Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that households with people over the age of 75 entitled to, but not in receipt of, pension credit exercise their entitlement to that benefit and continue to receive free TV licences.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government agreed with the BBC at the 2015 funding settlement that responsibility for the over 75s licence fee concession transfers to the BBC from June 2020. The BBC has decided to restrict the concession to those over 75 in receipt of Pension Credit, and has outlined a number of measures to keep those affected informed and encourage take up of Pension Credit. These measures include running outreach events and a public information campaign, and working with older people’s groups, charities and voluntary organisations. The Secretary of State told the House on 11 June that he will discuss with the BBC further measures the BBC can implement to help older pensioners, including promoting take up of Pension Credit.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make it unlawful for gaming operators to permit people under 18 to gamble online or in gambling premises.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The minimum legal age for most forms of gambling in Great Britain is 18. This applies to adult gaming centres, betting shops, bingo halls, casinos, race tracks and online gambling.
All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission, and must have effective policies and procedures designed to prevent underage gambling.
All online gambling operators must have robust age verification controls.
The Gambling Commission has a range of powers to act where there is a failure to prevent underage gambling. These include powers to suspend or revoke a licence, impose financial penalties or launch criminal action.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to Ofcom about the practice of telephone service providers terminating and transferring users’ numbers without their consent.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The cancellation of services without consumer consent is prohibited and is a matter for Ofcom. Ofcom requires companies to get customer permission and consent to cancel and specifies the type of information that needs to be made available to the customer before this can take place. Ofcom also places a requirement on companies to keep records of the customer’s consent to cancel their service for 12 months.
In addition to these strict requirements, Ofcom has imposed several important safeguards within the current cancellation process to minimise the opportunity for error to occur, including a requirement that the company must write to the customer letting them know of the imminent cancellation of their phone line before the cancellation can happen. The customer then has a 10-day period in which to stop the cancellation going ahead if they change their mind, or if there has been a mistake.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 15 December (HL3953) concerning the criteria used to appoint new members of the Channel 4 Corporation Board, why those criteria make no reference to gender; and to what extent this practice extends to other public appointments.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Non-executive members of the Channel 4 Corporation board are appointed by Ofcom with the approval of the Secretary of State. Ofcom advertised for four vacancies for candidates with specific sector skills and experience. The Secretary of State approved the four candidates on the basis that they met the skills and experience set out the advertised job descriptions.
The government is committed to ensuring diversity within public appointments. The Cabinet Office aspiration is for 50% of new appointments made by each Government Department to go to female candidates, and 10% to candidates from a BAME background. This target is also contained within the DCMS Departmental Plan, and, in the first two quarters of 2016/17, 50% of new DCMS appointments went to women and 18% to BAME candidates.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they used to appoint new board members for Channel 4.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Non-executive members of the Channel 4 Corporation board are appointed by Ofcom with the approval of the Secretary of State. Ofcom advertised for four vacancies for candidates with specific sector skills and experience. The Secretary of State approved the four candidates on the basis that they met the skills and experience set out in the four advertised job descriptions.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that the Bede’s World museum in Jarrow will be able to re-open after its unexpected closure.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
As a local authority heritage attraction, the management of Bede's World is a matter for South Tyneside Council to address as part of the council's overall cultural offer. Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund are continuing to liaise closely with the council as they explore practical options for operating Bede's World in the future.