Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the work of Confucius Institutes on freedom of speech at universities.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department recognises concerns about overseas interference in the higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes. We regularly assess the risks facing academia. The department is taking action to remove any government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judges that it would be disproportionate to ban them.
Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities also have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and that the right due diligence is in place.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. Section 9 of the Act will require the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions, in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE. This includes the reporting of educational or commercial partnerships and would therefore cover arrangements with, for example, Confucius Institutes.
The department is now going further in the Integrated Review Refresh, launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to tackle potential national security risks posed by Confucius Institutes at UK universities.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department recognises concerns about overseas interference in the higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes. We regularly assess the risks facing academia. The department is taking action to remove any government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judges that it would be disproportionate to ban them.
Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities also have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and that the right due diligence is in place.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. Section 9 of the Act will require the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions, in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE. This includes the reporting of educational or commercial partnerships and would therefore cover arrangements with, for example, Confucius Institutes.
The department is now going further in the Integrated Review Refresh, launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to update the National Planning Policy Framework to (a) reflect the affordability of almshouses and (b) include them in the definition of affordable housing.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Where almshouse organisations are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing and are letting homes at Social or Affordable Rent, or providing low-cost home ownership through shared ownership schemes, those homes are likely to fall within the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework.
As part of the National Planning Policy Framework consultation between 22 December 2022 and 2 March 2023, we sought views on how we can help bring forward more community-led housing, including almshouses. We will be publishing a response to that consultation in due course.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that almshouse charities are regulated on a basis appropriate to small charities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Both the Charity Commission and the Regulator of Social Housing have regulatory roles in relation to almshouse charities that are also registered providers of social housing.
Under charity law, the regulatory requirements that apply to charities are proportionate, with smaller charities subject to fewer or less detailed regulatory and transparency requirements. This includes almshouse charities.
Registration with the Regulator of Social Housing is voluntary for almshouse charities, and a number of almshouses do choose to register. Where almshouses are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, they are required to meet the Regulator’s standards.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government Communications Service has conducted a formal systemic review into the public communications of all Government Departments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Communications was a critical lever for the government to deploy during the crisis. Government Communication Service professionals have used best practice from across the industry, public, private and third sectors to deliver COVID-19 Communications.
Communications during the pandemic response were regularly reviewed and we adopted an agile approach to keep up with the evolving scientific understanding of the virus and the unpredictable nature of the spread. This iterative approach ensured that our communications were regularly evaluated and always relevant to the pandemic.
Lessons learned have been shared across all of our subsequent communication campaigns.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of advertising in local news media to increase awareness of the new voter ID requirements ahead of local elections in May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The national communications campaign for voter identification is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission. The Commission launched its wide-reaching public awareness campaign on 9th January to ensure voters understand the change and to support continued participation in the electoral process. The Government has supported this, including through amplification of the message through government channels, through messaging on GOV.UK.
In addition to the Commission's campaign, the Government has allocated £4.75 million of additional funding to all local authorities with polls in May 2023 to support local communications.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the BBC Mid-Term Review, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the way Ofcom evaluates the market impact of changes to the BBC’s public services.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In May 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched the Mid-Term Review to assess how effectively the governance and regulation arrangements of the BBC are performing and whether any reforms are necessary. The Terms of Reference, published in May 2022, stated that the Review will look at competition and market impact, and will evaluate how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to commercial radio and local news sectors and other content makers and distributors.
DCMS is working through feedback from a wide range of stakeholders to help us develop our conclusions. We are consulting the BBC, Ofcom and the Devolved Administrations on our findings, as required by the Review’s Terms of Reference. The Government is seeking to conclude the review at pace, and to report on its findings by 2024.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spring Budget Report 2023, HC1183, published on 15 March 2023, which (a) activities and (b) charities will be eligible for the £5 billion support to the charitable sector; and how much each of them has received.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government does not hold information on charities’ activities. The powers within the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 impose a statutory duty on HMRC to maintain taxpayer confidentiality, which means that it cannot comment on the affairs of individual charities. This includes how much charities have received in support through tax reliefs.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support charities with the cost of living.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As announced in the recent Spring Budget, the government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk, due to increased demand from vulnerable groups and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs.
Charities will also continue to receive support for their energy bills until March 2024 under the government’s current Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the future Energy Bills Discount Scheme.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help increase the uptake of Gift Aid.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is committed to providing support to the charitable sector worth over £5 billion per year. Gift Aid - a significant part of this- is worth £1.4 billion per year to charities and £500 million to their donors (through higher rate relief). Charities have a key role to play in raising uptake as they really are uniquely placed to persuade eligible donors to use Gift Aid, as well as educate them about the benefits of doing so at the actual point of donation.
HMRC works closely and regularly with representatives from across the charity sector reviewing Gift Aid, as well as raising awareness amongst donors. It places a high priority on this collaborative work, and is always interested in ideas to improve the take-up and raise awareness of Gift Aid.