Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help support libraries to purchase e-books.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
It is for each local authority to determine its stock management policy, including which books, audiobooks, e-books, e-audiobooks and other materials, are made available for the benefit of its residents. We expect library collections to be provided in a variety of formats.
The Government welcomes continued developments from the public library sector on e-licensing and e-book lending. Arts Council England funded Libraries Connected to deliver a pilot project to explore mutual benefits of increasing the affordability and availability of ebooks in public libraries. A project summary report was published in February 2025.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published on 27 April 2023, whether an assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing Cumulative Impact Assessments (CIAs) for gambling licensing.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local authorities play a crucial role in the regulation of gambling at a local level and have a range of powers in relation to gambling premises. We want local authorities to feel empowered to make decisions that are in their communities’ best interests.
As set out in the gambling white paper, cumulative impact assessments, which local authorities are already familiar with due to the role they play in alcohol licensing, would allow local authorities to take into account a wide range of evidence to inform licensing decisions and to consider the cumulative impact of gambling premises in a particular area.
We will look to complement local authorities’ existing powers in relation to licensing of gambling premises, in line with the gambling white paper published in April 2023, when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the policy paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published on 27 April 2023, what progress her Department has made on introducing Cumulative Impact Assessments for gambling licensing.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local authorities play a crucial role in the regulation of gambling at a local level and have a range of powers in relation to gambling premises. We want local authorities to feel empowered to make decisions that are in their communities’ best interests.
As set out in the gambling white paper, cumulative impact assessments, which local authorities are already familiar with due to the role they play in alcohol licensing, would allow local authorities to take into account a wide range of evidence to inform licensing decisions and to consider the cumulative impact of gambling premises in a particular area.
We will look to complement local authorities’ existing powers in relation to licensing of gambling premises, in line with the gambling white paper published in April 2023, when parliamentary time allows.