Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to ban vaping brands from promoting their products through (a) sponsorship and (b) other means to children.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 18 July 2023 to Question 193917.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the economic contribution of the magazine publishing sector to the economy.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government greatly values the UK’s publishing sector, of which magazine publishers form a key part. The sector is a UK success story and a significant soft power asset.
Specialist publishing remains an integral part of the media industry, worth £3.74 billion to the UK economy, employing around 55,000 people. The Government recognises the role that specialist interest publications play within the UK’s media ecosystem, and the demand for the specialist insights they provide, with more than 40 million adults in the UK reading a magazine every month.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to include content about age-restricted products including e-cigarettes in designation of content that is harmful to children in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Damian Collins
The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children. All services in scope will need to do far more to protect children from illegal content and activity, including illegal content about age-restricted products. Services will have to remove and limit the spread of illegal content and take steps to prevent similar material from appearing.
Services likely to be accessed by children will also have to take steps to protect them from content and activity that falls below the criminal threshold but presents a significant risk of harm to children. The government will set out in secondary legislation categories of priority harmful content.
For content to be designated as priority harmful content, it will have to meet the Bill’s threshold for harm and be content of a kind which presents a material risk of significant harm to an appreciable number of children or adults in the UK. On July 7 2022 the government published an indicative list of content that it considers reaches this threshold and is minded to designate as priority harmful content.
This may not be an exhaustive list and we are continuing to engage extensively with stakeholders, parliamentarians and Ofcom ahead of designating the categories. In addition to the priority harms, companies will also be required to protect children from any other content and activity on their service which risks causing significant harm to an appreciable number of children.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Public Health England’s research and analysis entitled Gambling-related harms evidence review, updated on 30 September 2021, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) social effects on people and communities of the National Lottery’s shift towards online-based games and away from traditional draw-based games.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department and the Gambling Commission as the independent regulator share three statutory duties in relation to the National Lottery - to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, that the interests of every participant are protected, and - subject to those duties - that returns to good causes are maximised. The National Lottery is regulated under a separate framework from commercial gambling, with additional requirements regarding the protection of players.
'Instants games’ have been part of the National Lottery portfolio for the majority of the time since the National Lottery was launched in 1994. Scratchcards were introduced in 1995 and online Interactive Instant Win Games in 2003. A broad portfolio ensures the National Lottery continues to appeal to a wide range of people and can provide substantial contributions for good causes every week.
All games, including instants games, are licensed by the Gambling Commission. In determining whether to licence games, the Commission will consider the potential impact on players and the player protection mechanisms which are in place to protect players from harm.
The current National Lottery operator has a range of online player protection tools for players (for example self-exclusion tools, spend and play limits, and the option to set lower limits) and has developed an online algorithm for identifying at risk and problem play which alerts players to help encourage healthy play habits.
Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered. Problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% while the figure for Scratchcards was 1.4%.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential harms to people and communities of the National Lottery’s shift towards online-based games and away from traditional draw-based games; and whether her Department holds information on the potential causal link between people using the National Lottery mobile app and using other forms of mobile gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department and the Gambling Commission as the independent regulator share three statutory duties in relation to the National Lottery - to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, that the interests of every participant are protected, and - subject to those duties - that returns to good causes are maximised. The National Lottery is regulated under a separate framework from commercial gambling, with additional requirements regarding the protection of players.
'Instants games’ have been part of the National Lottery portfolio for the majority of the time since the National Lottery was launched in 1994. Scratchcards were introduced in 1995 and online Interactive Instant Win Games in 2003. A broad portfolio ensures the National Lottery continues to appeal to a wide range of people and can provide substantial contributions for good causes every week.
All games, including instants games, are licensed by the Gambling Commission. In determining whether to licence games, the Commission will consider the potential impact on players and the player protection mechanisms which are in place to protect players from harm.
The current National Lottery operator has a range of online player protection tools for players (for example self-exclusion tools, spend and play limits, and the option to set lower limits) and has developed an online algorithm for identifying at risk and problem play which alerts players to help encourage healthy play habits.
Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered. Problem gambling rates for National Lottery draw-based games were 0.9% while the figure for Scratchcards was 1.4%.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with Ofcom on (a) domestic 5G diversification and (b) the role and regulation of UK networks in that matter.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government is working closely with Ofcom as it delivers the 5G Diversification Strategy.
The Government was delighted to see the “Smart Radio Access Network Open Network Interoperability Centre” – SONIC Labs – open its doors on 24th June. SONIC Labs is a joint programme between the Digital Catapult and Ofcom, and will be used for testing interoperability and integration of open networking solutions, starting with Open Radio Access Network. It will be vital for achieving our diversification ambitions whilst preserving and promoting security outcomes. It will be a secure research facility, allowing teams from academia, small and medium sized enterprise, critical industries and government to research, test and learn about security on the UK's telecoms networks.
Ofcom also provided expert advice to the Diversification Taskforce, chaired by Lord Livingston of Parkhead, which set out its recommendations in the spring.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of UK mobile network operators on sharing and pooling 2G and 3G capabilities for use by the emergency services and other 2G and 3G dependent services and technologies.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government has regular discussions with mobile operators, suppliers, and users on 2G and 3G networks. The Government has committed to set out a clear roadmap for the sunsetting or streamlining of 2G and 3G technologies, following the recommendations of the Diversification Taskforce, published on 20 April on GOV.UK *https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/telecoms-diversification-taskforce-findings-and-report/telecoms-diversification-taskforce-findings-and-report) and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to achieve 5G diversification and encourage competition whilst guarding against threats to national security from malign overseas vendors.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government’s 5G Diversification Strategy sets out plans to deliver a more healthy, diverse and competitive supply base for UK telecoms networks, in order to increase quality and innovation, and to address the potentially significant risks to the security and resilience of our critical national infrastructure.
As a first step towards delivering this long-term vision, the Government has committed an initial investment of £250 million. The Government’s priorities have been informed by the expert advice of the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce, which was chaired by Lord Livingston of Parkhead, and which published its advice in the spring.
On 2 July 2021, the Government published its response, welcoming the recommendations and setting out the steps it is taking to implement them. These include the Future RAN Competition (FRANC) - an open competition, run by DCMS, that will allocate up to £30 million of R&D funding to projects that support the goals of the government's 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy. The competition is aimed at helping to incentivise industry to create new products and services to unlock the full potential of Open RAN.
DCMS has also partnered with Ofcom and Digital Catapult to fund the SmartRAN Open Network Innovation Centre (SONIC Labs) to fund an industry-facing testing facility to foster Open RAN in the UK helping to develop a supply chain with multiple suppliers at every stage. SONIC Labs went live on the 24th of June 2021.
Alongside efforts to diversify the telecoms supply chain, the Government is committed to ensuring the security of the UK’s telecoms networks. That is why we have introduced the Telecommunications (Security) Bill. This Bill will create one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world. It will protect our networks even as they grow and evolve, shielding our critical infrastructure both now and in the future. The Bill introduces a stronger telecoms security framework which places new security duties on public telecoms providers, and new national security powers to address the risks posed by high risk vendors.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to implement the transition from 2G and 3G networks to 4G and 5G networks.
Answered by Matt Warman
We are committed to extending good quality mobile coverage across the UK. In March 2020, the Government announced a deal with the mobile network operators to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. The Government’s ambition is for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027 and we are working to ensure that we can realise the full benefits of 5G as soon as possible by reducing barriers to deployment.
The Government is also working with mobile operators, suppliers, and users to set a clear roadmap for the sunsetting or streamlining of 2G and 3G technologies, following the recommendations of the Diversification Taskforce, published on 20 April on GOV.UK.
We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to ascertain where ride-hailing service DiDi stores data from UK riders and drivers.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as the regulator for the UK’s data protection legislation has informed my department that there are no investigations or enquiries regarding the ride-hailing company DiDi and they have not received any complaints about the company. Any concerns raised about the company will be assessed in line with the ICO’s usual procedures.
Organisations processing personal information must comply with the data protection principles. In practice, this includes making sure they have legitimate grounds for collecting and using personal data; not using the data in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on the individuals concerned; being transparent about how they intend to use the data, and keeping the data safe and secure.