Online Safety Bill

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 16th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I warmly support the amendment moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie, to which I have added my name. I agree with every word she said in her introduction. I could not have said it better and I have nothing to add.

[Lord Hope of Craighead (CB)]

My Lords, I follow the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, with just a few words. As we have been reminded, I tabled Amendment 63, which has already been debated. The Minister will remember that my point was about legal certainty; I was not concerned with devolution, although I mentioned Amendment 58 just to remind him that we are dealing with all parts of the United Kingdom in the Bill and it is important that the expression should have the same meaning throughout all parts.

We are faced with the interesting situation which arose in the strikes Bill: the subject matter of the Bill is reserved, but one must have regard to the fact that its effects spread into devolved areas, which have their own systems of justice, health and education. That is why there is great force in the point that the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser, has been making. I join the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, in endorsing what she said without going back into the detail, but remind the Minister that devolution exists, even though we are dealing with reserved matters.

Football: Illegal Entry to Matches

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord is right: disorder associated with attempting to gain unauthorised entry may indeed be a criminal offence, and criminal punishment can follow. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority commissioned a review of stewarding, following the noble Baroness’s report, which looked at these issues. It is now working with football’s governing bodies to follow up on the points that were identified there. The noble Lord is right to draw attention to the way that disabled fans were particularly affected by people trying to follow them into matches—that is deplorable.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as one of over 8,000 members of the Foundation of Hearts, which owns the largest fan-owned club in the whole of the United Kingdom. I have also had the great responsibility of writing a report for the Council of Europe on all the aspects of football that were raised by my noble friend Lady Armstrong. I know that, with his many responsibilities, the Minister may not have had an opportunity yet to read my report. Can I ask him to do so and write to me with responses from the Government—or I can table another Question to allow him to answer?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I suspect the noble Lord might table another Question even when I have. But I will gladly read his report and ensure that my honourable friend the sports Minister, Stuart Andrew, does so as well, and one of us will write to him.

Suicide: Online Products

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 27th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My noble friend is right: there are existing criminal sanctions here and content which encourages or assists suicide, and therefore breaks the existing law, will be covered as well by the safety duties providing for illegal content under the Online Safety Bill. We want to ensure that the Bill adds to the armoury that we have to prevent as many suicides as we can.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I think the Minister may have misunderstood the question from my noble friend Lady McIntosh about working with the health services in England and Wales, and in Scotland. It is very important that much more is done to train professional people—health visitors, district nurses, social workers and a whole range of others—about the signs indicating that people might be contemplating suicide. It is also very important that something is done about the waiting lists for access—[Interruption.] I thought someone had committed suicide there. But to be serious about the access to counselling and other services in the National Health Service, there are huge waiting lists for psychological and psychiatric counselling in Scotland, and in England and Wales. Can the Minister take this up with his colleagues in all the departments of health?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

If I misunderstood the noble Baroness’s question, I apologise. I will consult the official record and make sure I got it right. The noble Lord is right to reinforce the important role of the National Health Service. The Government are investing an additional £57 million in suicide prevention by 2023 through our NHS long-term plan. That will see investment in every part of the country. In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care provided more than £500,000 to the Local Government Association in the last financial year to bolster the work done by local authorities, which, as he said, play an important role as well.

Gambling: Children and Young People

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 6th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My noble friend tempts me to pre-empt the work of the Gambling Act review, which is ongoing. It is certainly looking at issues such as that.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, would the Minister consider advising football clubs not to have betting companies on their shirts but instead to follow the good example of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, which for six years had Save the Children on its shirts and now has the motor neurone disease charity MND Scotland, funded by Dell Technologies? Is that not the way forward?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

We are looking broadly at the issues of advertising and marketing, including in relation to sports clubs, and have called for evidence on these as part of the review.

Independent Fan-led Review of Football Governance

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay) (Con)]

My Lords, this is a matter that transcends party politics. Football clubs are at the heart of our communities and fans are at the heart of those clubs, and everybody with an interest wants to make sure that they are. I am very proud that our manifesto commitment to set up this review has led to it in swift time; Tracey Crouch has done very thorough work at good speed. We will give her report and the views of all the fans who contributed to it the respect that they deserve; the report deserves a substantive response from the Government and it will get one. But the noble Lord is right that there are things that can be done now, not least by football clubs themselves, with regard to heritage, financial flows and governance. They need not wait for us to go through the report and come forward with our response to start taking the action that people want to see.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as one of 8,800 owners of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, the largest fan-owned club in the whole of the United Kingdom. I also have the privilege of having prepared a report on football governance for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which will be considered at a committee on Thursday and then at the plenary session in January. That report endorses what Tracey Crouch has said but goes even further. Can I have the Minister’s assurance that, when the Committee of Ministers approves my report, as I expect it will, it will then be considered in detail by Her Majesty’s Government?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

Yes, I am sure my honourable friend the Sports Minister will be delighted to receive a copy of the report when it is published and will of course look at it with the attention and respect it deserves.

Office of Communications: Chair

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The role profile for the chair of Ofcom was discussed, including with the DCMS Select Committee, and updated with exactly the intention the noble Lord suggests.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Does the Minister recall that the noble Baroness, Lady Harding, was appointed to an NHS position without any proper scrutiny? Her main qualification was being a member of the Jockey Club. The main qualification of the acting chair of Ofcom, Maggie Carver, is being chair of the Racecourse Association. Can we have an assurance that this appointment will be made in a proper fashion and that the person appointed will have knowledge of the communications industry and not of the racing fraternity?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

If the noble Lord looks at the role profile, he will see that it is extremely clear about the level of professionalism and experience required—although, it being Cheltenham week, I cannot exclude racing connections.

Charities: Funding

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord is right, and we have worked closely with the National Lottery Community Fund and other funding partners—Comic Relief and Children in Need in particular—to make sure that charities working with BME communities and led by BME individuals receive the right level of support to reflect the importance of their work.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, following on from the question of my noble friend Lady Hayter, while transparency is important, does the Minister not agree that even more important is the difficulties that charities face raising funds during the Covid epidemic? While the Government have given them some moneys—she mentioned the £750 million—some organisations such as Age UK, and at this time of year, the Royal British Legion, which is doing fantastic work, are facing great difficulties as to whether they can continue to exist. Will the Minister talk to these organisations and try to find some further support to make sure that none of them stop doing their vital work?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I absolutely agree with the noble Lord that these organisations do vital work. To be clear, there was a £750 million grant package, billions through the job retention scheme and other significant pots of money. I talk to these organisations literally daily, and my genuine understanding is that a lot of funds have been distributed for this year and we are working with them to understand their challenges in the years ahead.

Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Insolvency and Dissolution) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2020

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Friday 9th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, I am really grateful to the Minister for her full and helpful explanation of the regulations. Like her, I shall first say a few words to put them into context and in doing so I declare an interest as a former chair of Age Scotland and, many years ago, a director of Age Concern Scotland. I know from that experience how difficult it is to fundraise. The pressures on charities to raise money to support vital work to help poor, vulnerable and lonely people are very great indeed, even in normal times.

The impact of Covid-19 on the charity sector has been significant, in some cases devastating, exacerbating many of the financial challenges facing charities across the United Kingdom, which were increasingly relied on to provide vital services—to older people in the case of Age UK—during the pandemic. Charities such as Age Scotland and Age UK and their regional and local partners have been doing their utmost to provide services to support older people despite these financial difficulties. For example, during lockdown Age UK lost one-third of its income overnight due to the closure of 400 of its charity shops. That was £900,000 a week. While the charity has made significant changes nationally to respond to this drop in income, many local Age UK branches have also had to make significant cutbacks, closing services and making staff redundant, with consequent effects on their clients. Some Age UK branches have closed, and many more will have to make similar decisions in the coming months, as the impact of the virus on the income of the organisation is becoming clearer. For Age UK such financial hardship could likely mean that many older people were left without support in future. It is incredibly sad and difficult for the staff in the partner charities who work tirelessly to support those most vulnerable in our community. For our elderly in society this is of grave concern, especially as we slowly see the erosion of other vital services that have successfully been provided until now for older people—for instance, the withdrawal of free TV licences for the over-75s. I am worried that this is a straw in the wind and that we will see the erosion of other services for the elderly.

While Age UK has now reopened around two-thirds of its charity shops and is beginning some recovery of its income, uncertainty around life getting back to normal and the threat of local and national lockdowns are a continuous threat to the charity and others. While the Government are providing some financial support to charities—after much cross-party pressure—it does not go far enough when many are likely to face even greater financial hardship and increasing workloads over the coming months. Indeed, the advice officered by the Government to charities in managing finances is vague and impractical. The GOV.UK website suggests

“developing alternative sources of funding or launching an emergency appeal”,

which is unlikely to be possible,

“borrowing money from banks”—

again, not likely to be successful—and

“reducing actual or planned spending”,

which is what they are doing, but that reduces services. Finally, it suggests

“stopping doing some of your charity’s activities”,

which is exactly what is happening, so the advice is not really very helpful.

I now turn to some specific points related to the regulations before us. The moratorium period is said to give an organisation breathing space during which time some creditors cannot take specific action of enforcement. Why only some of them and not all creditors? The breathing space that these regulations give is provided while remedies are sought. Will the Minister say what remedies and from where? Can she enlighten us on that? Furthermore, does the Minister believe that a 20-day delay is long enough, particularly given the extraordinary circumstances that we are in? Did the Government, for example, conduct an assessment before deciding on those 20 days? As the Minister sees, I have some concerns about the position charities are in and whether these regulations will be a significant help. Nevertheless, I support them today.

Covid-19: Regional Theatres

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 28th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, I am sorry to hear about the fate of the Dudley Hippodrome. However, strategically, this fund has been very much aligned to the fact that we must protect key physical institutions to protect the jobs and creativity that are found there.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, will the Minister explain why all those who work in the theatre are not eligible for the Chancellor’s new job support scheme?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I hope that the noble Lord welcomes the new job support scheme and, importantly, its extension for self-employed people to the end of April. The uptake in the art sector of these schemes has been among the largest of any sector in the economy.

Television Licences

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to discuss with the incoming Director General of the BBC the postponement of the withdrawal of free television licences for people aged over 75.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government congratulate Tim Davie on his appointment as the new director-general of the BBC. The Secretary of State spoke to Tim Davie on his appointment and looks forward to working with him in the months and years ahead. However, I must make it clear that the BBC is responsible for the over-75s licence fee concession, not the Government. The BBC board is keeping the start date of its new policy for the over-75s under review and has said it will announce its decision on any further delay to the changes to the concession in July.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, that is a totally unacceptable Answer. Surely both the BBC and the Government have accepted by postponing for two months how vital television is for old people to keep in touch with vital information from the Government, as well as entertainment and other information. Now, since older people are being asked to be in lockdown, many of them indefinitely, surely it is not too much to ask the Government and the BBC to get together now to discuss postponing this withdrawal of free TV licences, also indefinitely. Will the Minister give the assurance today that the BBC and the Government will get round the table to discuss postponing this indefinitely?

[Baroness Barran]

The Government are well aware of the sacrifice that many people, particularly elderly people, have made during the past few months. However, the responsibility is absolutely clear and was debated extensively by this House during the passing of the Digital Economy Act in 2017: the BBC is responsible for this matter.