Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in the context of racist online abuse received by Sir Lewis Hamilton after winning the 2021 British Grand Prix, what steps he is taking with (a) social media companies and (b) sporting bodies and organisations to tackle racist online abuse of sportspeople.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The racist abuse targeted at Sir Lewis Hamilton and other sportspeople is unacceptable. Under the draft Online Safety Bill, services in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content. Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. The Bill has been published in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. The process to formally set up the Joint Committee that will scrutinise the draft Bill has begun.
The Government’s sport and physical activity strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase diversity, and tackle racism and inequality in sport.
In addition, Sport England, UK Sport and the other home nations’ sports councils recently published the results of a detailed, independent review into tackling racism and racial inequality in sport. Each Council is now developing its own action plans to deliver on commitments relating to people; representation; investment; systems and insight.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage growth in the creative industries.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The creative industries contributed approximately £116bn to the UK economy in 2019. The Government has recognised the sector as one of the key sectors to drive growth across the country in the Chancellor’s Plan for Growth.
We are actively supporting the creative industries through a range of initiatives such as:
£4m towards the Creative Scale-Up programme which seeks to help creative businesses expand their operations.
£39m towards the Creative Clusters programme through UKRI which connects businesses and academia to take advantage of the most recent research and innovations so they can grow.
£33m towards the Audience of the Future which encouraged creative businesses to use innovative new technologies to reach new audiences.
£20m towards the first round of the Cultural Development Fund to support business growth and productivity through investment in cultural and creative infrastructure via five projects in places like Wakefield and Worcester, in addition to a further £18.5m for a second round as part of the landmark Cultural Investment Fund, launched in May 2021.
HMG committed over £2m to the Creative Careers Programme which aims to address aspirational and informational barriers to entry amongst young people and their carers. To date over 115,000 young people have engaged with the programme at over 1500 schools in England and Wales.
Continuing to work with industry through the Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board to increase exports in the creative industries.
The Government supports trade promotion in the CIs through DIT’s export hubs, the Internationalisation Fund, the Export Academy. All this support will feature in the Creative Industries Export Campaign which will encourage both new exporters and companies wanting to look at new export markets to take advantage of the fantastic opportunities available to the UK as an independent trading nation.
The Government is also looking carefully at options for an Export Office.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has commissioned Deloitte to produce guidance for the creative sector on visas and work permits for EU member states.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This government recognises the importance of the UK’s creative and cultural industries, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people.
The British people voted to take back control of our borders and end free movement with the EU in the 2016 referendum. That was a key part of the manifesto on which the Government won the 2019 election and is reflected in the agreement. It was inevitable therefore that there would be changes in the arrangements under which creative workers work in the EU.
UK performers, artists, and musicians are of course still able to tour and perform in the EU, and vice versa. As the Secretary of State has said, we have moved at pace and with urgency and have provided much greater clarity about the current position. We are committed to supporting the sectors as they get to grips with the changes to systems and processes. This includes the development of sector specific ‘landing pages’ for GOV.UK, aimed at the creative sectors, which will allow cultural and creative professionals to easily locate and access guidance that is relevant to them. We are also engaging directly with Member States to ensure their guidance on their visa and work permit requirements is clear and accessible.
Separately, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy commissioned Deloitte to provide enhanced guidance on EU Member State immigration systems for GOV.UK to help businesses navigate the new business travel rules, following the end of the Transition Period. The guidance is deliberately sector-neutral, but it does capture any mention of sector-specific rules that feature on Member State websites. So far, 15 country guides have been published, representing more than three quarters of UK services exports to the EU, Norway and Switzerland by value. The remainder will follow in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has commissioned Deloitte to produce guidance for the creative sector on visas and work permits for EU member states.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This government recognises the importance of the UK’s creative and cultural industries, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people.
The British people voted to take back control of our borders and end free movement with the EU in the 2016 referendum. That was a key part of the manifesto on which the Government won the 2019 election and is reflected in the agreement. It was inevitable therefore that there would be changes in the arrangements under which creative workers work in the EU.
UK performers, artists, and musicians are of course still able to tour and perform in the EU, and vice versa. As the Secretary of State has said, we have moved at pace and with urgency and have provided much greater clarity about the current position. We are committed to supporting the sectors as they get to grips with the changes to systems and processes. This includes the development of sector specific ‘landing pages’ for GOV.UK, aimed at the creative sectors, which will allow cultural and creative professionals to easily locate and access guidance that is relevant to them. We are also engaging directly with Member States to ensure their guidance on their visa and work permit requirements is clear and accessible.
Separately, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy commissioned Deloitte to provide enhanced guidance on EU Member State immigration systems for GOV.UK to help businesses navigate the new business travel rules, following the end of the Transition Period. The guidance is deliberately sector-neutral, but it does capture any mention of sector-specific rules that feature on Member State websites. So far, 15 country guides have been published, representing more than three quarters of UK services exports to the EU, Norway and Switzerland by value. The remainder will follow in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department undertook an assessment of the public health benefits of non-professional singing prior to publishing the covid-19 guidance that allows six people to sing together indoors.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I am aware that singing can have great benefits for both physical and mental health. I can assure you that everyone across the government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.
We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 increase participation in swimming and aquatics for black swimmers.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport and physical activity, including swimming. Our strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase levels of physical activity amongst under-represented groups, working closely with the sector to achieve this. We support the efforts of groups helping to promote diversity and inclusion in sport, including the Black Swimming Association who are working to increase swimming participation levels for black swimmers.
Sport England, DCMS's arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, recently launched their new ten year strategy, Uniting the Movement. This reinforced their commitment to diversifying participation and tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity. Sport England have invested £12.6 million in Swim England to promote participation in swimming, including support for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Recently Swim England and the Black Swimming Association have announced a partnership to further increase numbers of participation in aquatic activity, which we welcome.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what correspondence the Government has had with the customs authorities of each EU Member State to ensure that border officials understand and uphold the exemption for musicians and accompanied instruments.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The EU’s customs legislation, the Union Customs Code, provides that relief from import duty can be given for portable musical instruments temporarily imported by travellers in order to be used as professional equipment, without the need to submit a formal customs declaration. The UK has an equivalent provision for similar movements into the UK. The management of EU import and export procedures are the responsibility of the customs authorities of the Member States. It is therefore important that individuals or businesses confirm the processes at their port of arrival and any conditions or procedures that may apply.
Officials in the Border and Protocol Delivery Group (BPDG) engage on a regular basis with the EU custom authorities. DCMS will continue to work with BPDG and the sector to engage with relevant customs authorities to address any issues facing musicians.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking with (a) the press and (b) media industries to tackle discriminatory speech towards the Haredi Jewish Community.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is committed to a free and independent press, and does not intervene in what the press can and cannot publish. We are clear, however, that with this freedom, comes responsibility, which media organisations must take seriously. It is important that there exists an independent self regulatory regime to ensure that the press adheres to a wide set of clear and appropriate standards, and to offer individuals a means of redress where these are not met.
The majority of traditional publishers—including 95% of national newspapers by circulation—are members of The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). A small number of publishers have joined The Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS). These regulators issue codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas including discrimination, and set out the rules that members have agreed to follow.
Ofcom, the UK’s independent broadcast regulator, sets clear rules in its Broadcasting Code for licensed broadcasters to meet to ensure UK audiences are adequately protected from harmful material.
In addition, the government has been clear that more needs to be done to ensure safety online. Therefore this government is introducing new Online Harms legislation. This will require companies to tackle abuse on their services and take reasonable steps to protect users’ safety online. Users will be better able to report abuse, and should expect to receive appropriate support from the relevant platform if they do so.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how each regulatory mechanism governing consumer-compensation schemes with respect to broadband service providers is monitored to ensure it is (a) accessible to and (b) practically functional for individual consumers.
Answered by Matt Warman
To help protect telecoms consumers, the Government strengthened Ofcom’s powers through the Digital Economy Act 2017. As a result, in April 2019, Ofcom introduced a voluntary automatic compensation scheme for customers of broadband and landline services for when things go wrong, such as missed engineer appointments, delayed start of a service or delayed repairs. BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Zen Internet, Utility Warehouse and Hyperoptic have all signed up to the scheme. The scheme is designed to help ensure customers receive appropriate redress when things go wrong and, over time, incentivise companies to improve their service.
Since its launch, Ofcom has been monitoring the scheme through regular engagement with the signatory companies, Openreach and with telecoms alternative dispute resolution providers. Under the voluntary agreement, signatories are also required to provide information to Ofcom, such as volumes of issues and the amounts of compensation paid. Following a review of the scheme in August 2020, Ofcom concluded that the scheme was launched successfully, that it covered around 80% of the broadband market, and that it had increased compensation payments to consumers where repairs or installations had been delayed.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 ensure that customers who have been identified as being of vulnerable or priority status under coronavirus guidance, and therefore in need of broadband services as critical infrastructure, are able to ensure prompt repair and resumption of their broadband services where those are suspended.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government recognises the importance of digital connectivity, particularly during this difficult period. For repairs, broadband providers are able to send new equipment to their consumers via postal delivery or using click and collect services, and telecoms engineers are able to visit residential properties to instal or fix broadband connections under the current Covid-19 guidelines.
More broadly, Ofcom has rules in place, known as general conditions, which all providers must follow, that mandate communication providers to have procedures and policies in place to identify and support vulnerable consumers. Under these industry rules, providers must provide a priority fault repair service for disabled consumers of landline, broadband and mobile services.
Ofcom has also recently published a vulnerability guide for providers, setting out their expectations and good practice on how vulnerable telecoms consumers should be supported. This includes steps providers can take to identify vulnerable consumers, and an expectation that all providers implement specialist teams in order to provide extra support for vulnerable consumers.