Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will issue a progress report on their role in the sale of Chelsea Football Club given that its licence to continue operating ends this month.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government has always been clear that a quick sale of the club is in the best interests of the club, its fans and the wider football community.
Following extensive work, we are now satisfied that the full proceeds of the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or any other sanctioned individual and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued a licence to enable a sale.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the implementation of each recommendation of The Cairncross Review: A Sustainable Future For Journalism, published on 12 February 2019.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In January 2020, the government published its formal response to the independent Cairncross Review, which outlines steps the government, regulators and industry will take to support the future of the news publishing industry.
In terms of the fiscal interventions proposed by the Review, the government has introduced the zero-rating of VAT on e-publications and has committed to extending the existing business rates relief for an additional 5 years, until 31 March 2025. We also worked with Nesta to develop a £2million pilot innovation fund, launched in October 2019, and have committed to considering further fiscal measures to support the sector.
The recommended market study into the workings of the online advertising market has now concluded. The CMA’s final report recommended a similar approach to the Cairncross Review in proposing codes of conduct to govern the relationship between platforms and publishers. We are considering the CMA’s findings carefully before determining next steps, and will publish our response shortly.
The Review also recommended that Ofcom explore the market impact of BBC News. Government welcomed Ofcom’s decision to conduct a review into the BBC’s news output, which was published in October 2019.
With regard to the Review’s recommendations on taking steps to help users identify the reliability and trustworthiness of news sources, online platforms’ efforts here may continue and expand as a result of the proposals in the Online Harms White Paper. We intend to publish the Full Government Response to the White Paper as soon as possible. We are also developing a Media Literacy Strategy, which will be published in Spring 2021.
The government is pleased to see the BBC has conducted a thorough review of the Local Democracy Reporting Service and the wider Local News Partnership, as recommended by the Cairncross Review. As set out in our response, we would support any efforts by the BBC to grow the scheme.
The government will not be taking forward the recommendation to establish an institute for Public Interest News. While we acknowledge the value the proposed institute is intended to provide, it is not for the government to lead on this issue.
The government recognises the vital role of newspapers in supporting communities and in ensuring the provision of reliable, high-quality information at this time. In addition to the above measures, it has therefore also been an absolute priority to ensure we do all we can as a government to support news publishers during the Covid-19 crisis.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to require social media companies to maintain a public archive of advertisements published on their platforms.
Answered by Nigel Adams
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to require Premier League football clubs to pay at least the Living Wage to all directly and indirectly employed staff.
Answered by Nigel Adams
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide a breakdown on how the £55 million raised from dormant assets has been allocated.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Last year, the Government committed £55 million from dormant assets to tackle financial exclusion and problem debt. In the Civil Society Strategy, the government announced that this funding would be directed to a new, independent organisation, with a remit to address this social issue. The Founding Chair of this new organisation is being appointed by a nomination panel independent of government, and their decision will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which service providers are contracted to carry out third party cleaning contracts for his (a) Department and (b) executive agencies; if he will list all of the services delivered by third party contractors to his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies; and how many people working for those third party contractors are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Margot James
All sites from which DCMS operate have Facilities Management services, including cleaning provision, delivered by other government departments.
As such, DCMS is not party to any contract for the provision of cleaning services and would therefore be unable to provide information. DCMS does not have any executive agencies.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Margot James
Department for Culture, Media and Sport | Number of people paid less than the living wage |
(a) directly employed | Nil |
(b) agency | Nil |
(c) outsourced | We do not hold this information |
DCMS does not hold agencies’ information centrally.
This information is correct at 1st April 2018.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has a carer's policy for its employees; and what other steps his Department has taken to support employees with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
DCMS has a Foster Carers’ & Family and Friends Carers’ Leave policy to support employees who care for children under a fostering or family and friends care arrangement. The DCMS Special leave policy sets out the provision and entitlements to paid special leave and unpaid career breaks to support employees. The department has a Flexible working policy in place to support employees’ work-life balance particularly those with caring responsibilities.
DCMS has a Care and Share Network which aims to support employees with caring responsibilities. The network has a dedicated intranet page with information about the monthly events. The intranet also has information about the Carer’s passport which is a Charity for Civil Servants initiative to help civil servants with specific caring responsibilities. It is a toolkit to help line managers and carers record information about how the individual’s responsibilities impact their work with agreed solutions to support the individual.
DCMS employees have access to advice and counselling through the Employee Assistance programme.
DCMS will be adopting the Carers’ Charter being developed by the Civil Service Employee Policy once this is launched.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will set out the total number and value of works of art taken in lieu of taxation by HMRC in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The total number and value of works of art accepted in lieu of taxation under the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme and the amount of tax settled in each of the last 10 years is as follows:
Year to 31 March | Number of cases | Value of objects accepted (£m) | Tax settled (£m) |
2008 | 32 | 15.2 | 10.3 |
2009 | 36 | 19.8 | 10.8 |
2010 | 33 | 15.7 | 10.8 |
2011 | 26 | 8.3 | 4.9 |
2012 | 25 | 31.3 | 20 |
2013 | 29 | 48.3 | 29.9 |
2014 | 24 | 41.9 | 29.3 |
2015 | 26 | 36.8 | 25.6 |
2016 | 26 | 40.8 | 26.1 |
2017 | 38 | 35.4 | 23.4 |
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.
The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.