Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
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 with Ofcom to undertake a review of the adequacy of guidance to the media on the reporting of (a) assisted suicide, (b) euthanasia and (c) other suicide cases.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Guidance on how broadcasters report assisted suicide, euthanasia and other suicide cases is a matter for Ofcom as the UK’s independent broadcasting regulator. Ofcom are required by law to keep the Broadcasting Code and any accompanying guidance under review.
In the UK, there is an independent self-regulatory regime for the press. The Government does not intervene in what the press can and cannot publish or oversee the work of press regulators.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish a timetable for (a) implementing the expanded dormant assets scheme and (b) funding for good causes derived from the new classes of dormant assets becoming available.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Dormant Assets Scheme is led by industry and backed by the government with the aim of reuniting people with their financial assets. Where this is not possible, this money supports important social and environmental initiatives across the UK.
As a voluntary Scheme, industry stakeholders have been at the forefront of efforts to bring assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors into scope. This includes leading work to estimate the value of dormancy currently in each sector and using their experience and understanding of reunification processes to inform their estimates of how much could be reunited with their owners successfully. The following table sets out these estimates, broken down by sector:
Sector | Dormant assets | Could be reunited with owners |
Insurance and pensions | £2.1bn | £1.17bn |
Investment and wealth management | £1.4bn | £781m |
Securities | £158m | £48m |
TOTAL | £3.7bn | £2bn |
Scheme expansion requires primary legislation, which will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. Once legislation has achieved Royal Assent, the speed at which it can be implemented and new funds will become available is dependent on regulator and industry readiness, as well as their voluntary participation in the Scheme. We anticipate that the estimated £880 million to be unlocked through the expansion of the Scheme will take several years to be released, based on the rate that industry participants transfer new assets.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 25 of the Government's response to the consultation on expanding the Dormant Asset Scheme, if he will publish the methodology used to calculate that 54 per cent of dormant assets in the (a) insurance and pensions, (b) investment and wealth management and (c) securities sectors could be reclaimed by their owners as a result of enhanced tracing, verification and reunification efforts.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Dormant Assets Scheme is led by industry and backed by the government with the aim of reuniting people with their financial assets. Where this is not possible, this money supports important social and environmental initiatives across the UK.
As a voluntary Scheme, industry stakeholders have been at the forefront of efforts to bring assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors into scope. This includes leading work to estimate the value of dormancy currently in each sector and using their experience and understanding of reunification processes to inform their estimates of how much could be reunited with their owners successfully. The following table sets out these estimates, broken down by sector:
Sector | Dormant assets | Could be reunited with owners |
Insurance and pensions | £2.1bn | £1.17bn |
Investment and wealth management | £1.4bn | £781m |
Securities | £158m | £48m |
TOTAL | £3.7bn | £2bn |
Scheme expansion requires primary legislation, which will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. Once legislation has achieved Royal Assent, the speed at which it can be implemented and new funds will become available is dependent on regulator and industry readiness, as well as their voluntary participation in the Scheme. We anticipate that the estimated £880 million to be unlocked through the expansion of the Scheme will take several years to be released, based on the rate that industry participants transfer new assets.