical work independently outside of their household during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We know that higher education (HE) providers are working hard to review their arrangements to reflect the situation facing students during this period of national lockdown. We expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate and timely information needed to make informed decisions. This includes making students aware of any potential for changes to arrangements for assessment at the earliest opportunity. Providers will make their own judgements based on the latest national and local public health guidance, taking account of the need to minimise risk to staff and students.
On 7 January, the department published updated guidance on the plans for students returning to higher education for the spring term. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses. There is also general guidance on national lockdown, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#when-you-can-leave-home.
As stated in the national guidance, everyone must stay at home wherever possible. It is permissible to leave the house for work and education where it cannot reasonably be done at home. However, we strongly encourage students to remain at home, and work with their providers to make plans that enable students to continue to stay at home in line with guidance wherever possible. For any academic work that takes place outside of the house, risk assessments should take place to ensure work can be conducted in a COVID-secure way and comply with social distancing guidelines. This exemption only applies if it is an essential part of the course and no alternative is available. During the period of lockdown, everyone should avoid all but essential contact and travel outside their household.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2020 to Question HL9766 on Musical Instruments: Customs, what options other than a Carnet a UK citizen residing in the UK has to transport video, photography, and recording equipment between the EU and UK whilst undertaking freelance work.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In addition to using carnets, there are two main alternative options for transporting video, photography and recording equipment between the EU and the UK - Temporary Admission and Returned Goods Relief.
Temporary Admission is a customs procedure that allows a person to import non-UK goods temporarily into the UK. Using Temporary Admission means any import duty or import VAT is suspended as long as the goods are removed from the UK at a later date. Temporary Admission is useful if a person needs to temporarily import goods such as samples, professional equipment or items for auction, exhibition or demonstration into the UK. Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-to-import-goods-temporarily-to-the-uk-or-eu.
Returned Goods Relief (RGR) allows eligible items to be reimported free from Customs duty and import VAT. The relief can apply to exported items returning to the UK if certain conditions can be met. For RGR to apply goods must normally be returned within three years of the date of export unless exceptional circumstances exist. For RGR on import VAT to apply the exporter and importer must be the same person and any VAT due must have been previously paid in the UK or EU. Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-less-import-duty-and-vat-when-re-importing-goods-to-the-uk-and-eu.
Temporary Admission and Returned Goods Relief may be available in the EU. Further information on EU customs procedures can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/customs-procedures_en.