Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision to fly ancient hominid remains into space, what assessment they have made of the case for strengthening protections for ancient hominid and human remains; and what discussions they have had, and intend to have, about reinforcing such protections internationally.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Human remains less than 1,000 years old in UK museum collections are protected under the Human Remains Act 2004. The Act regulates the acquisition, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue. It also requires a licence for organisations holding and displaying human remains. This Act ensures that there is strong protection in place for human remains in UK museums.
Museums are independent of HM Government and it is for the trustees of each museum to make decisions about their collections. However, we expect museums to exercise appropriate care for their collections including ancient hominid and human remains which are outwith the scope of the Human Remains Act 2004.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the long-term and secure future of the Roscoe Botanical Garden.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of Liverpool's Botanical Collection as one of the oldest such collections in the world.
The medical, scientific, educational, and horticultural importance of these rare plants is significant, as well as the benefits they can have for health and wellbeing in the local community and more widely.
We support the steps that Liverpool City Council is making to secure the future of the gardens and encourage it to apply to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making provision for (1) free roaming for Ukrainian phones in the UK, and (2) free roaming for UK phones in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Mobile telephone operators currently offer a range of surcharge-free or low-cost options, both for Ukrainian telephones in the UK, and for UK telephones in Ukraine. For example, the UK’s largest mobile telephone operator, EE, has made mobile roaming free for both Ukrainian phones in the UK, and UK telephones in Ukraine.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the Online Safety Bill will protect local councillors and council employees at all levels of local government from online abuse.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill will protect all users, including local councillors and council employees, from abuse online.
Services in scope of the Bill will need to ensure that illegal content in scope is removed swiftly and that the risk of it appearing and spreading is minimised by effective systems. Category one services must be clear how they address priority content that is harmful to adults, and enforce their terms of service consistently. Priority categories of content which are harmful to adults and children will be set out in secondary legislation and are likely to include some types of online abuse and harassment.
Ofcom will have a suite of enforcement powers available to use against companies who fail their duties. These powers include fines for companies of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying annual global turnover, and business disruption measures.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) promote, (2) encourage, and (3) support, charitable status for public interest journalism.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in the response to the Cairncross Review, published in January 2020, the government has concluded that the current Charities Act system accommodates appropriate options for public interest journalism. Therefore the government has worked with the Charity Commission which has published advice on when undertaking or funding public interest journalism can be charitable. This advice also raises awareness of the more detailed guidance available for those publishers in England and Wales interested in pursuing charitable status.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to intervene in the National Railway Museum’s decision to move Locomotion No. 1 from Darlington to Shildon.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The historic locomotive, Locomotion No.1, is owned by the Science Museum Group, and it is up to the Museum itself to determine where and to whom it loans objects from its collection. The Science Museum Group operates independently, at Arm’s Length from Government. We will not become involved in, or seek to influence, curatorial decisions.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue a response to the study by RunRepeat Racial Bias in Football Commentary, published on 10 July.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Racial bias or any form of discrimination has no place in football or society.
The Government is committed to working with the whole of sport to ensure it is diverse and inclusive, and to supporting greater diversity in the media, which plays a vital role in British society. It is important that the media reflects modern Britain with its diversity of thought and experience, both on and off screen and this can only be possible with a representative, and diverse workforce.
We will continue to liaise closely with all the football authorities to tackle discrimination in the game. To this end, I welcomed the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background player-to-coach placement scheme jointly announced recently by the Premier League, English Football League and Professional Footballers’ Association to increase diversity in football coaching.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the commissioning of public artworks as a mechanism to support the cultural sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; and if they have any such plans, how they intend to do so.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
DCMS is working with partners to ensure all major programmes and policies support the national renewal. Festival 2022 will begin its commissioning phase this year through funded R&D with the sectors, and the Government Art Collection, which directly supports emerging and established British artists and galleries in the visual arts sector through their annual acquisitions budget, is looking to ensure this year’s acquisitions respond to the current situation.
The Government has already announced an unprecedented package of measures in place to provide immediate and vital support to the cultural sector during this pandemic. These include the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self Employment Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, business rates relief and cash grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.
DCMS has also worked with various Arms Length Bodies to create tailored funding packages to support the cultural sector at this time. Arts Council England has announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and support the resilience of this vital sector. This funding package will support organisations and individuals who need the most support to see them through this crisis.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Morgan of Cotes on 6 February (HL Deb, col 1937) that the Government “supported all the recommendations apart from one: the proposal to establish an institute for public interest news” and “the Government have decided that it is not for the Government to take that recommendation forward”, what assessment they made to inform that decision; what support they intend to give, if any, to the establishment by other organisations of an institute for public interest news; what discussions they have had with other organisations about establishing such an institute; and with which organisations they have discussed any such plans.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government acknowledges the value the ‘Institute for Public Interest News’, proposed by Dame Frances Cairncross in her Review, is intended to achieve, in bringing different initiatives together in order to amplify their impact, and acting as a channel for collaboration. However, the Government recognises the concerns of many in the publishing industry regarding the inherent challenge an organisation with such a purpose will face in defining what qualifies as ‘public interest’ news, and what might therefore be deserving of support. It is not for the Government to define what qualifies as 'public interest' news. While any institute would be at arm’s length from the Government, we recognise concerns that even an arm’s length relationship risks perceptions of inappropriate Government interference with the press. The Government has therefore decided that it is not for the Government to take the recommendation forward.
There are a number of existing initiatives set up by the industry in this area, for example, the Google News Initiative, Facebook’s Community News Project, the Public Interest News Foundation set up by Impress, and the BBC’s proposed Local Democracy Foundation — with more potentially under development across the sector. Parts of the sector have shown a desire to help share approaches and best practice. It remains open for the sector to support the existing initiatives or form others as they see fit.
Notwithstanding that it is not for the Government to play a role in leading or designing an institution, there are some challenges and functions that Dame Frances envisaged as potentially being undertaken by an institute that the Government is minded to support through other routes. A key function where we see a potential role for Government to support is the funding of research into news provision and its impact on communities. The Government has recently put out an invitation to tender for research to support policy development on news sustainability and will continue to explore how it can commission further research into these areas, to provide a solid evidence base for future policy interventions.