Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that generative AI developers are obliged to disclose the use of (a) creative writing and (b) other works in AI training.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime, which was published on 17 December and closed on 25 February, received over 10,000 responses. The consultation took views on a number of topics related to how AI interacts with copyright law, including transparency obligations on AI forms. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received and will continue to develop our policy approach in partnership with creative industries, media and AI stakeholders. No decisions will be taken until we are absolutely confident we have a practical plan that delivers for the creative industries.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of employment contract non-compete clauses on (a) entrepreneurship and (b) economic growth.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A dynamic and entrepreneurial workforce is good for economic growth. There is evidence to suggest that non-compete clauses can act as a barrier to this innovation-driven growth, as they can prevent individuals from working for a competing business, or from applying their entrepreneurial spirit to establish a competing business.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3369 on Iran: Political Prisoners, whether his Department has taken steps to hold Iran accountable following the executions of (a) Behrouz Ehsani, (b) Mehdi Hassani and (c) other people.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We have repeatedly called on the Islamic Republic to establish a moratorium on executions, including through a Human Rights Ambassadors joint statement at the Human Rights Council in October 2024. The UK also helped deliver a resolution on the human rights situation in Iran at the UN Third Committee in November 2024. In January, the Foreign Secretary raised human rights directly with his Iranian counterpart. We will continue to raise human rights issues directly with the regime, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the document entitled CEF Funded Projects, published on 31 July 2024, how many projects his Department had funded in total through the Community Energy Fund by 31 December 2024; and if he will list each project funded between 1 August and 31 December 2024 broken down by (a) Local Net Zero Hub region, (b) community group and (c) grant value.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Community Energy Fund enables both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment.
Projects funded by the Community Energy Fund are published on GOV.UK. This list will be updated in due course to include projects funded during the period from 1 August to 31 December 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-net-zero-support-for-local-authorities-and-communities/local-net-zero-central-support-for-local-authorities-and-communities#community-energy.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to help reduce (a) inequalities in the admissions process to academically selective grammar schools and (b) disparities in access to tutoring for admission tests to those schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The admission authorities for grammar schools set their schools’ selection criteria. This government’s priority is ensuring high and rising standards across every school to secure a brilliant education for every child.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people in (a) care homes and (b) hospitals to have visitors in all circumstances.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024, and requires CQC registered care homes, hospitals, and hospices to facilitate visiting, unless there are exceptional circumstances which mean that it is not safe to do so.
We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting by looking at Capacity Tracker data and intel from sector partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of rodents on soy-based wiring and insulation used in vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has made no assessment of the impact of rodents on automotive wiring using a soy-based insulation material. Although rodents have a propensity to chew both domestic and automotive wiring, there is little evidence beyond the anecdotal to suggest that this is increased for soy-based products.
Individuals experiencing such an occurrence with their vehicle wiring should raise the matter with the manufacturer or report the matter to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency if it is considered a serious safety defect.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase (a) awareness of the PASS CitizenCard and (b) the number of licensed premises that accept it as a suitable form of identification.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government supports the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) and encourages all shops and licensed premises to accept PASS accredited cards as proof of age.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing regulations similar to disabled parking on parent and child parking spaces.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has no current plans to regulate the use of parent and child parking spaces, which typically operate in privately owned car parks such as supermarkets.
The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, for which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has responsibility, places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to increase protection for victims of stalking when the perpetrator has a mental health condition.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims and robustly manage perpetrators.
On 3 December, the Government announced a raft of new measures to tackle stalking by putting victims first and increasing the protections available to them. This includes plans to increase the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) by legislating to provide for the courts to impose them of their own volition on conviction or acquittal. Currently only the police can apply for an SPO to a magistrate's court.
SPOs are an essential tool designed to protect victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator's behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. They allow positive requirements to be imposed and this can include the perpetrator attending mental health support, but also a perpetrator programme to address the root causes of their offending.