Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
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 help ensure that the Charity Commission monitors the LGB Alliance’s revised social media policy to ensure that it meets ethical standards under law.
Answered by Matt Warman
As an independent regulator, the Charity Commission for England and Wales (“the Commission”) is not subject to Ministerial or Government direction or control; it is accountable to the courts for its legal decisions.
The Commission has set out its decision to register the LGB Alliance in a detailed paper which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lgb-alliance/lgb-alliance-full-decision
The Commission concluded that the LGB Alliance is established for exclusively charitable purposes, in accordance with the legal framework and based on the evidence received.
During the registration process, the Commission took account of guidance from the Government Equality Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which informed its consideration of the Public Sector Equality Duty, and equality law issues. The Commission’s published decision addressed allegations that LGB Alliance unlawfully discriminates against transgender people under the Equality Act 2010.
The Commission’s published decision is clear that no charity should undermine the rights of others in promoting the rights of one or more group. If any charity undertakes activity that gives rise to concerns about the denigration of human rights then the Commission will consider taking regulatory action. To the extent that matters considered by the Commission during the course of its registration case or in future constitute matters of regulatory concern, these will be addressed appropriately by the Commission in line with its risk and regulatory framework.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to assess whether the Charity Commission appropriately complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty in giving the LGB Alliance charitable status.
Answered by Matt Warman
As an independent regulator, the Charity Commission for England and Wales (“the Commission”) is not subject to Ministerial or Government direction or control; it is accountable to the courts for its legal decisions.
The Commission has set out its decision to register the LGB Alliance in a detailed paper which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lgb-alliance/lgb-alliance-full-decision
The Commission concluded that the LGB Alliance is established for exclusively charitable purposes, in accordance with the legal framework and based on the evidence received.
During the registration process, the Commission took account of guidance from the Government Equality Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which informed its consideration of the Public Sector Equality Duty, and equality law issues. The Commission’s published decision addressed allegations that LGB Alliance unlawfully discriminates against transgender people under the Equality Act 2010.
The Commission’s published decision is clear that no charity should undermine the rights of others in promoting the rights of one or more group. If any charity undertakes activity that gives rise to concerns about the denigration of human rights then the Commission will consider taking regulatory action. To the extent that matters considered by the Commission during the course of its registration case or in future constitute matters of regulatory concern, these will be addressed appropriately by the Commission in line with its risk and regulatory framework.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent fraudulent phone calls from overseas being routed through UK exchanges.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government has taken a range of actions to reduce the number of these scam calls, including those originating from overseas. It has supported the National Trading Standards Scams Team to roll out call blocking devices to vulnerable people. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding has helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from nuisance calls and scams.
The UK Government recognises nuisance calls and cold calling can be a gateway to scams, with opportunistic criminals targeting potential victims in the UK. The UK Government has therefore banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. We have also introduced director liability for nuisance calls.
The City of London Police, the lead force for Economic Crime, has partnered with Law Enforcement and Industry to combat call centre fraud from overseas jurisdictions.
The UK Government recognises there is more to do and is working closely with communications providers, law enforcement, regulators and consumer groups to consider further legislative and non-legislative solutions.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many places she plans to offer to refugees, per annum, under the new UK Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK is committed to resettling refugees to the UK and we continue to work closely with partners to assess capacity for resettlement activity, as we recover from the pandemic.
Resettlement will continue to play a primary role, alongside a reformed asylum system, which will see us continue to offer safe and legal routes to the UK for vulnerable people in need of protection in the months and years to come.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax is reclaimed annually through gift aid.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
In 2019-20, the latest year for which estimates are available, £1.4 billion in Gift Aid was paid to charities, and £0.5 billion was paid to individuals who were higher and additional rate Income Tax payers. Information about the cost of Gift Aid and other tax reliefs on charitable donations is published in “UK charity tax relief statistics” on GOV.UK at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/charitable-donations-and-tax-reliefs-statistics
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will request that the Intellectual Property Office's consultation into the copyright exhaustion regime considers the feasibility of (a) specific arrangements for the publishing sector, (b) other sector specific arrangements and (b) a national exhaustion or international exhaustion outcome.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will request that the Intellectual Property Office publishes an impact assessment of the potential effect of an international copyright exhaustion regime on the UK’s (a) publishing industry and (b) other creative exports.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with the Intellectual Property Office on the potential role of a national copyright exhaustion regime in supporting the UK’s (a) publishing industry and (b) other creative exports.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is already considering the issues that the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime needs to address. The IPO will soon be publishing a consultation document that will lay out the options for the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime and ask for views from all interested parties. The consultation will help government assess the feasibility and potential impact of the different exhaustion of IP rights regimes. This will include consideration of impacts on the publishing industry and cross-border trade of goods in the secondary market, including goods from the creative industries.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the 900 businesses contacted as part of the IPO’s recent Exhaustion of Intellectual Property rights feasibility study (a) responded and (b) were interviewed; and whether he plans to consult businesses further on the matter.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The IPO commissioned Ernst & Young to assess whether it was possible to measure the scale of parallel trade in the UK. As part of that research, a pilot quantitative survey was conducted. As detailed in the report published in 2019, there were 208 respondents from the 926 initial contacts. Of the 208 respondents, the researchers spoke to 170 respondents about taking part in the survey for this research. Of those, 26 respondents were willing to take part in the survey, but no full interviews were completed due to respondents not passing the initial screening question, respondents being unaware of parallel trade and respondents not engaging in parallel trade.
That being said, the decision on the UK’s future exhaustion regime still needs to be made. The IPO is holding a consultation on this matter in the first part of 2021 and the government will be proactively seeking views from businesses and consumers. We would encourage businesses and consumers to respond to this consultation with their views and any evidence.
Asked by: John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
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 provide hon. Members with a dedicated universal credit helpline.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no dedicated MP Hotline for Universal Credit. Prior to the roll-out of Universal Credit Full Service in their constituency, we wrote to each Hon. Member in March 2019. The letter explained the implicit consent arrangements for MPs and also provided the telephone number and email address of the Service Leader in the constituency, so that MPs can contact Service Leaders if there are urgent constituent cases that need attention. This is the best route to raise issues on behalf of constituents and works well because MPs’ offices can establish local relationships.
The Department regularly provides updated contact information to the W4MP.org website indicating the best and most efficient ways to contact it.