Graham P Jones
Labour - Former Member for Hyndburn
First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 6th November 2019 (Defeated)
18 Former APPG Officer Positions
Brazil, Central American, District Councils, Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, Gambling Related Harm, Golfing Society, Greece, Iran, Kurdistan Region in Iraq, Latin America, Metal Theft, Metal, Stone and Heritage Crime, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Transport Across the North, Venezuela, YemenDivision Voting information
Graham P Jones voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 56 Labour No votes vs 139 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 211 Noes - 390
Graham P Jones voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 65 Labour Aye votes vs 153 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 397 Noes - 223
Graham P Jones voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 69 Labour Aye votes vs 138 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 241 Noes - 256
Graham P Jones voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 66 Labour No votes vs 139 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 267 Noes - 233
Graham P Jones voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 28 Labour Aye votes vs 71 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 306 Noes - 95
All Debates
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(35 debate interactions)
(30 debate interactions)
(29 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(124 debate contributions)
(86 debate contributions)
(75 debate contributions)
(71 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(5,900 words contributed)
(5,427 words contributed)
(5,176 words contributed)
(868 words contributed)
Latest EDMs signed by Graham P Jones
Welfare and survival of Asian elephants used in tourism
Tabled by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)That this House is concerned about the increasing risk of extinction to Asian elephants; notes that in India and South East Asia some Asian elephants are snatched from the wild when very young, deprived of food and water for months whilst tightly confined in cages, beaten and stabbed with iron …
(Most recent: 4 Nov 2019)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 18
Conservative: 5
Scottish National Party: 5
Independent: 3
Crossbench: 1
Green Party: 1
Liberal Democrat: 1
The Independent Group for Change: 1
STATE-FUNDED LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR VICTIMS OF TERRORISM
Tabled by: Stephen Lloyd (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)That this House expresses concern that victims of terrorist atrocities are not automatically eligible for legal aid; regrets that a recently published government review rejected introducing automatic non-means-tested legal aid funding to bereaved families after a state-related death; notes that state organisations involved in deaths from terrorist attacks have access …
(Most recent: 9 Sep 2019)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 40
Conservative: 9
Independent: 9
Liberal Democrat: 8
Scottish National Party: 7
Democratic Unionist Party: 3
Plaid Cymru: 2
The Independent Group for Change: 2
Non-affiliated: 1
Crossbench: 1
Green Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Graham P Jones, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Graham P Jones has not been granted any Urgent Questions
3 Adjournment Debates led by Graham P Jones
3 Bills introduced by Graham P Jones
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to allow local authorities to apply selective licensing conditions to improve housing standards.
Wednesday 17th July 2013
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to give local authorities the power to apply selective licensing conditions to private landlords in exempted areas with social housing stock
Tuesday 24th April 2012
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to introduce a licensing scheme for scrap metal dealers; to enable magistrates’ courts to add restrictions to licences to deal in scrap metal; to require that financial transactions in trade in scrap metals be restricted to cashless payments; to give police officers powers to search properties owned by scrap metal dealerships; to provide that scrap metal proven to have been obtained through theft may be classified as criminal assets; to introduce criminal charges for theft of scrap metal which take into account aspects of the crime other than the value of the scrap metal stolen; and for connected purposes
Tuesday 15th November 2011
3 Bills co-sponsored by Graham P Jones
Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019
Sponsor - Greg Knight (Con)
Private Landlords (Registration) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)
National Living Wage (Extension to Young People) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)33 Other Department Questions
The House of Commons provides a range of British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation services for visitors to the Palace of Westminster and currently holds the Action on Hearing Loss ‘Louder than Words’ charter mark, which is re-accredited every three years.
Visitors on a commercial, ticketed tour can choose a BSL self-guided option which has been tested and approved by a range of deaf groups.
Visitors on a democratic access tour can also choose a BSL self-guided option, although in most cases a BSL signer would be booked and made available. The bicameral Visitor Services team has booked 35 BSL interpreters for visitors attending tours or watching parliamentary business, such as select committees, since the start of 2018. BSL interpretation can also be provided for visiting schools, although in most cases the schools themselves will bring their own interpreter.
The House is investigating the provision of a basic level of BSL training across the Visitor Services team. Training staff to a sufficiently high level of expertise to lead or interpret tours or other visiting activities has to date proved difficult due to the level and duration of training required combined with the frequency of staff turnover. The Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster is expected to provide an opportunity for wider improvements in relation to accessibility and inclusion, including interpretation.
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 were made in March this year following a full public consultation, and establish an EPC minimum of E for domestic and non-domestic private rented sector properties from April 2018.
Officials in the Department liaise regularly with the insulation industry, local authorities, and other stakeholders on a range of energy efficiency issues including the minimum EPC standards for the private rented sector. Discussions have also been held recently with French officials about domestic energy efficiency issues including minimum standards.
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 were made in March this year following a full public consultation, and establish an EPC minimum of E for domestic and non-domestic private rented sector properties from April 2018.
Officials in the Department liaise regularly with the insulation industry, local authorities, and other stakeholders on a range of energy efficiency issues including the minimum EPC standards for the private rented sector. Discussions have also been held recently with French officials about domestic energy efficiency issues including minimum standards.
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 were made in March this year following a full public consultation, and establish an EPC minimum of E for domestic and non-domestic private rented sector properties from April 2018.
Officials in the Department liaise regularly with the insulation industry, local authorities, and other stakeholders on a range of energy efficiency issues including the minimum EPC standards for the private rented sector. Discussions have also been held recently with French officials about domestic energy efficiency issues including minimum standards.
The funding available for Adult Skills in 2015/16 is outlined in the Skills Funding Letter. The letter sets out the Government’s priorities for the budget and it is for providers to decide how they use their adult skills funding to reflect those priorities and meet the needs of learners and employers in their local area.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-letter-april-2015-to-march-2016
The Government does not routinely carry out assessments of performance of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). As partnerships of business and civic leaders, LEPs are first and foremost accountable to their local community and local businesses.
The Government has a target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015 and as of June we have improved over 750,000 homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Green Deal and other home energy efficiency incentives. We are also consulting on regulations to require more minimum energy performance standards in the private rented sector.
In addition, we have laid draft Regulations to create a new fuel poverty target that seeks to ensure that as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency standard of Band C by 2030. We are also proposing that interim milestones of as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable reach Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025 be laid out in the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy.
The Government has a target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015 and as of June we have improved over 750,000 homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Green Deal and other home energy efficiency incentives. We are also consulting on regulations to require more minimum energy performance standards in the private rented sector.
In addition, we have laid draft Regulations to create a new fuel poverty target that seeks to ensure that as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency standard of Band C by 2030. We are also proposing that interim milestones of as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable reach Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025 be laid out in the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy.
The Government has a target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015 and as of June we have improved over 750,000 homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Green Deal and other home energy efficiency incentives. We are also consulting on regulations to require more minimum energy performance standards in the private rented sector.
In addition, we have laid draft Regulations to create a new fuel poverty target that seeks to ensure that as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency standard of Band C by 2030. We are also proposing that interim milestones of as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable reach Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025 be laid out in the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy.
The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) is applied for by householders on a non means tested basis across England and Wales.
Currently the department has not published any geographic breakdowns on GDHIF, as these would form part of the more detailed quarterly series of statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-statistics#quarterly-statistics).
The Department published the number of Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) active applications, vouchers issued and payments made up to the end of July 2014, in the latest monthly Official Statistics:
Currently, the Department has not published any geographic breakdowns on the GDHIF, as these would form part of the more detailed quarterly series:
Therefore, the Department will consider publishing geographic breakdowns relating to GDHIF in the following quarterly release planned for publication on 18 December, covering the period up to the end of September 2014.
The Department published the number of Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) active applications, vouchers issued and payments made up to the end of July 2014, in the latest monthly Official Statistics:
Currently, the Department has not published any geographic breakdowns on the GDHIF, as these would form part of the more detailed quarterly series:
Therefore, the Department will consider publishing geographic breakdowns relating to GDHIF in the following quarterly release planned for publication on 18 December, covering the period up to the end of September 2014.
The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) shut to new applications on July 24th. A contribution towards the cost of a Green Deal Assessment Report was only available to customers who made a successful application to the Fund, and who went on to install measures as a result.
Assessments are the most popular part of Green Deal – by the end of July 2014 over 300,000 Green Deal Assessments were undertaken. Assessments provide a tailored picture of the first steps people can take to be more energy efficiency and potentially reduce their bills – they are not just for GDHIF.
A contribution towards the cost of a Green Deal Assessment Report cost was only available to customers who made a successful application to the Fund, and who went on to install measures as a result.
Assessments are the most popular part of Green Deal – by the end of July 2014 over 300,000 Green Deal Assessments were undertaken. Assessments provide a tailored picture of the first steps people can take to be more energy efficiency and potentially reduce their bills – they are not just for GDHIF.
Ministers and officials have had meetings with many interested parties in recent months, including energy suppliers, insulation companies and local authorities, at which the Government’s proposed changes to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) were discussed.
These and other stakeholders, such as consumer organisations and Ofgem, are represented on the ECO Steering Group, which meets on a monthly basis. The terms of reference for the group, along with minutes of meetings and other papers, are made publicly available via Gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/energy-company-obligation-eco-steering-group
The Government will publish its response to the consultation on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) shortly.
The Apprenticeships Funding Reform Technical Consultation sought evidence on the practical implications for employers of two new systems for routing apprenticeship funding: the PAYE model and the Apprenticeship Credit. The practical implications of the current system are already well understood, therefore we did not include this in the technical consultation. We are giving careful consideration to all feedback received, before announcing our next steps in the autumn.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 30 June 2014, Official Report, Column 426W:
There is no “hydraulic fracturing licence”. DECC issues Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs). However, PEDLs are not specific to shale gas and do not give permission for operations, but grant exclusivity to licensees in relation to hydrocarbons (including shale gas but also other forms) within a particular area. All operations, such as drilling, hydraulic fracturing or production, however require planning permission, and applications are subject to public consultation. They also require access agreement with relevant landowner(s), Environment Agency permits, HSE scrutiny, and DECC consent before operations can commence. DECC is not currently considering any applications for hydraulic fracturing in the UK.
The 2013 consultation on Apprenticeship funding reform sought evidence on the feasibility and impact of three different mechanisms for giving employers more control over the funding. Following consideration of the responses to this consultation, the pure provider payment model was ruled out on the basis that it was the least likely to deliver the intended aim of giving employers true purchasing power.
The subsequent Technical Consultation published in March 2014 sought views on two models - a PAYE model and an apprenticeship credit model which are consistent with an employer-led Apprenticeships system. We are currently evaluating the responses to this consultation and will announce which payment mechanism we plan to pursue in the autumn.
We have established a ministerial advisory panel on Apprenticeship standards, made up of experts to advise the Secretary of State on the approval or rejection of employer designed Apprenticeship standards and assessment approaches.
We will refresh the Skills Funding Agency register of approved Apprenticeship training providers to ensure that only reputable providers are able to offer Apprenticeship training and organisations doing so will be subject to Ofsted inspection.
The 2013 consultation on Apprenticeship funding reform sought evidence on the feasibility and impact of three different mechanisms for giving employers more control over the funding. Following consideration of the responses to this consultation, the pure provider payment model was ruled out on the basis that it was the least likely to deliver the intended aim of giving employers true purchasing power.
The subsequent Technical Consultation published in March 2014 sought views on two models - a PAYE model and an apprenticeship credit model which are consistent with an employer-led Apprenticeships system. We are currently evaluating the responses to this consultation and will announce which payment mechanism we plan to pursue in the autumn.
We have established a ministerial advisory panel on Apprenticeship standards, made up of experts to advise the Secretary of State on the approval or rejection of employer designed Apprenticeship standards and assessment approaches.
We will refresh the Skills Funding Agency register of approved Apprenticeship training providers to ensure that only reputable providers are able to offer Apprenticeship training and organisations doing so will be subject to Ofsted inspection.
The Government is taking a number of steps in this area:
- A measure in the Deregulation Bill will introduce the option for an insolvency practitioner to specialise in either corporate or individual insolvency. This will encourage new entrants into the profession, which will benefit creditors without lowering standards;
- There are a number of red tape challenge measures in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill which will reduce costs and remove unnecessary processes in insolvency cases;
- Also in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill are measures which will strengthen the regulatory framework for insolvency practitioners to boost confidence in the regime;
- The Government has also been consulting on measures to improve the transparency and accountability of how fees are charged by insolvency practitioners.
Teresa Graham's review of pre-pack administration identified how existing practice in pre-pack administration did not in all cases deliver the best result for creditors and the wider economy, in particular where sales are made to a connected party.
The Government hopes that the voluntary measures recommended in Ms Graham's report – all of which were accepted by Government – will be put into effect by those concerned as envisaged by Ms Graham.
After they have had time to have effect, the Government will evaluate whether they have indeed addressed the concerns evidenced by Ms Graham and the resulting outcomes. This will include for example whether the measures have increased transparency, returns to creditors, and more generally strengthened business confidence in the pre-pack process.
As recommended by Ms Graham, the government will be taking a backstop power in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill so we will be able to legislate in future if necessary.
Officials in the Insolvency Service regularly advise me on the full range of insolvency policy matters, including on pre-pack administration when required.
There are no onshore petroleum exploration and development licence applications pending approval in the UK.
We are giving employers control of the funding for the training and assessment of the apprenticeships that they design. This will enable them to work directly with education and training providers to secure the most effective training for their apprentices. We will be testing a new funding model via apprenticeship starts in the 2014-15 academic year based on standards developed by our Trailblazer groups of employers. We will develop a comprehensive communication programme for employers (including local authorities) to help them understand the changes.
Discussions have been held with a wide range of training providers as well with the Association of Training Providers and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) about our apprenticeship funding reforms. I spoke about this issue at the AELP's National Conference earlier this month.
The 2013 consultation on apprenticeship funding reforms sought evidence on the feasibility and impact of three different models for reforming apprenticeship funding. Following consideration of the responses to these, the second consultation sought views on two models—a PAYE model and an apprenticeship credit—that are consistent with an employer-driven apprenticeships system. A pure provider payment model was ruled out, as evidence from the first consultation indicated that this model was the least likely to deliver the intended aim of giving employers true purchasing power.
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, authority may be given to
re-home animals where those animals were bred or held for supply for use in
regulated procedures, or were intended for use in regulated procedures, or have
been used in regulated procedures. This may also apply to animals which are
being kept under the care of the Named Veterinary Surgeon after completing
procedures, and is always contingent on our acceptance of certain reassurances
relating to Section 17A of the Act. Records of each animal re-homed would be
kept locally at the licensed establishment so that they can be available to
Home Office Inspectors on request.
European Directive 2010/63/EU, which was implemented in the UK and other
Member States on 1 January 2013, does not provide legal grounds on which the UK
can impose a mandatory obligation of re-homing under the Animals (Scientific
Procedures) Act 1986. Nevertheless, we have provided guidance on re-homing
animals in our Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures)
Act 1983, section 5.21.
The impact of the proposed changes to the Energy Company Obligation was estimated in the Assessment of Impacts published alongside the consultation document on 5th March:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-of-the-energy-company-obligation
No specific estimate was made for those fuel poor families specifically living areas of flood risk.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change intends to complete a full Impact Assessment as part of the Government's response to the consultation later in the year.
Homes at risk of flooding are not automatically defined as having hard-to-treat cavity walls, however flood-risk homes with hard-to-treat cavity walls are eligible for funding under the Energy Company Obligation. Proposed changes to the scheme will enable more homes to receive funding for energy efficiency measures, including those homes that are at risk of flooding.
DECC does not hold information on how many of homes that are considered to have hard to treat cavity walls are situated in flood risk areas.
The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.
It is not possible to provide results for the divisions used by Lancashire County Council area as the matching was carried out using the district councils' electoral wards. However, the table for all the wards within the district authorities in the Lancashire County Council area and the table for Hyndburn constituency have been deposited in the House of Commons' Library.
Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of handling stolen goods offences prosecuted as a result of the theft or resale of library books. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
While the CPS does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions arising out of the theft of local authority library books, records are held showing the number of offences of handling stolen goods in which a prosecution commenced.
The table below shows the number of these offences in each of the last five available years.
- | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 |
Theft Act 1968 { 22 } | 13,923 | 12,819 | 11,325 | 9,792 | 8,401 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.
This information is not held centrally. Section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 sets out Ministers’ entitlement to severance payments. Payments to individuals are processed by the relevant departments. Any such payments are published in each department’s audited annual accounts, and these accounts can be found on GOV.UK.
Exit compensation terms for Civil Servants are set according to the rules of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme in place at the time of exit.
3 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Graham P Jones's BEIS questions)The following tables show the number of full applications for a) Air Source Heat Pumps and b) Ground Source Heat Pumps and Water Source Heat Pumps under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. The latest application data the department has is up to the end of October 2016; as such 2016 does not represent a full year of applications.
Air source heat pumps | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Full applications | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 158 | 118 |
Actuals and accruals | - | - | - | £4,033 | £105,918 | £193,233 |
Ground source heat pumps | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Full applications | 7 | 54 | 92 | 126 | 276 | 198 |
Actuals and accruals | £1,236 | £116,154 | £409,475 | £1,173,057 | £5,756,337 | £5,246,909 |
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The number of applications approved for accreditation under the renewables obligation (RO) for onshore and offshore wind projects in the UK between the financial years 2010/11 to 2015/16 were:
Technology | Total number of applications for accreditation between 2010/11 and 2015/16 |
Micro onshore wind projects up to and including 50kW capacity | 142 |
Onshore wind projects above 50kW capacity | 590 |
Offshore wind projects | 17 |
Source: Ofgem:
RO accredited stations list (downloaded 24 November 2016): https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0
The costs of the RO are reclaimed from electricity consumers, not from general taxation. The annual costs of supporting onshore and offshore wind through the RO from 2010/11 to 2015/16, in £ million nominal prices were:
RO costs £/million | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
Onshore wind | £397.8 | £482.6 | £557.1 | £755.6 | £786.8 | £803.0 |
Offshore wind | £253.9 | £371.1 | £698.5 | £988.7 | £1,108.0 | £1,429.7 |
Source: Ofgem:
Renewables Obligation library: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/ro/contacts-publications-and-data/publications-library-renewables-obligation-ro
Renewables Obligation Annual Report 2014-15: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/renewables-obligation-ro-annual-report-2014-15
Renewables Obligation register and compliance certificates report: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The following tables show the number of total applications for air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps under the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. The latest application data the department has is up to the end of October 2016; as such 2016 does not represent a full year of applications.
Air source heat pumps | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Total applications (new and legacy) | 7,689 | 13,714 | 4,783 |
Actuals and Accruals | £1,873,300 | £11,027,489 | £13,317,544 |
Ground source heat pumps | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Total applications (new and legacy) | 3,127 | 3,727 | 1,131 |
Actuals and Accruals | £3,073,978 | £16,554,779 | £19,054,131 |
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
11 Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Questions
(View all Graham P Jones's DCMS questions)The Government is aware of the cyber attack on Pitney Bowes and urges all organisations to ensure they have appropriate cyber security controls in place to protect themselves.
The Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy (2016-2021) is backed with £1.9 billion investment to transform the nation’s cyber security and make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. As part of the strategy we have opened the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which provides guidance and support to help businesses be more resilient to cyber attacks. This includes the Small Business Guide and an online staff training module, plus the Board Toolkit and '10 Steps to Cyber Security' guidance for larger organisations, as well as a programme of business engagement activity. The NCSC is the lead Government organisation for managing cyber incidents and has led on 658 incidents in the last year, providing support to almost 900 victim organisations, handling almost 1,800 incidents since commencing operations.
In addition, the Government is currently undertaking a Review of Cyber Security Incentives and Regulations to help understand the effectiveness of Government support to date and what more can be done to ensure businesses of all sizes are effectively managing their cyber risks.
DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on a range of cyber security topics, including in relation to the UK’s telecommunications networks.
Widespread deployment of 5G and full fibre networks is a primary objective of Government policy. The Government published the Telecoms Supply Chain Review in July, which recommended the introduction of a new framework for telecoms security based on evidence and a hard-headed assessment of the risks. The Government has not yet made a final decision on individual high risk vendors and the additional controls that will be applied to them.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has regular meetings with Ofcom as part of normal government business. The Government recognises the value and importance of high quality public service content and the need for this to be widely accessible to viewers. That is why under the Digital Economy Act 2017, the government required Ofcom to publish a report which looks at the ease of finding PSB content across all platforms. Ofcom’s consultation on proposed changes to the linear EPG Code and the future of the prominence regime closed in October and the government looks forward to the publication of its findings.
Details about such meetings, including discussion and schedules, are kept confidential - to allow full and frank discussions between Ministers and agencies.
Shadow Minister (Women)
Since that date, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society spoke to Martin Glenn, the Chief Executive of the Football Association. The Government has been clear all along that any proposed sale of the stadium was a commercial matter between The FA and Mr Khan and we respect Mr Khan's decision to withdraw his bid. I am confident Wembley will continue to thrive with the FA as its custodians.
Since the launch of the first local television service in Grimsby in November 2013, a total of 34 local TV stations have launched across the UK. Ofcom collects information annually on the performance of local television services and has included analysis of the sector's performance in its annual Communication Market Report published since 2016. The Communications Market Reports for 2016 and 2017 are available from the Ofcom website.
Since the launch of the first local television service in Grimsby in November 2013, a total of 34 local TV stations have launched across the UK. Ofcom collects information annually on the performance of local television services and has included analysis of the sector's performance in its annual Communication Market Report published since 2016. The Communications Market Reports for 2016 and 2017 are available from the Ofcom website.
The Department does not collect information about the number of books from local authority run libraries that are stolen and sold each year. Local library authorities are responsible for providing public library services including managing book stock available for library lending.
A review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures was launched in October 2016, which included a look at the Fix Odds Betting terminals. Purdah interrupted the final stages of our consideration of the evidence received and the subsequent internal, cross government process of approval and sign off. I'm afraid, therefore, that we are back at the start of the process and that as a consequence of it taking at least 12 weeks I would not expect any further announcement until October at the earliest.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not commission specific information relating to the closure of public libraries, but does monitor closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. Based on desk research undertaken by the Department, we estimate that from January 2010 to January 2016 approximately 110 static public libraries in England closed completely.
Annual statistics on public libraries are collected and published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and this includes details of the net number of libraries open as at 31 March of each year, but specific details of library closures since 2010 are not available from these statistics. Changes in these net figures will reflect a combination of library closures, new libraries opening, as well as libraries that are no longer part of the local authority statutory library service but remain open as community-run libraries.