Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) her Department and (b) bodies directed by her Department have responsibility for ensuring that (i) walls, (ii) advertising hoardings and (iii) other fixed objects around the perimeter of sports pitches are safe for professional sportspeople.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount.
Sports pitch perimeter safety is primarily the responsibility of the relevant national governing body of the sport, and the relevant competition/event organisers of the fixture.
It is for individual clubs to carry out risk assessments and put in place mitigations that will improve player safety.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much from the public purse her Department spent on its proposals to privatise Channel 4.
Answered by Julia Lopez
As set out in the Department’s answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80659, in the 2021-22 financial year DCMS’s costs for policy development related to Channel 4, including staff activity, external research and advice, public consultation and stakeholder engagement, were approximately £600,000. For the 2022-2023 financial year to November, these activities are estimated to have costs of £1.4 million.
This work has supported the development of the sustainability package recently announced by DCMS which will help address the challenges that Channel 4 is facing to its long-term success and sustainability.
It is right that when planning for the sale of an asset the government pursued appropriate specialist advice. Now that the decision has been taken not to proceed with a sale, all contracts with specialist external advisors have been terminated.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of (a) the number of care homes and supported living accommodation sites which have shared facilities but have no common and exclusive boundary, and (b) the number of pensioners who by reason of residence in such locations are unable to claim a concessionary TV licence.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Some residents in sheltered or residential care accommodation may be eligible for the Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) television licence fee concession. If eligible, residents are required to pay a reduced rate of £7.50 for a TV licence.
While licence fee concessions are set in legislation, it is the BBC, not the government, that administers these schemes. The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee and all of its concessions, including maintaining existing ARC concessionary licences and making decisions on requests for new ARC concessionary licences.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold the information requested. More information on this concession, including eligibility information and details on how to apply, can be found on the TV Licensing website.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
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 Cairncross Review, what steps her Department is taking to support local journalism.
Answered by Julia Lopez
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
However, as the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism identified, society is increasingly moving online and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models.
The Government supported the majority of Cairncross recommendations and has taken them forward through a range of fiscal and regulatory interventions. This has included through the extension of business rates relief for local newspapers in England for an additional five years; the investment of £2 million in the Future News Fund; the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers; the 2021 publication of an Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid Term Review of the BBC Charter, exploring how the BBC seeks to act as a complement, rather than a substitute for, local commercial news outlets. The Government was also pleased to see the BBC conduct a thorough review of the Local Democracy Reporting Service in 2020, as recommended by the Cairncross Review. As set out in our response to the Review, we would support any efforts by the BBC to grow the scheme.
Most importantly, we are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.
Longer term and beyond Cairncross, we continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining the sector.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants on a non-monthly earning cycle missed out on each of the first and second Cost of Living Payment instalments due to receiving a nil Universal Credit award as a result of higher earnings than usual during the qualifying assessment period.
Answered by Mims Davies
It is not possible to identify how many households did not receive the Cost of Living payment because of the way their wages were paid during the qualifying month.
A claimant may not be eligible to receive a Cost of Living payment if they have an increase earnings during the qualifying period. We are unable to distinguish whether this fluctuation is temporary or permanent. This fluctuation could be the result of a household receiving additional earnings due to being paid more frequently or another reason.
During the first qualifying period, with an assessment period end date between 26/4/2022 and 25/5/2022 inclusive, there were 464,000 Universal Credit households where earnings reduced their Universal Credit award to £0 for the qualifying period. This was equivalent to 551,000 Universal Credit claimants.
Figures for the second Cost of Living payment are not available as these payments have not yet been made.
In collaboration with Local Authorities we have a well-established system of hardship payments, including the Discretionary Housing Payments, available as a safeguard for if claimants demonstrate they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs due to the rise in the cost of living. For those who require additional support we have provided an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.
2. Great Britain level figures have been provided.
3. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.
4. Numbers are not comparable with Official Statistics Household series as a household may receive a nil award for reasons other than earnings.
5. The methodology and data source used is different to those used to derive the Official Statistics Household series.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) supporting the English Heritage Scheme to expand the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London and (b) including expansion of that scheme in the Government's levelling up agenda.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have not made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London, as part of the levelling up agenda or otherwise. English Heritage Trust, which runs the scheme, offers free advice and guidance to anyone across the country seeking to put up a commemorative plaque.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with English Heritage on the potential merits of expanding the blue plaque scheme outside of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have held no recent discussions with English Heritage Trust on the merits of expanding the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London. The charity freely offers advice and guidance to anyone across the country seeking to put up a commemorative plaque.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment the potential impact on British Army personnel of possible exposure to dangerous levels of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1953 and 1987.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
An initial check of Army historical records has given no indication that Army personnel routinely trained at Camp Lejeune.
If any UK Armed Forces veteran believes there is evidence that they were affected by this issue they can apply for War Pension Scheme Compensation via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of social tariffs on broadband packages for consumers in receipt of benefits.
Answered by Matt Warman
Raising awareness of social tariffs amongst eligible households is a key priority for DCMS.
We are working closely with other departments including the Department for Education, and the Department for Work and Pensions, to share information on the availability of social tariffs with libraries, local authorities, schools and regional job centres. We have also engaged a number of charities to circulate social tariff messaging to help reach those who may qualify for support.
On 27 June, the Secretary of State secured a set of public commitments from the UK’s major mobile and broadband providers to support families through the rise in the cost of living, which includes increasing efforts to promote their social tariff offers. To support the sector, the government is developing eligibility checking software which will allow a more efficient application process. We expect this work to conclude over the summer.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of social tariffs on broadband packages for consumers in receipt of benefits.
Answered by Julie Marson
DWP works with DCMS and Ofcom to encourage broadband providers to extend eligibility of broadband social tariffs to low-income households. Because of this, some broadband providers have made social tariffs available to Universal Credit claimants and other claimants receiving means tested benefits. DWP will work with Ofcom to raise claimant awareness of these tariffs with via our national Jobcentre Plus Work Coach network and wider stakeholders.