Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Charity Commission on the potential merits of opening an investigation into the eligibility for charitable status of (a) Dar Alhekma and (b) the Abrar Islamic Foundation.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales ('the Commission') has a statutory function to identify and investigate misconduct and mismanagement in charities, and we are confident that it has the expertise to do so effectively. The Commission assesses concerns in accordance with its published regulatory and risk framework, and has a wide range of powers to investigate and remedy the abuse of charities. Any evidence that a registered charity is engaged in misconduct or mismanagement should be referred to the Commission.
The Commission has open regulatory compliance cases into both the Abrar Islamic Foundation and the Dar Alhekma Trust, and will determine if there is a need to take action. As a civil regulator, the Commission is not a prosecuting authority and any allegations of criminal conduct should be referred to the Police.
The Charity Commission has been clear that the promotion of extremist views in charities is unacceptable, and that it will respond robustly where there proves to have been wrongdoing.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to ensure the availability of synthetic and sustainable fuels for use in motorsport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government welcomes the moves of the motorsport sector, including Formula 1, to develop, and make widely available, more advanced sustainable fuels. Formula 1 and the British motorsport industry has a great history of technological innovations which can have an enormous impact beyond the racetrack. Motorsport’s work to develop 100% sustainable fuels stands to benefit the global transport sector, and help our drive towards net zero.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of plans for the Gratitude Games.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government recognises the impact that sport and physical activity has on physical and mental health, and the importance of welfare and wellbeing for everyone participating in sport at all levels.
The Government's role in the support of bidding for and hosting major sporting events is set out in the Gold Framework. The Gratitude Games do not meet the criteria as set out in the Gold Framework and therefore would not be within scope for support. We encourage all organisations to continue to work together to support mental health through sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Gratitude Games.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government recognises the impact that sport and physical activity has on physical and mental health, and the importance of welfare and wellbeing for everyone participating in sport at all levels.
The Government's role in the support of bidding for and hosting major sporting events is set out in the Gold Framework. The Gratitude Games do not meet the criteria as set out in the Gold Framework and therefore would not be within scope for support. We encourage all organisations to continue to work together to support mental health through sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 replace the international opportunities for young people previously accessed through the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ programmes.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
In light of the changing needs of young people and due to the pandemic, DCMS reviewed its programmes and funding for out-of-school provision to ensure it achieves maximum impact and levelling up opportunities. As a result, at the 2021 Spending Review, the government decided that DCMS should continue to focus on domestic youth provision through a National Youth Guarantee for young people and DfE will continue to offer the Turing Scheme, an international educational exchange scheme that has a genuinely global reach and increases social mobility.
The Turing scheme is backed by £110 million, providing funding for over 41,000 overseas placements for students in universities, colleges and schools, starting in September 2021.
48% of the overseas placements receiving Turing Scheme funding are for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas which did not previously have many students benefiting from Erasmus+, making life-changing opportunities accessible to everyone across the country. The second year of the Turing Scheme will open for applications shortly, at which point youth organisations will be able to review the eligibility criteria when considering applying for funding.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What steps her Department is taking to improve digital infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The government is focused on improving digital infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas, with our £5bn Project Gigabit and £1bn Shared Rural Network. As such, the government recently announced more details about our procurement pipeline, specifically, for the 2.2 million hard to reach premises in England in Phases 1 and 2 of the delivery plan.
Alongside Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing with our strategy to reduce barriers and to promote competition and investment.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government target of at least 85 per cent nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband by 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Openreach’s proposed discounts on its competitors’ ability to attract investment, particularly those building in high cost rural areas.
Answered by Matt Warman
Ofcom, as the independent regulator for telecoms, is responsible for regulating pricing in the telecoms market for operators that it has determined have significant market power. Ofcom is currently consulting on Openreach’s proposed FTTP offer and whether it raises competition concerns, this consultation closes on 6 September 2021.
As referenced, the Government is targeting a minimum of 85% UK gigabit-capable coverage across the UK. It is the Government's view that the best way to achieve this target is to create a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable while focussing government funds on the 20% of the country where commercial deployment is unlikely. As a result of this approach, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.
Our plan, to stimulate investment, bust barriers and drive competition, is working and we are on track for one of the fastest rollouts in Europe and for 60% of all households to have access to gigabit speeds by the end of the year. It is a huge leap forward from 2019, when it was just one in ten.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage BT to provide functional access to (a) internet-based text, (b) captioned telephony, (c) video and (d) other modernised telephone relay services.
Answered by Matt Warman
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, has rules in place requiring all UK telecoms providers, not just BT, to offer text relay for calls to and from deaf or speech-impaired people. The service is free at the point of use, and disabled users are entitled to a special tariff to compensate them for the additional time taken by these calls.
In December 2019, Ofcom consulted on implementing new consumer protection rules, including a proposal to introduce video relay for emergency communications. It also proposed new requirements to ensure disabled consumers have access to information in respect of their telecoms services - for example, contracts, bills and complaints procedures - in accessible formats.