Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to maintain the European Electronic Communications Code beyond the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December; and, if they intend to maintain the Code, what assessment they have made of its impact on the use of digital technologies designed to detect and prevent online harms against children.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, it is a legal requirement to implement the European Electronic Communications Code Directive (EECC) by 21 December 2020. The Government's approach to implementing the Directive was published at gov.uk on 22 July (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-european-electronic-communications-code), and was laid in the House of Lords Library on the same date.
Amendments made in UK legislation to implement the Directive will be retained after 31 December, save for limited instances where corrections are required to reflect the UK’s exit from the European Union. The Directive is infrastructure focused and does not include measures relating to the regulation of content, and our transposition approach as set out does not impinge on online harms.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make regulations under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to protect museum collections from sale when holding bodies go into administration.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government is aware of this important issue and DCMS is exploring options, including legislation, for how we may be able to prevent the dispersal, and therefore potential loss of these collections. One option is considering whether the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 can be used as a means of saving museum collections in the event of insolvency.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis officials and ministers have been in even more regular contact with museums and sector organisations to understand the impact of the pandemic, the measures the Government has taken to fight it and to understand what support museums and heritage organisations need and how best to get it to them. On 5th July, the Government announced a £1.57 billion support package to protect Britain’s world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions. In addition, DCMS arms’ length bodies have created sector specific support. Arts Council England launched a £160 million Emergency Funding Package, the National Lottery Heritage Fund launched the £50 million Heritage Emergency Fund, and Historic England launched a £2 million Emergency Fund. This emergency short-term funding will help address pressures over the next 3-6 months for those organisations most in immediate need.
The Government has also announced unprecedented support for business and workers, to protect them against the current economic emergency. This includes the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme and VAT payment deferrals. We know that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, in particular, has been a lifeline for the museum sector. The Government continues to monitor the impact of these and other measures.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 9 July (HC Deb, col 1099), what plans they have to ensure that the universal rollout of gigabit-capable broadband is completed by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government is committed to delivering nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. The latest Ofcom figures demonstrate full fibre coverage has increased to 3.5 million premises (or 12% of the UK), and by 1.5 million premises in the past year. Estimates of gigabit coverage are even higher at over 20% of UK premises, as a result of Virgin Media’s upgrades of its existing network.
To help the private sector deploy gigabit capable broadband more quickly and easily, we are removing barriers to deployment. For example, the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill will make it easier to connect properties with an unresponsive landlord. For harder to reach areas of the UK, we have committed to invest £5 billion in subsidising the deployment of gigabit capable broadband.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to commission an independent review of the BBC’s funding needs to ensure that it receives the resources needed to meet the responsibilities set out in its Charter.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The BBC’s funding model is agreed with the Corporation as part of the Royal Charter. It was last considered as part of Charter Review 2015-16, during which process the Government committed to maintain the licence fee funding model for the BBC for the duration of the current Charter period, lasting until the end of 2027.
The current licence fee settlement is agreed until April 2022. Negotiations between the Government and the BBC for the next licence fee period, 2022-27, will begin in due course. The Government will set out more detail on the process to be followed ahead of negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the prevalence of the deliberate sharing of material capable of causing an epileptic seizure on social media platforms, and (2) the case for including measures against such behaviour in their forthcoming online harms legislation.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Online Harms White Paper sets out the government’s plans for world leading legislation to make the UK the safest place to be online. We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users which will be overseen by an independent regulator. The ‘duty of care’ will ensure companies take risk-based and proportionate steps to keep their users safe. The regulator will also have the power to require companies to publish transparency reports, which will improve users’ understanding about the prevalence of harmful content and the countermeasures companies are taking. We will publish a full response to the white paper consultation later this year, which will set out final details regarding the scope of the duty of care and the obligations on companies. We will follow this with legislation.
In addition to this new legislation, it is important to make sure that the criminal law is fit for purpose to deal with online harms. DCMS and the Ministry of Justice have engaged the Law Commission on a second phase of their review of abusive and offensive online communications. This will include considering whether co-ordinated harassment by groups of people online could be more effectively dealt with by the criminal law, whether it is targeted at individuals with epilepsy or others. The Law Commission will review existing communications offences and make specific recommendations about options for reform, to ensure that criminal law provides consistent and effective protection against such behaviour.