Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) local people, and (2) the level of local content, of Bauer Media's decision (a) to fold local radio stations into a national radio network, and (b) to replace locally produced content with syndicated programme content made in London.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We have made no such assessment. The local programming and content requirements for holders of local analogue commercial radio licenses are set by Ofcom under the relevant legislative framework – primarily the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the Communications Act 2003. These are matters for Ofcom.
In particular, Ofcom is required under section 314 of the Communications Act 2003 to publish and keep under review guidance for commercial radio licensees setting out the detailed local programming requirements that they consider it to be appropriate for local stations to carry.
The relevant guidelines were updated by Ofcom in 2018 to give local FM licensees greater flexibility in how and where local stations produce their programmes, while ensuring that listeners’ expectations for high quality local news and other content continue to be met. In drawing up the current guidance, Ofcom took account of the changing patterns of radio and audio listening and the views of radio listeners. The revised guidelines are published on Ofcom's website, and it will be for Bauer to make decisions about how to organise their services while still meeting their regulatory requirements in particular the requirements to produce local news and news programming.
The Government has long-term plans to legislate to reduce other burdens on commercial radio while maintaining protections for the provision on local news and extending these requirements to digital radio, where there are currently no such protections in place. We consulted on changes in 2017, and will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time is available.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures will need to be put in place before swimming pool operators can provide a safe environment to reopen.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Swimming plays a crucial role in supporting people to be active and the Government is committed to reopening facilities, including swimming pools, as soon as it is safe to do so.
We are holding regular discussions with representatives from the leisure sector to develop guidance for swimming pool operators, as well as other facility operators, to support them to open their facilities in a timely and safe manner once lockdown measures are eased.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, we will be guided by the science to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to activity safely.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers and responsibilities Historic England have towards UNESCO World Heritage sites located in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Historic England provides advice to local authorities and Government regarding the historic environment in England. They also act as advisers to the UK government for World Heritage across the UK and Overseas Territories and advise site managers and others on the implementation of the Convention.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they protect the integrity of UNESCO World Heritage sites located in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
UNESCO World Heritage sites in the UK are protected through heritage legislation and the respective planning regimes in each of the devolved administrations. Additionally, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and others provide grant funding to sites for projects which help to protect their integrity for the benefit of present and future generations.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of UNESCO World Heritage sites located in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Each of the 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the UK and its Overseas Territories must undertake reporting to the World Heritage Committee on a periodic basis. Additionally, each site must have and regularly update a management plan. This process is overseen by DCMS, acting on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, as State Party to the World Heritage Convention.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance, if any, they intend to offer to the Video Standards Council on the age-rating system for video games.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Video Standards Council (VSC) is an independent body, designated under the Video Recordings Act 1984 to issue statutory age ratings for video games in the UK. Although the VSC’s classification decisions are therefore rightly independent of the Government, we do require it to meet certain operating standards, including regularly consulting the public on its classification standards and maintaining an Advisory Panel of experts in fields such as child and adolescent mental health.
We are in frequent dialogue with the VSC about their work and on how we can ensure that children are better protected from inappropriate content. This includes working with them on a call to industry to adopt PEGI ratings for every online game.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prevent children accessing pornography online now that they do not intend to introduce age verification for pornographic websites.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda and is key to wider government priorities. The government published the Online Harms White Paper in April this year which proposed the establishment of a duty of care on companies to improve online safety, overseen by an independent regulator with strong enforcement powers to deal with non-compliance.
The White Paper sets out our expectation that companies should protect children from inappropriate content, including pornography, and we will produce guidance for companies to keep children safe online, ahead of the new regulatory framework.
We are committed to the UK becoming a world-leader in the development of online safety technology and expect age verification to continue to be a tool used by companies to keep children safe online.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include (1) the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup, and (2) women’s world cup sporting events in the list of listed sporting events.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Cricket World Cup final, semi-finals and matches involving home nations’ teams are listed under Group B of the Listed Events Regime. Events listed in Group B may have live coverage on subscription television provided that secondary coverage is offered to qualifying broadcasters.
Coverage of women’s professional sport on free to air television has improved significantly in the last ten years, with the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Euro Championships, Women’s Rugby World Cup, cycling and tennis being regular fixtures on the BBC and ITV.
We know that more can be done to improve equality in sports broadcasting. That is why we have just announced our proposal to add the Paralympic Games to the list and we have started the statutory consultation process to do that. We are also considering the addition of women’s only sporting events where the equivalent men’s only tournaments are currently listed, which we plan to consult on later in the year. This is to give equal recognition to disabled and women’s sports.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the social media application TikTok and the safeguarding implications for young people of its use.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The government wants the UK to be the safest place in the world to go online. As set out in the Online Harms White Paper the government will take action to tackle content or activity that harms individual users, particularly children. We will establish a new statutory duty of care, overseen by an independent regulator to make companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users and tackle harm caused by content or activity on their services. The regulator will take a risk-based approach, prioritising action where there is the greatest evidence or threat of harm, or where children or other vulnerable users are at risk. Ahead of the implementation of the new regulatory framework, we will continue to encourage companies to take early action to address online harms.
With regards to the social media application TikTok, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has a live investigation on TikTok’s compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) relating to the protection of children’s personal data. The GDPR is regulated and enforced by the independent ICO, and as such, the government is unable to comment further on live investigations.