Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department (a) allocates funding and (b) issues guidance to civic organisations on blue plaques.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 to close the gender pay gap in sport; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is important that women and men are recognised and paid equally for doing the same work. I welcome the positive step that has been taken to ensure that all companies in Great Britain with more than 250 employees are required to report their gender pay gap to the Government Equalities Office.
We know there is some work to do to narrow the gender pay gap across the sport sector. Sport England’s workforce strategy for England, “Working in an Active Nation”, highlights the commitment to achieving higher gender diversity in leadership roles on boards in sport. Furthermore the UK Sport and Sport England Code for Sports Governance, which is mandatory and applies to any organisation seeking funding from Sport England or UK Sport, includes a target of at least 30% gender diversity on boards.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 retain the free TV Licence for people over 75.
Answered by Margot James
The government knows people across the country value television as a way to stay connected with the world and we that is why we have guaranteed the over 75 licence fee concession until June 2020. The BBC will take on responsibility for free licences for the over-75s from 2020 and it is right that it has consulted the public before making any decisions. We’ve been clear that we would want and expect it to continue with this important concession.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits to the West Midlands economy of Channel 4 relocating to Wolverhampton; what his policy is on the location of Channel 4; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
We received a number of submissions to the Channel 4 regional consultation from individuals and local authorities across the UK. No decisions have been taken. The government is working with Channel 4 on how it can best increase its regional impact, and we will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to produce a strategy to better limit the maximum stakes for online gambling.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising Act) 2014 brought offshore online gambling operators within scope of the Gambling Commission’s regulatory regime for the first time.
Since then, the Commission has introduced a number of additional licence conditions in relation to online. These new requirements include providing easily accessible facilities for consumers to impose their own limits, which can include limits on deposit, spend and losses, and over different time durations.
In addition, a new multi-operator online self-exclusion scheme, which will allow individuals to simultaneously self exclude from all online gambling sites, will be introduced by the industry later this year.
We keep the regulation of online gambling under review and will not hesitate to take action if it is needed to protect people from gambling-related harm.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will introduce a limit for online gamblers that applies on all platforms.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising Act) 2014 brought offshore online gambling operators within scope of the Gambling Commission’s regulatory regime for the first time.
Since then, the Commission has introduced a number of additional licence conditions in relation to online. These new requirements include providing easily accessible facilities for consumers to impose their own limits, which can include limits on deposit, spend and losses, and over different time durations.
In addition, a new multi-operator online self-exclusion scheme, which will allow individuals to simultaneously self exclude from all online gambling sites, will be introduced by the industry later this year.
We keep the regulation of online gambling under review and will not hesitate to take action if it is needed to protect people from gambling-related harm.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 that under-age people are not able to gamble online.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The protection of children from being harmed or exploited by gambling is one of the core objectives of the Gambling Act 2005.
Gambling Commission licence conditions ensure strict controls are in place to prevent children from accessing gambling online. Where there is a failure to prevent underage gambling, the Gambling Commission will take regulatory and/or criminal action.
Government will not hesitate to take action if it is needed to protect young people from gambling-related harm.