William Hill: Breaches of Player Protection
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
It is the most significant examination of gambling law since the 2005 Act was brought into force, and a lot has changed in the intervening years. We have received over 16,000 responses to our call for evidence, and we are looking at these carefully. There is a new Secretary of State and a new Minister responsible, who obviously want to make sure they give it the attention it deserves. We want to get the balance right between protecting people’s freedom and giving protections that people need. In the meantime, we have been taking action, including banning gambling on credit cards, new rules to make online slot games safer by design, and changing advertising to make sure that content cannot be of strong appeal to children, so we are acting as well as looking at the law in a sensible way.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, can I ask what actions the Government are taking with regard to online gambling sites based in our overseas territories?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
From memory, I think the operators that operate in the UK are covered by law, but I will clarify the point in writing to the noble Lord. It is certainly a point that we are cognisant of, as we look at the 2005 Act.
Rugby: 200th Anniversary
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The safety, well-being and welfare of everyone taking part in sport, whatever the sport, are paramount and the Government are leading work on brain injuries across sports, specifically looking at concussion. We are working with interested parties across the sporting world to develop a single set of shared concussion guidelines, which will be published in the near future.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, since the day after tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, will the Minister join me in a fit of magnanimity and wish the Irish rugby team every success in their bid to get the Grand Slam next weekend?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord tempts me to send wishes against my own home nation. I send good wishes to all the teams from the British Isles—and, indeed, the other two.
Fan-led Review and Football White Paper
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
We are proud to have many world-class players and clubs in this country. We are grateful to those who invest in them and nurture rising talent in the game, but an important part of doing that is ensuring that the finances flow through the pyramid and inspire people at every level. More details will be set out in the White Paper.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, when we last discussed this, I mentioned a report that was produced for the Council of Europe and deals with the questions of agents, financial disparity in clubs, and fans’ participation. The Minister had not read that report; I hope that he has now done so. I am being very modest in not saying who wrote the report, but I hope that some of its excellent suggestions will be included in the White Paper.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, I am afraid that I still have not read it but I think I undertook last time to make sure that my right honourable friend the Sports Minister was aware of it. I have done so. I will look at it as soon as I have read the White Paper, which is out later this week.
Football: Illegal Entry to Matches
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock(1 year, 2 months ago)
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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
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock(1 year, 9 months ago)
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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
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock(2 years, 4 months ago)
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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
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock(2 years, 4 months ago)
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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.
Human Rights Priority Countries
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the UK has a strong history of promoting human rights and its values globally with countries of all sizes. By having strong economic relationships with countries, we are able to have more open discussions on a range of issues, including human rights. On China, I point to the action that we have taken in relation to human rights concerns in Xinjiang. Indeed, since their inception in July last year, we have used powers provided by our Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations to impose sanctions on 78 people involved in serious human rights violations or abuses around the world.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the wonderful Belarusian musician, Maria Kalesnikava—a nominee for the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel Human Rights Prize—has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for being one of the three brave women who led the protest against the dictator Lukashenko? Will the Minister please ask the Foreign Secretary to make representations to the Belarusian authorities for her immediate release?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, we continue to raise our concerns directly with the Belarusian authorities via their embassy in London and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk. We continue to speak out in international fora, including on individual cases. I will certainly pass on the noble Lord’s message and update him in writing on the individual case he mentions. We continue to follow the situation in Belarus closely and attend trials, and we have requested access to political prisoners too.
Support for University Students: Covid-19
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]
Following on from the question of the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, does the Minister agree that student accommodation providers that are still charging students rent when they are having to work from home are completely wrong? There is no point in just encouraging them to take action. What action are the Government taking to stop this exploitation?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the Government do not run the accommodation for students, but we do applaud those universities and institutions that have taken action and encourage others to do the same. For commercial tenancies the Government have, as the noble Lord will know, made a package of financial support available to tenants, but where they can continue to pay the rent they should do so. We encourage all landlords to take a pragmatic and compassionate approach during this pandemic.
International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord raises important issues about the interconnectedness of these things, which is part of the integrated review that the Government are considering. He will have seen the announcements on defence spending, and I will certainly read with interest what my right honourable friend has said in another place.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
What the Chancellor has said has now been made public, so will the Minister confirm for the House whether new legislation will be introduced to repeal the Act that we have been discussing, which commits us to 0.7%? If not, who will be prosecuted: the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Secretary of State for International Development?