Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward proposals to strengthen age verification for legal pornography in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The strongest protections in the draft Online Safety Bill, published in May 2021, are for children. Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be in scope of the Online Safety Bill.
The online safety regime will capture the most visited pornography sites, social media platforms, video-sharing sites, forums and via image or video search engines. Companies will be required to protect children from harmful content such as online pornography, or face enforcement action by the regulator, which could include significant fines or, in the most egregious cases, Ofcom can apply for access to be restricted in the UK.
The Government recognises the concerns that have been raised about protecting children from online pornography on services which do not currently fall within the scope of the Bill. The Government will use the draft Bill’s pre-legislative scrutiny to explore ways to provide wider protections for children from online pornography, including on sites that do not fall within scope of the duty of care.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to celebrate the recent achievements of the England football team.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The England team enjoyed a magnificent run in Euro 2020 and I once again pass on my huge congratulations to the team for their work on and off the pitch.
We continue to work closely with the FA on ensuring their players get the appropriate recognition, and recognise that they are already focused on qualification for the Qatar World Cup next year.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What plans he has to help charities to support the recovery of the civil society sector from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Matt Warman
This Government has provided a multi-billion-pound package of support for Britain's charities to continue their vital work and mitigate the risks created by the pandemic.
Charities continue to benefit from the extension of cross-economy support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
We continue to monitor sector health closely. Government is working with charity sector representatives to shape a future programme of work to support a strong and resilient charity sector.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) social media, (b) gaming and (c) e-sports companies on cross-platform online harms risks; and what plans he has to tackle those risks in the proposed online safety Bill.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We have published the interim codes alongside the full government response to the Online Harms White Paper to provide companies with our expectations of what they should be doing to address Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and terrorist content. The interim codes are voluntary and will enable companies to take swift action in tackling the most serious of online harms before the regulator is established.
We engaged extensively with industry stakeholders, civil society organisations and non-government organisations in the development of the interim codes.
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders on a variety of issues, including cross-platform online harms risks. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website. The Online Safety Bill, which will be ready this year, will require all in scope companies to put in place systems and processes to keep their users safe.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) gaming companies, (b) e-sports companies and (c) gaming ancillary chat platforms on (i) online harms and (ii) those companies' plans to improve (A) user safety and (B) child protection in line with the Interim Codes of Practice on online safety, published on 15 December 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We have published the interim codes alongside the full government response to the Online Harms White Paper to provide companies with our expectations of what they should be doing to address Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and terrorist content. The interim codes are voluntary and will enable companies to take swift action in tackling the most serious of online harms before the regulator is established.
We engaged extensively with industry stakeholders, civil society organisations and non-government organisations in the development of the interim codes.
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders on a variety of issues, including cross-platform online harms risks. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website. The Online Safety Bill, which will be ready this year, will require all in scope companies to put in place systems and processes to keep their users safe.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to regulate online rental companies that accept bookings in cities that are subject to stay at home orders.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Guest accommodation providers such as hotels, B&Bs, short term lets and caravan parks may remain open for the specific reasons set out in law, including where guests are unable to return to their main residence, use that guest accommodation as their main residence, need accommodation while moving house, are self-isolating as required by law, or would otherwise be made homeless as a result of the accommodation closing.
As such, accommodation providers have not been required to stop accepting bookings under the current national restrictions, nor have the online platforms that facilitate those bookings.
Accommodation businesses should take all reasonable steps to encourage guests to adhere to government restrictions, including informing guests of restrictions when taking bookings and communicating to all customers. We expect people to act responsibly and in line with the law. Accommodation businesses should not intentionally facilitate bookings that do not adhere to government restrictions. Those not complying with these responsibilities may be at risk of the premises being closed.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the health risks of allowing tennis courts and golf clubs to re-open during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are crucial for our mental and physical health and I recognise golf and tennis are a popular choice for many to get active.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister has said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. This is something we cannot allow to happen and is why the current national lockdown was introduced.
The current restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions and in order for these measures to have the greatest impact, we will all need to sacrifice doing some things that we would otherwise like to do, for a short period of time. These regulations were voted on by the House on 6 January and are expected to last until the situation in hospitals improves.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to make a decision on the timescale for SportCheer England to be granted approval on its Return to Play guidance document.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
SportCheer England's Return to Play guidance was approved in October 2020 and they are on the list of approved governing bodies on the GOV.UK team sport guidance page.
However, the virus is spreading rapidly and incidence rates are rising across the country which is why we have taken decisive action to protect the NHS. Under the current national restrictions, which were introduced on Monday 4 January 2021, grassroots sport cannot take place. Outdoor exercise within households, or with one other person is permitted so people can continue to stay active together safely. We will make grassroots sports' return an immediate priority as soon as it is possible to do so.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14th December 2020 to Question 127515, what additional funding allocations he plans to make available for cinemas seeking financial relief as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government recognises the significant cultural and economic value of cinemas, and has supported them through both sector-specific and economy-wide measures. In the first round of the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, more than 200 independent cinemas have so far received funding from a £30m pot. This funding was administered by the BFI on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as part of the biggest ever single investment in this country’s cultural sectors.
Grants have been awarded to cinema sites in every corner of the country, with cinemas outside London benefitting from 78% of funding to date. Further to this, we announced in December that cinemas will be able to apply for another £14 million in grants as part of the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund in 2021. This will support cinemas as they transition back to a viable and sustainable way of operating in the months ahead. Cinemas have also been eligible to apply to the second round of Arts Council England’s Repayable Finance scheme, with a total of £100m available.
Cinemas have been able to benefit from the further extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until 30 April 2021, which sees employees receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. In addition, the government has supported cinemas through the VAT cut on tickets and concessions and a business rates holiday. In light of recent tightening in restrictions, businesses in England that are forced to close will receive up to £3,000 for each 28 day period affected. We have also recently announced that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors can apply for a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 per property.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether outdoor tennis played by people from (a) one household or (b) different households respecting social distancing guidelines is possible during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. Therefore, from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December indoor and outdoor leisure including tennis courts will need to close. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions.
In order for these measures to have the greatest impact, we will all need to sacrifice doing some things that we would otherwise like to do, for a short period of time. As soon as we're in a position to start lifting restrictions, grassroots sports will be one of the first to return.
People are still allowed to leave their homes for exercise and recreation outdoors, with their household or alone, or with one person from another household or support bubble.