Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has been made on bringing streaming services such as Netflix under the regulation of Ofcom.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Video-on-demand services like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are not regulated in the UK to the same extent as linear TV channels, some services, like Netflix, are not regulated in the UK at all. On-demand services are not subject to Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code which sets out appropriate standards for content including harmful or offensive material, accuracy, fairness and privacy.
The Government launched a consultation in August 2021 to level the playing field between traditional broadcasters and video-on-demand streaming services, to provide a fair competitive framework and ensure UK viewers are better protected from harmful material. We are now considering the response to the consultation and will publish next steps in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 tackle digital exclusion in the context of the Plan B restrictions announced by the Government on 8 December 2021.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government’s 10 Tech Priorities include building a tech-savvy nation where no-one is left behind by the digital revolution. For this reason, the government is working to ensure that everyone has digital access to further their training and improve employment prospects.
The pandemic and the ongoing measures, including those implemented under Plan B, continue to highlight the importance of supporting digitally excluded people. Throughout the pandemic, DCMS has supported initiatives that help address digital exclusion. These include the Digital Lifeline fund, which provided tablets, data and free digital support to over 5,000 people with learning disabilities who would otherwise find it difficult to get online.
Additionally, in September 2021, the Inclusive Economy Partnership (IEP), partnered with industry leaders to launch the Digital Inclusion Impact Group focused on tackling digital exclusion. One of the pilot programmes is Dell Donate to Educate, which will support children across England with the right access to technology at school and at home.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 help tackle scams on online dating sites; and what support is available to victims of such scams.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Online Safety Bill will increase people's protection from scams facilitated via dating sites. Dating sites will have to assess the risk of fraud arising from user-generated content on their service and then take steps to mitigate and tackle that risk. This is just one part of the government’s plan, led by the Home Office, to tackle fraud in all its forms.
Victims of fraud must feel they can come forward to report these crimes and receive the support they need. The government is working to improve the victim support system to make sure that everyone receives the advice and care they need to move beyond the impact of this crime.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government has taken to support theatres during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Theatres have been eligible to access Government COVID-19 support throughout the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes various government-backed loans, business grants, reduction in VAT and the extended furlough and self-employed support schemes. Theatres were also able to access the discretionary Local Restrictions Support Grant and Additional Restrictions Grant which provided Local Authorities with funds to support businesses who met the eligibility criteria. And, earlier this year the Chancellor announced one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring.
Theatres have also benefited from the Cultural Recovery Fund. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from this fund, reaching over 5000 individual organisations and sites. Of this funding, awards with a value of over £183m were made to applicants whose main artform is ‘theatre’ in Round 1 recovery grant funding, and in Round 2 almost £60 million was awarded to help theatres plan for reopening in every corner of the country from the West End’s Criterion Theatre to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.
In the 2021 Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund. This extra funding, together with other cultural support such as funding for our national museums, means that our total support package for culture during the pandemic is now approaching £2bn. These are unprecedented sums.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 safety of re-commencing private music lessons for adults during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 22 February the Prime Minister set out the roadmap gradually ending the current lockdown for England.
At step 3 of the roadmap, no earlier than 17 May, the restrictions on social mixing indoors will be eased and individuals will be able to meet socially distanced in a group of 6 or with 1 other household. Non-professional activities, such as private music lessons for adults, will be able to resume from this time.
The timings outlined in the roadmap are indicative, and the Government will be led by data, rather than fixed dates. Before taking each step, the Government will review the latest data and will only ease restrictions further if it is safe to do so. The indicative, ‘no earlier than’ dates in the roadmap are all contingent on the data and subject to change.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 potential merits of providing support to the events sector to encourage event attendance when it is safe to do so.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government acknowledges the significance of the events sector to the UK economy and that it has been significantly affected by the impacts of Covid-19.
We recognise the importance of giving the events sector clarity for when events will be permitted to resume with fuller audiences. However we have always been clear that the activity permitted would be in line with the latest public health context.
No assessment is currently available regarding the potential merits of providing support to the sector to encourage event attendance at this time.
We are committed to continue working with the live events sector to understand the challenges they face and to work towards reopening events with fuller audiences. Furthermore, the business events pilots we carried out in September will help to ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the availability of the culture recovery fund to organisations that were previously in receipt of public funds.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
It has been agreed that in regards to public funds, such as the Job Retention Scheme, and the Culture Recovery Fund, organisations may apply for both, although of course organisations should not claim for the same costs through a public funding scheme and the Culture Recovery Fund. Where organisations have questions about this interaction they should speak to their relevant arms length body - Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England or the British Film Institute.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 adequacy of funding for charities and community projects which tackle loneliness.
Answered by John Whittingdale
In April, Government launched a £750 million charity funding package. This spearheaded a major effort to tackle loneliness, with over £23 million allocated to this activity. Activity includes a £5 million grant fund to support national organisations working to tackle loneliness and build social connections to help them continue and adapt their critical work. This has given grants of between £500,000 and £810,000 to 9 organisations. In addition, a further £44 million of the £750 million package was given to organisations supporting people with their mental health.
Government has also announced a £4 million microgrants fund, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, to provide targeted funding to small grassroots organisations, to build relationships in communities to help reduce loneliness. This funding is due to be available shortly.
Government continues to work closely with the civil society sector to assess both the needs of vulnerable people and the sector itself, and how government can best support the continuation of its vital work.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 adequacy of financial support available to self-employed and freelance people in creative industries.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government has taken active steps to support the self-employed. We’ve supported the self-employed with over £13 billion in grants and the Chancellor has doubled the generosity of the self-employed grant extension scheme from 20% to 40% of people’s profits. The expanded Jobs Support Scheme, announced by the Chancellor on 22 October, will include more generous and frequent cash grants, and more help for the self-employed.
DCMS continues to engage with HMT to feed into their assessment of the potential impacts of Government support. We will ensure the needs of our sectors are also factored into the developing economic response, and that DCMS sectors, including the live music industry, are supported throughout this time.
The Arts Council England has made £119 million available to individuals (including freelancers and self-employed), with £23.1 million already distributed and £95.9 million currently available to apply for via open funds.
The £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 tackle the online platforming of hate speech.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers have regular discussions with their Cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues, including tackling online hate speech. The Home Office are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), civil society partners and social media platforms to encourage victim reporting of online hate crime during the pandemic and to ensure that all police forces are providing reassurance to affected communities. Policy for combating online hate crime remains with the Home Office.
Ensuring the UK is the safest place in the world to go online is a priority for the Government. We are pressing ahead with legislation to establish a new Online Harms regulatory framework which will protect users from harm. The Government’s Online Harms White Paper, published in April 2019, set out our plans for world-leading legislation, by making companies more responsible for their users’ safety online.