Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling advertising on (a) children under 18, (b) adults and (c) people with a gambling addiction.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government recognises that while advertising is a legitimate advantage which licensed operators have over illegal gambling firms, increased exposure to gambling advertising can have an impact on gambling participation. Some forms of advertising can also have a disproportionate impact on particular groups, such as children and those who are already experiencing problems with their gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. The Gambling Commission is also introducing new requirements for operators to allow customers to have greater control over the direct marketing they receive, and have also consulted on measures to ensure that incentives such as free bets are constructed in a socially responsible manner.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve use of prison libraries to increase prisoners' literacy.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

All prisons are legally required to offer a library service, and all prisoners are regularly able to access appropriately stocked libraries that support them in their learning and personal development.

HMPPS has recently issued best practice guidance to all prisons across England to ensure the quality of library services can be maximised regardless of a prison’s cohort, function or available resource.

In Wales, we have well-established library services across the Welsh estate with several satellite library services for extra accessibility in prison residential areas, and the national reading strategy is in progress.

Reading is a priority for HMPPS, and every prison now has a reading strategy which has been supported by the donation of over 150,000 books to prisons by publishing houses through the ‘Bang-Up-Books’ campaign. We also engage with experts as part of a National Reading Group which advises on improvement work that includes better initial assessments of prisoners’ reading ability.

In addition, prisons in England and Wales frequently work with voluntary and community sector providers who provide reading support delivered by peer mentors as well as workshops to encourage creative writing, reading and book groups.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve reading education provision in prisons.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

All prisons are legally required to offer a library service, and all prisoners are regularly able to access appropriately stocked libraries that support them in their learning and personal development.

HMPPS has recently issued best practice guidance to all prisons across England to ensure the quality of library services can be maximised regardless of a prison’s cohort, function or available resource.

In Wales, we have well-established library services across the Welsh estate with several satellite library services for extra accessibility in prison residential areas, and the national reading strategy is in progress.

Reading is a priority for HMPPS, and every prison now has a reading strategy which has been supported by the donation of over 150,000 books to prisons by publishing houses through the ‘Bang-Up-Books’ campaign. We also engage with experts as part of a National Reading Group which advises on improvement work that includes better initial assessments of prisoners’ reading ability.

In addition, prisons in England and Wales frequently work with voluntary and community sector providers who provide reading support delivered by peer mentors as well as workshops to encourage creative writing, reading and book groups.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog relating to prisons.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

To keep our prisons safe and secure, we are investing £220 million in prison and probation service maintenance in 2024-25, and up to £300 million in 2025-26. This is the largest investment in maintenance per annum since 2021-22.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reduce the administrative cost of the tax system.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Autumn Budget 2024 the government committed to simplifying the tax system as part of its three strategic priorities for HMRC: closing the tax gap, modernisation and reform, and improving customer service.

A key aim for the Government is to reduce the administrative burdens for businesses when dealing with the tax system. To this end the Government announced, for example, on 28 January that it has listened to businesses and stakeholders and decided that employers will no longer have to provide more detailed employee hours data to HMRC from April 2026.

The Government is meeting with stakeholders, including the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board, to understand their priorities for administration and simplification, ensuring that this work is driven by the views of taxpayers.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog on Ministry of Defence properties.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Service Family Accommodation (SFA):

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) conducts more than 300,000 maintenance tasks per year. These tasks relate to health and safety works, as well as proactive and reactive repairs, to maintain safe and compliant homes in line with the Decent Home Standard.

Of those 300,000 tasks, there are circa 2% which are currently on hold (these form the ‘backlog’). None of these tasks are priority work and they will be addressed once discretionary funding is available.

Built Estate (including Single living Accommodation):

Maintenance and life cycle replacements are identified though visual inspection regimes or via MOD’s Asset Lifecycle and Replacement Model (ALaRM) tool which predicts works needed to restore assets to a good condition.

This provides the Defence Infrastructure Organisation with a picture of the works required on the assets. Safety works are addressed immediately, or the risk mitigated, for example, by building closure.

The remaining maintenance requirements are prioritised for funding by the Asset owner within Defence. Infrastructure assets are categorised against their operational need.

The safety of Service personnel and their families remains a top priority for the MOD.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of whether there is an association between video game loot boxes and problem gambling behaviours in young people.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Loot boxes in video games are not classed as gambling as individuals are unable to cash out their purchases as currency. However, we are aware of the challenges posed by the blurring of boundaries between gambling and video games and, where products do amount to unlicensed gambling, the Gambling Commission has shown that it will take swift action. The Gambling Commission’s annual Young People and Gambling survey monitors awareness and prevalence of purchasing loot boxes among secondary school pupils in Great Britain.

In 2020, the previous Government ran a call for evidence on loot boxes which found an association between purchasing loot boxes and problem gambling behaviours, although research has not established whether a causal link exists.

In response, DCMS convened a Technical Working Group of video game representatives which developed new industry-led guidance, published in July 2023, to improve player protections. The Government has urged all video games companies to adopt the guidance in full and have commissioned independent academic research to assess its effectiveness.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress her Department has made on tackling benefit overpayments made due to (a) fraud and (b) error.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This government is determined to reduce fraud and error in the social security system. To tackle benefit overpayments, we agreed £8.6bn of savings at the Autumn Budget 2024 – the biggest fraud and error package on record, which led the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to forecast that we will reduce fraud and error to pre-pandemic levels.

On January 22^nd 2025, we introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which will help the government better identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer.

As part of the £8.6bn savings, this Bill is estimated to deliver benefits of £1.5bn over the next five years, as scored by the OBR. This is made up of £940 million in savings related to fraud and error overpayments, and £565 million in additional debt recoveries.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to limit children's exposure to gambling advertisements on popular streaming platforms.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We are committed to protecting children and young people from harmful gambling. There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children and young people. As part of the advertising codes which cover both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising, including on Video on Demand (VOD) or streaming platforms, operators are required to ensure advertising is not targeted at children, and must not appear in media created for children or for which children make up 25% or more of the audience.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) university students and (b) other young people have access to education on gambling harms.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Since 2020, children have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. There are also a range of initiatives in place to inform university students about gambling-related harm. For example, the independent charity YGAM provides free CPD training on gaming and gambling for university students.

The government is introducing a statutory levy charged to licensed operators raising £90 to £100 million each year for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. 30% of this funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention to help raise awareness of harmful gambling and the support available.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog for courts and tribunals.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

It is important that the infrastructure of our courts does not prevent hearings from taking place. It is a priority for this Government to ensure that cases can be heard, and victims can be given the justice that they deserve.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has a plan for future works to improve the resilience and quality of the court estate, and this is kept under regular review to make sure it meets operational priorities. Available maintenance funding is prioritised to sites that need it most, to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and protect continuity of service.

£120 million was allocated for court maintenance and capital project funding for 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 will be agreed through the concordat process and will be announced in due course. Funding for 2026/27 and beyond will be agreed through the Spending Review process, which is currently ongoing. The Chancellor has confirmed that the Spending Review will conclude on 11 June 2025.

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans

Found: Hamilton Paula Barker Siân Berry Natalie Fleet Chris Webb Alison Hume Dr Rosena Allin-Khan Chris Evans